I don't own a tension meter either. I kind of go by the feel when I tension relieve the spokes by grabbing groups of four and squeezing. I've found that doing that several times during the build helps me the most. That way spokes are better formed to the hubs by the time you get to your final true and tension. As a rule, when a set of wheels gets around 100 miles on it, I bring them back in and put them in the stand for a check. They might need the lightest of touchups but usually that's it.

I've done about 45mph on a downhill on a set of wheels I've built...I guess *I* trust them...