Over at Amazon, they’re offering a 15% discount on select USA-made Stanley tools. The discount applies at checkout automatically, and the promo ends 5/13/2016.
Sounds like a good deal to me! There are a bunch of tools eligible for the deal – utility knives, tape measures, replacement blades, and even 2 saw blades.
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Deal Info(via Amazon)
Now, about how I discovered this deal…
I went searching around the house for a tape measure, and came across one of my Stanley FatMax 25′ tapes. I bought a 2-pack back in November, when it was on sale for $20. Normally, this tape is priced at around $17-$20 each on Amazon, and around the same elsewhere.
It was in a kitchen cabinet, for those times I can’t seem to find any of my other tape measures. I recently bought a Stanley Lever Lock 16′ tape measure for similar purposes.
But what did I find? The lock was broken. It kept springing open! It’ll hold the tape with a little friction, but not very securely. So I went to Amazon to see if this was a common complaint.
It seems to be a random defect, which does happen time to time.
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This might be a good opportunity to test out Stanley’s customer service again. Or I’ll toss it into the car for “just in case I might need it on the go” purposes. It’s still usable, just not for regular use.
What sucks is that I barely used it. I think I first opened the package back in March, with maybe a handful of uses since then. But here’s the tough question – did I use this one, or the sibling tape measure that came in the 2-pack. In other words, was this tape defective from the start, or did it fail somehow?
Anyways, with Amazon holding their 15% off sale, maybe I’ll pick up another of the FatMax Auto-Lock tapes, shown above. It’s normally $25 for a 25-footer, but now it’s $22, minus another 15%. It should be around $18.69 plus tax after discount, which is pretty decent. I like that Stanley Auto-Lock tape a LOT.
Buy Now(Stanley Auto-Lock Tape)
Hang Fire
Exercise the warranty so Stanley can take corrective measures, and buy another brand if you can’t do without in the mean time. There’s no point in supporting their current level of quality.
Stuart
The one time I tried to take advantage of Stanley warranty in the past, they were easy to work with, but shipping would be on my dime.
If I don’t have time to find a flat rate box, it’ll likely be around $7 or $8 to ship it, maybe more.
That, and the hassle, is not worth it for a $10 tape. Well, it’s a $20 tape, but 2 for $20 means I’m going to consider it a $10 tape.
Rusty
I’ve never like the lever lock.
Gary T.
I bought one of those 2 packs last fall. One tape measure worked fine, but the other ones lock would not hold. You would deploy the tape and lock it in position and it would hold for a couple of seconds and then slowly retract. But after using it for awhile, the lock is starting to hold like it should.
Matt
I have found as of late that the lines on the Stanley Fat Max’s are not as thin and crisp as they used to be. It looks like a 3 year old drew them with a crayon. Becomes very problematic when you’re trying to gauge a 1/32″ with a tape measure.
Anyone else have the same experience?
Benjamen
Yep, just bought another Fatmax keychain tape this morning and I was disappointed by the same thing.
Mike
Something is different in the clear coating they use, not just the FatMax but all of their tapes. It’s fuzzy and opaque. It used to be genuine Mylar but that name is disappearing from their product descriptions.
Matt J
I have to ask, is a tape really worth that much? We just use cheap komelon self lock 25-30ft that run between 5-10 bucks. We’re hard on tapes so we expect to break them frequently but they still make it about a month.
Mike
At full price? Probably not. But two packs go on sale here and there and always during the Christmas season. It also depends if you need the standout, if not then the cost (and carry weight!) is probably too much.
I’m not especially careful with tapes and I’m disappointed if I wear one out in a year. What’s happening to your tapes that’s killing them in a month?
Matt J
They get tossed around or concrete gets on the tape and they jam up.
Ed
nice just ordered one thanks for heads up!
Jay
Stanley tapes have dropped in quality. They just don’t make them like they used to. My new fatmax 25′ tape is a mere shadow of the one it replaced. When this Stanley fatmax quits it will be replaced with a 25′ Milwaukee non-mag.
Since I’m a little slow on the uptake, I also bought a 25′ Stanley powerlock thinking they wouldn’t dare mess that venerable old workhorse. Worst tape I have ever owned. The blade is like a wet noodle with almost no standout at all.
I’m done with Stanley tape measures.
Mike aka Fazzman
Not a fan of Stanley tapes anymore either. Even my el cheapo ACE hardware tape is nicer.
Nathan
For bench work, I snagged an old (maybe ’30s) direct read Stanley tape. Small, no springs, just friction. Holds fine you just have to push it back in. Silver tape with black markings and the direct read hole that doubles as a ring for hanging by the bench.
It’s too small in the hand, and in length, for anyone on a jobsite or that does most of their tinkering on a large scale. But for prepping rough lumber for squaring and surfacing and getting ready for finer joinery, it is perfect.
And it always rocks to extend the life of an old US made tool.
Benoit
Buy the Milwaukee measuring tape and be done.
Stuart
Me? I’ve got a couple of them. Half are still in moving boxes, the others are… somewhere. They’re among the best tapes I’ve ever used. My only complaint is that they’re a little noisy, but you get used to this quick.
Daniel
Stanley has a tape (33-272) with decimal inches on it, across from the normal
‘1/8’ side
I have been using them for thirty years in the metal fabrication field
when you’re wanting tighter tolerances, they come in pretty handy.
to decipher the dimension think of each inch as 100 pennies lined up,
understanding the location between 11/64th’s and 3/16th’s just became a lot easier
(.172 and .187)
fred
We used Komelon engineer scale tapes – they came in 25 foot (part # SL2825IE) and 33 foot (part # 433IE) when we wanted decimal inches
Pete
I miss my Stanley Fatmax Extreme!! Lol i think i accidently lost it to a tragic abrasive chop saw accident lol. I have a newer fatmax and have found it to be very heavy, pretty much too heavy to carry. I now just carry the stanley powerlock.
Wayne Ruffner
Stuart, I’ve noticed that a lot of your stories start with trying to find a tool. Usually not a specific tool, but a generic thing like a tape measure.
When I consider your home, my mind’s eye can see each room with it’s own tool kit, each one fully fleshed out with a full set of screwdrivers, pliers, cutters, tapes, parts, wire, on & on. Each kit is front & center, easy to grab, open and get you immediately to the task at hand.
After one of your stories, my mind’s eye sees your house littered with tools in all sorts of random places, you sometimes dumping out Rubbermaid tubs of tools, hoping to find one of dozens of multi-tip screwdrivers.
Now, I get it that you just moved. I did recently too and it’s still hard to not think of where I used to keep things in the old house. That’s a weird thing to wrestle with.
But still, there seems to be a lot of random.
Anyway, thanks for messing with my head. Helps keep my brain on its toes, so to speak.
Stuart
Here’s how it was: Neatly organized tool chests, with a number of task-oriented toolboxes. Parts were all exactly where I knew to find them.
And now: Empty tool chests, with organized boxes and toolboxes in tall stacks waiting to be unpacked. I have a full list of the important items in each box, so I know where everything is.
Unpacking is taking waaaay longer than I anticipated. It’s also a lot harder because I was comfortable and rooted in my workspace and now everything is changing. Now, I won’t know what to put where until I’m done designing each space to my needs.
I left a couple of tape measures in my immediate-use toolboxes, but they grew legs and walked off somewhere.
I always have a problem putting tape measures back where they belong. Utility knives sometimes too. So I have a few always-in-the-same-spot backups when my favorites are left on a dresser, in the garage, in the basement. Now, it was the Stanley described above.
fred
Over on the ToolGuyd Community Forum – under the Unique Workshop Storage Solutions Thread – I posted a picture of a way to store multiple tapes out of the way – yet accessible under the edge of a workbench. I can’t take credit for the idea – but I can’t remember where I first saw it.
Stuart
Thanks!
Link to Fred’s post: https://discuss.toolguyd.com/t/unique-storage-solutions-in-your-workshop/189/39?u=toolguyd
Roger
In my line of work, on several occasions, I’ve seen the center pivot snap right off the body internally, that pivot is what holds the spring and is molded as a split on one side, then the belt clip screw is between them from the other half. It’s supped to be compressed fit, but the spring twists it off. Very common failure. Even the HF freebies were better. Avoided Stanley tapes for about 2-3 years now until recently with, seemingly, newer designs this year. Hoping they’re better now…