m II wrote:
Nothing like being tied up in a knot with a tape measure, balancing
off the side of a ladder, and only one hand to operate the tape
measure extended past it's normal holding strength only to find the
metric on the side you need to get that 1/32" accuracy for that crown
moulding cut.

Double measurement tapes should be banned as they are so hard too hide
in the garbage can after the wrapping paper is ripped off the gift
from a well meaning friend. You keep it around and sooner or later
you will pick it up with many regrets.


You hit it right on the head! If I worked in both metric and SAE, that
would be one thing, but I don't so it really annoys me to stretch a tape -
especially in an awkward setting, only to find that the edge I need to read
is not what I need. I'm too old to teach new tricks to, so I stick with
what I'm familiar with in matters like this. If I did work in metric, I
would probably have a metric tape around for those times when I needed it,
and not deal with the hassle of not being able to read one edge for the
measuring system I'm using.

FWIW, I saw some tapes at Harbor Freight the other day that looked like they
would be worth purchasing. Fit the hand well, good positive lock (that's a
big one for me...), $3.00 - a great price, and felt pretty sturdy. Pulled
out the tape on just about every model they had on the rack, and all of them
were either dual scale, or worse... the idiot versions with the fractional
markings on them. My eye just can't warm to those after all these years of
recognizing ticks. The older ya get, the easier it is to confuse the
eyes...

--

-Mike-