A ranging rod (or range rod) is a surveying instrument used for marking the position of stations, and for sightings of those stations, as well as for ranging straight lines. It is used for measuring small offsets from the survey line when the work is of an ordinary nature.
The rods are usually about 30 mm in diameter and 2 m or 3 m long, painted with alternating bands, such as red and white, red and yellow, or black and white, in lengths of 200 mm (i.e. one link length of metric chain), 500 mm, or one foot.