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16ft Tape Measure Shootout

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TomB19

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Jan 1, 2015
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Regina, SK, Canada
I love my little 16' Lufkin but I don't think you can get the small metal ones, anymore.

The 25' tapes are too big to fit in a pocket, IMO. If I needed another, I'd look for a 13'. It would suffice 99.9% of the time for what I do and be more comfortable in the pocket or on a belt.
 
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Kracin

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Mar 25, 2013
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Omaha, NE
felt the milwaukee, it feels nice but i have a thing about buying things that i already get for free.

at previous work i got all my lufkin tapes for free, they are real good, never had a single one fail, mostly they died due to burning the tape itself (measuring recently cut or welded things while brainfarting), or dropping multiple stories. other than that, good tapes.

at work now i get the stanley powerlocks. 12' version, they are very very small i'm not sure if that 16 is the same type but the 12' has such a skinny tape that it is super flimsly, only really any good if you are measuring things at arms length, the end is so small it has a hard time staying attached to something if you want to measure long distance like a piece of pipe or conduit. it's not a bad tape, all metal it feels like, but the spring seems to wear out really quick, they stop retracting quickly after a few weeks of constant use. they work and feel like a 5 dollar tape, not a 12 dollar tape.

haven't had the milwaukee or the other one though, i felt the milwaukee in the store. i think my only gripe is the weight of the milwaukee, it feels heavy as hell.. hopefully that weight is worth it, i've wanted one but won't buy one because i get tapes for free and havent ran into a need to purchase one yet.
 
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Ign

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Jul 7, 2006
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Butte Peak ND
BigJ73 said:
I leave my 25' sit in the box most of the time,now that I have this. It is small light weight and seems to hold up well.


http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000CFJB08/?tag=atomicindus08-20
Click to expand...

I spent at least 2.5 hours on Amazon last night researching tapes for me, 25' as I deal w sticks of steel.

It's amazing how personal they are for such a simple tool. Also dizzying how many options Komelon offers. I finally had to go to their web page to understand the differences.

As for the one above, oh how I hate inch and metric on one tape. I also hate 32nd markings (IMO just clutters the tape, if you can't split 16ths by eye you should probably not be operating power tools), vertical read, magnetic tips, thick lines (gotta be crisp), fractions printed on the tape, or bulky, heavy tapes like the Fat Max, or wide/winged tips (they sound good in theory but don't work out in practice for me, like pulling interior diagonals). For the last 2 reasons I also don't like my 25' Milwaukee, too bulky. Milwaukee is bringing out a lighter tape next month.

You don't have to agree with me, just listing some of the considerations for the OP.
 
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sberry

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Jun 18, 2005
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Brethren, Michigan
I bought a 25 from Lowes on sale that wasn't bad for 6$ but Walmart had a pretty fair thing for 3 and grabbed 3 more... hahaha. Not in the same class but not really bad either considering the cost. The wally had a pretty good tape, but it is metric the other side.
 

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kctyphoon

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between those 3 - the milwaukee.. hands down, no contest.. i have the milwaukee, the stanley, a few fatmax's too, random others.. the milwaukee is so much nicer..

edit: just saw this sale -

25' milwaukee for $20, comes with a free 16' too at toolnut.com
cant link the sale page for some reason.

same deal was in hd for $24 - thats where i got mine
 
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mossyboy6

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Dec 10, 2009
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St. Pete, FL
I have had my Komelon 12' Self Lock for three years now, and use it daily. (I do a LOT of measuring, sometimes up to 200+ measurements per day)

I pull it apart and clean off the locking lever about once a year because it starts to slip from dirt building up on it.

It is definitely my favorite tape measure, and I have used many. It would definitely be my suggestion for the smaller side of rough carpentry. It is best if the measurement is under 5', because the stick out is so small.

Now, for fine woodworking, you definitely want something with a 1/32 scale. On jobsites though, I get by just fine with calling out + or -, (ie. 5/16+ would be 11/32).
 
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4xdog

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Aug 18, 2012
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Santa Fe, NM
Ign said:
...oh how I hate inch and metric on one tape...
Click to expand...

Just the opposite for me. I really like them. Having spent my life in the sciences doing business internationally, I'm equally comfortable in metric- and inch-based measurements.

I find it convenient to have both scales, especially when measuring something that's already been fabricated. Awkward inch measurements may turn out to be whole cm measurements, depending where something was designed.

I have a couple cheapo giveaway tapes with inch/cm scales from my previous employer. I use 'em all the time over other tapes. This is a useful thread to me as it would be useful to have at least one more tape of higher quality.
 
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mossyboy6

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Dec 10, 2009
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St. Pete, FL
4xdog said:
What's the COO on your Komelon? Some Googling hints that it might be Japan, which would be a real plus at this price point.
Click to expand...

You know, I am not sure.
Seems like it was either Taiwan or Japan, all of the labeling is long gone by now from using it so much.
 
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jvitez

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Nov 30, 2009
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Big Sky Country, Canada
None of the above. The Komelon (why did Komsomol just pop in my head?) looks like a rebranded made in China tape. I see the same ones with many different labels at different stores around here.

My all time favorite: Lufkin Seriess 2000.

http://www.lufkintool.com/product/dsp_product_listing.cfm?hier=64&pf=565

I've got medium sized hands, so I find many tape measures awkward to use, as they're designed for big mitts. The Lufkin series 1000 or 2000 fit perfectly in my hand, the tape lock button is exactly where by thumb rests, and I've never broken any Lufkin product yet. My go-to tape measure is an older made-in-USA version, though all are foreign made now.

I seem to have a thing for tape measures as I keep one everywhere I can think of, ie garage, roller cabinet, hand boxes, basement wood shop, vehicle glove compartments, office desk. I'm always checking out different models and brands, and I mostly keep coming back to these two Lufkin models.
 
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mykvr6

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Oct 21, 2014
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Houston, TX
I've got an old 16' Blue point that I got years ago. I like it cause its small. I just got a freebie 25' HF one lol. But I like that BP for most stuff. Its been fine until I started trying to measure stuff in my new house that was over 16'. I thought about getting that Milwaukee 16+25' set at HD but I really didn't need the 16 footer so I passed and just picked up the HF freebie. I dont do much measuring though so I figure it's fine. I like the features on those milwaukees though.
 
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wild cowboy

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Mar 11, 2014
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I am kind of partial to the stack of HF 25' tapes I have acquired as free gifts this fall, almost as nice as my big stack of free HF multimeters

both do exactly what they are supposed to

I supposed if I was going to actually PAY for a tape measure it would come down to feel in the hand and also that test you can do to see how far you can extend it out in open air until it "breaks"
 
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