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What's your favorite tape measure

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mobiledynamics

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Such a simple tool but such a neccesary one - especially when gutting a room and building it all back ;-)

Curious what is your favorite tape measure.

Mine is a 16 ft Green ~old school~ Stanley Leverlock.
Sure wish they still made this model in green.
I just prefer the locking portion to be on the bottom...


Fat Max rules for joe blow ordinary measurements when you want to measure out 30 feet.

But anything else, I prefer my Stanley Leverlock.
 
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Nealcrenshaw

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I'm old school like art
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knappmenterprises

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I must have purchased 50 tape measures in past 10 years. Got a strange habit, I must twist my hand when pulling out the tape when marking studs/boards and bend the tape. Have to go with metal type Stanley levers as my favorite, Husky tape measures are awful, heavy, clunky just don't feel right in my hand. the stanley fatmax ones have such a recoil on the spring they dam near take your finger off. Although I'm not a craftmsna bigot like most, they just don't hold up, that's one tool that you know your going to drop 5 times a day and I've shattered my share.
 
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mobiledynamics

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One more....John Levels Big Johnson. I prefer this or the Leverlock when measuring down to 1/16th ...which I tend to get OCD about.
 
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fabrk8r

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Waterloo, IA (Home of Waterloo Toolboxes)
Craftsman tapes...I'm a sheet metal worker and go through tapes like dirt through a nite-crawler, but I haven't had to buy a new tape in over 15 years. I keep a 33' X 1" blade and a 12' X 1/2" blade on my bench at work and a 25' and 12' in my box at home. Craftsman quality has degraded over the years, but they aren't bad.

I usually have to get a new one 3-4 times a year, but they're free unless I forget where I left one!

:beer:
 
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matthew

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I really like my Stanley, it's a nice size, good durable case, and best of all it has dual-scale fraction/decimal readout, which is great for me since I mostly work in decimal inches.

My runner-up would be an old Lufkin, nice classic design.

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willf650

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Mar 10, 2010
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I have a bunch of tapes but can never find one when I need it. My favorite is a Stanley 16' fat max. I work as an electrician so I generally think in terms of bends in 10' sticks of pipe so 16' is plenty. Also the 16' is cheaper than the 25' when I lose the thing.
 
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Dust

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Santa Ana, CA
Workforce brand (Home Depot budget line) 25 footers. Not too heavy or big like the Fat Max, but not tiny and flimsy either. Also cheap.
 
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atari

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Carroll, Ohio
Cheep plastic yellow 12' Stanley. I got the first one in a home owners kit that my inlaws got me for Christmas. It just says "Stanley" and 12' and that's it. I looked for a long time for another one for a year or so. I gave up and then I found them at odd lots for 5 bucks a pop. I walked out with 6. I think I still have 4 but I can only find one at a time if im lucky.
 
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nate379

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Palmer, AK
Same here. I have 4 or 5 of them and somehow I can loose them all while working on a project.

I remember on one of those home building shows the guy got so pissed he sent his women to the dollar store and bought like 8 packs of tape measures :bounce:


Mickey O said:
The one I can find, seriously.
Click to expand...
 
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Coach James

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Sandhills of North Carolina
I have 6 different brands of tapes. Some are more comfortable than others but no preference. I just make sure I use the same one for the entire project and it works out ok. I do prefer 12' over 25 and 33 footers. I don't like carrying a tape the size of a backpack.

Coach
 
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R6 Racer

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I have 2 exactly the same, I bought one 30 some odd years ago & the second one a few years after that. They are from Canadian Tire & are guaranteed for life. I have 2 because when 1 breaks or wears out I just take it back & get a new one free. I have a wood shop area & a garage shop area 1 goes in each. They do last fairly well but by having 2 I will always have a working one. I think I have about $8.00 in them total, not bad for 30 years!

Steve
 

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Jack Olsen

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The one I can find when I need it.

I used to have one Stanley that was always in the way -- except when I needed to measure something. I finally bought six when the 1"x30' ones were on sale at Harbor Freight. The HF might or might not be a great tape measure, but I now have six places I can look when I need it.

So far, that's worked great.
 
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Falcon67

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Merkel, TX
A pair of Stanley 25s. One in the house, one in the shop. Misc small Stanleys scattered around. Had a nice Craftsman for about 2 years, then the tape broke. The shop Stanley has been around - a while. Maybe 20 yrs or more.
 
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scottzilla

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Mar 27, 2009
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Funny thing about tapes, pretty much every one is innacurate by 1/16-1/8". The little metal tab pushes in & out by that much (Try it for yourself), some worse than others. I stood in the tool section at HD and checked every one, from the $6 tape to the $60 tape and they all did this.
 
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BigRed390

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Apr 30, 2009
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Chattanooga, TN
I've got a Lufkin. A bright-*** orange lufkin. It clearly stands out among the clutter. Most of the time, anyway...

I want one of those lee valley tapes though!
 
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csp

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Franktown, CO
scottzilla said:
Funny thing about tapes, pretty much every one is innacurate by 1/16-1/8". The little metal tab pushes in & out by that much (Try it for yourself), some worse than others.
Click to expand...

They are supposed to. This is to get an accurate measurement whether you're measuring with the tab inside an opening (like measuring between walls) or outside of it (like marking a piece of wood to length). The movement is supposed to coincide with the thickness of the tab.
 
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