Created by a land surveyor, the Totem Pole is designed for use with electronic distance-measuring instruments.

A land surveyor from Traverse City, Mich., invented and patented Totem Pole, an improved prism pole for use with total station-type surveying instruments. The Totem Pole is also designed for use with electronic distance-measuring instruments. It provides the ability to acquire a measurement within any site zone available to the instrument operator and helps to overcome typical line-of-site difficulties created by obstructions in the field.