With the recent posts about EDC and Everyday Carry, I figured I’d add my thoughts about another tool that often gets overlooked as an EDC: the tape measure. Sure, if you’re a contractor, you probably have a tape on your belt, but I find that clipping on a 25′ or even a 16′ tape to be too much for everyday use.
I am constantly finding myself in need of a measuring tool when I don’t have one available. Earlier this week I went to the thrift store and found a foosball table in really good condition for cheap, but I had no way of measuring it to see if it would fit in my truck box with my tool box installed.
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When I got the table out to the truck, I found it was 1/2″ too long and my tailgate wouldn’t close. If I had a tape measure with me, I would have been able to figure out that we could have loaded it sideways.
That day I went out and picked up the best small tape I could find, which was the Stanley FatMax 6′ keychain tape measure.
The 6 foot tape measure is made with a rubber overmolded ABS plastic housing, just like the larger FatMax tapes. It only weighs 60 g, or about 2 oz.
The metal tape is 1/2″ wide and marked in increments of 1/16″. For the first foot, there are markings every 1/16″ on the top, and 1/32″ on the bottom scale. Like most constructions tapes, every 16″ is boxed in red – to indicate center-to-center stud placements – and once you get past the 1 foot mark the top number is the number of inches since the last foot.
I have found that I can get a 4 foot standout pretty consistently, which is more than the 3 feet rating I’ve seen on retailers’ product listings.
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The 6 foot FatMax is listed as a keychain tape measure, but I’ve never liked dealing with keys dangling from my tools. Instead, I have attached a small carabiner to the keychain, and clipped the carabiner to my belt loop, letting the tape hang in my pocket. I have found this to an easier retrieval method than when I reach down into my pocket to grab my keys, knife, or flashlight.
I bought my little FatMax tape at Menards for $4, but you can just as easily pick one up at Amazon or Home Depot for the same price.
Buy Now (via Amazon)
Buy Now (via Home Depot)
If you don’t think that you need a 6-foot range, Stanley also offers a 3-foot tape measure with 1/4″ wide blade. It’s smaller and a little cheaper. There’s also the Swiss folding rule option, which gives you a measurement scale of a little more than 3-feet.
Compare (3′ PowerLock tape via Amazon)
fred
My wife is not great visualizing or reading dimensions – so I gave her (about 5 years ago) a “story tape” from Lee Valley (made in Taiwan). She often will mark it up to indicate the dimensions of a space she wishes to fill with a piece of furniture, picture etc. then bring it to the store for comparison to what’s available. Sometimes she work the process in reverse. I prefer a more conventional tape – but this one works for her:
http://www.leevalley.com/en/Wood/page.aspx?p=65357&cat=
The advertising copy at Lee Valley about this item seems a bit tongue in cheek – and the price seems higher than what I paid for it in 2010 – but who knows – other may find it useful.
Benjamen
I can’t tell if you’re joking or not fred. (For those of you who don’t remember, this was an April Fools gag that Lee Valley actually decided to sell.)
fred
I did not know that – but the advertising copy sure fits in with the notion that it was a joke. They say that quantities are limited – so I guess they did not ask their OEM to make a long production run – lest the joke be on them.
I did indeed buy one for my wife – who had previously been fond of taping and rolling up long strips of paper with markings on them for the same purpose. I think she got that idea many years ago when a contractor taped together a paper template as a cutting pattern for a granite countertop we were having made.
Rusty
I just keep a 25′ one in my truck. I’ve never liked using really small tapes and can’t really see wanti to carry one around all the time.
Nathan
it’s funny in reality I find very little need for 25 foot tapes – yet I own 2 I think
I’ve actually always wanted something around 10 – for most suburbanite home dweelers that’s plenty for most uses – provided it’s not your only. I might buy 3 of these not for EDC but more for kitchen, car 1, car 2 sort of thing.
that way I’ll always know where my 25 and 16’s are – in the garage in theory.
also how long before we’re talking about a smart phone add on for a laser measure
Chance
There already is one.
http://homedepot.com/p/Ryobi-Phone-Works-Laser-Distance-Measurer-ES1000/205495687
Nathan
only work on iphone that I know of – but yes like that. I think Ryobi is on to something there, those bits have potential.
would like to see more options and something more universal – like BT ready or such.
Stuart
All Ryobi Phone Works tools and accessories (https://14cyiuhvcgv.com/ryobi-phone-works/%3C/a%3E%29 are iOS and Android compatible.
Mark
I have two 6ft tapes (one of them is this one), a 12ft tape, a 15ft tape, a 25ft tape, and a 30ft tape. I use the 6ft and the 15ft most often.
Will
I love this tape and gave one to my brother and nephew. I use it for measuring the small furniture/box projects I work on. The markings are very precise and easy to read, and it’s easy to fit into small spaces such as drawer boxes.
I think it’s just a good little tape to keep around.
Mike
Whatever happened to those 10’×1/4″ tapes? They used to come free with all kinds of stuff. Even banks sometimes had them in their free gift baskets. Now I only see them at small hardware stores and they cost as much as a regular tape measure. They’re good for tossing into gloveboxes, drawers, spare tool sets, etc. but not so much when they cost $8.
fred
Zoro – sells the Stanley 33-115 for $3.19 – but they often have a 20% or 25% or even 30% off deal – but you will need to bundle it with a bunch of other stuff to get free shipping.
William
I love this tape. It’s not my primary but I always have it on my key chain. Its so much better than those smaller (often free) 1/4″ blade tapes. My chain part broke off so I took out a screw in the bottom at the butt of the tape. I drilled out a hole and put a loop of copper wire through it. The ends are twisted together and covered with electrical tape and it fits well with my carabiner.
conan
Because I saw this post I recognized the tape at hd. I would not have paid attention to something this small otherwise. I got one and it stays in my nail apron so when I put my tools down, walk to another floor I will alway have a tape measure on me. Already kept me dozens of times to have to go back and get my bigger tape measure.