On Sun, 1 Feb 2009 09:57:10 -0700, the infamous "SteveB"
scrawled the following:


"Bill Noble" wrote

So, some HF stuff is good, some is great, and some is just plain
junk.

I needed a reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeely long tape measure to mark some property. I
looked at some, and they were spendy, and that is putting it lightly. I was
at HF on some other mission, and found one that was about 165' long, made of
fiberglass, and had a plastic reel. I think I paid $15, or less. I used
the thing, figuring it would last as long as the job, and that would be
worth it. I have had it for years now, occasionally using it for long
measuring jobs. If I had it in the truck and used it every day, I'm sure it
wouldn't last for as long, but there are those items where a cheap one is as
good as an expensive one for the job one is going to do. I have gone to the
Borg stores, and bought nice specialized tools, and paid the price, and have
some from HF that work as well, and some from garage sales that are from
another era that will outlive them both, and cost pennies on the dollar of
what they want new.

I have one of those, too, and have used it for years. I recently
bought one of the wheeled jobbers which doesn't have the limitations
of the tape. I use it to measure out fenceline lengths. It's somewhat
cheaply made but should be good enough for years of use.

I had to return the HF 91201 (Greenlee-knockoff) knockout punch set.
The bolt was made with SAE thread tolerances, the dies with metrics,
but it stripped the second I got more than ten pounds on the wrench.
'Twas a real POS. I got my money back rather than trying another set.

--
Even with the best of maps and instruments,
we can never fully chart our journeys.
-- Gail Pool