5 Best Tape Measures - Mar. - BestReviews

Tape measures, which as you know come on many different sizes, shapes, and styles, are heavily used at jobsites, measure king digital tape measure review work workshops, and commercial settings. Not-magnetic models and additional styles and sizes are coming soon — our Milwaukee tape measure preview includes an availability schedule.

Milwaukee : tough nylon blade protection, durable case, large magnetic hook, finger-stop, vertical markings and architectural scale on back of blade. Dewalt : foot blade standout, large blade hook, Mylar blade coating, 3M plastic film helps protect first few inches of blade from damage. The ability to stop the blade with your finger — safely — gives Milwaukee an edge, but we must look passed that to the lock itself.

Milwaukee : prior to using the tape measure, I was concerned that the blade lock looked a bit smallish. Dewalt : the blade lock is a little large and bulky for my liking, but is relatively comfortable to use.

Dewalt advertises the blade lock as being duo-durometer for comfort and durability, which means it has a soft rubber overmold. Winner: Milwaukee. Milwaukee : lock engagement is exceptionally measure king digital tape measure review work. Dewalt : lock engagement is generally poor, but passable. I suppose some users might prefer a lock where you can apply variable friction, but I like a lock that works properly.

It should be noted that I have two tape measure samples that were provided by Dewalt several months apart. The first appears to be an early production model based on tape color — and had a much worse locking mechanism that would slip every time. The one described here is a later production model. I prefer tapes that have strong but gentle springs.

The Milwaukee tape measure is slightly more gentle, the Dewalt transferred more of the blade retraction impact energy to my hand. I found that both are equally easy to read.

The Dewalt has a high-visibility green blade color, and the Milwaukee standard yellow but with high contrast markings. In theory, the Milwaukee tape reflects less glare. It feels different, sounds different, and according to Milwaukee it will last appreciably longer than competing tapes.

The print quality is a little more uniform, but you can only tell from close up. Dewalt and Stanley found that these first few inches are where a lot of blades fail.

Milwaukee claims that their blade has a 9-foot standout. Dewalt claims that their blade has a foot standout. Their tape can be extended to 9 feet comfortably, and even 10 feet without blade deflection.

It deflects too much and becomes unwieldy after that, and pops at 12 feet. Both tapes have oversized blade hooks. Both are shaped to reference materials from top, bottom, or side edges, and both hooks have nail slots. Milwaukee : I find that this tape measure fits my hands quite comfortable. Dewalt : I actually found this tape to be a bit too large for my measure king digital tape measure review work. The width of the case, size and position of the locking lever, and high blade retraction recoil makes this a less than ideal choice for my medium-sized hands.

Milwaukee : the wire-loop belt hook is a little more difficult to slide onto my belt, but is more secure. Dewalt : the bent-metal belt hook slips on easier, but is less secure. Milwaukee : Milwaukee says that additional structural fastening points makes for a stronger case. From as objective a standpoint I can muster, both are very high quality tape measures. But tape measures are the kind of tool where measure king digital tape measure review work and opinions make a world of difference.

The Dewalt tape measure is well designed and well built, except for the blade lock, which was exceptionally poor on an early production sample and passable — but still crummy — on a later production model. By itself, the Dewalt tape measure is better than a lot of the other options on the market. It is very thoughtfully designed and well built.

Thank you to Dewalt for providing a review measure king digital tape measure review work unconditionally. Review samples are typically given away, donated, or retained for benchmark and comparison purposes. The Milwaukee tape measure was purchased at full retail price from Home Depot. As a commercial electrician, I am pretty hard on my tapes. They get dropped, measure king digital tape measure review work get snagged, they get ab used, so replacing them is a common occurrence.

Magnets fall out? And its not really the metric that makes it horrible its having both on the same tape terrible freaking idea. It felt like a really good unit.

Personally i use Fisco tapes as they are quite cheap and were English made but they have been bought out by Hultafors who are Swedish i think but they do make some very good tools themselves.

The largest complaint I have with it is that over sized blade hook. However I only use it if I have to. I needed a new tape and the hardware store I went to only had the Dewalts.

I have a 16ft version of the new dewalt tapes and really like it. It is In measure king digital tape measure review work plastic housing rather than stainless abover but otherwise matches in over molding etc.

I just wanted to note that my dewalt tape lock has two two distinct levels of engagement which I find is really nice. Pushed half way down it is engaged enough to stop the recoils but can easily be manually advanced or retracted and will stay put without pressure. Then if I lock it all the way down it is quite secure measure king digital tape measure review work pressure.

Agreed with the hook comments above. This is a critically important part of a measuring tape, especially for rough carpenters, who often take long measurements from joints in wood. Those claims were true, but the hook was so huge that it was unwieldy. I like the extra measurements measure king digital tape measure review work the bottom of the tape. I had a couple of those a few years ago I think I still have a couple of them and they all had the same hook as the standard FatMax.

Fat Max Xtreme hook. Regular FatMax hook. The tape I use though kinda has a lock measure king digital tape measure review work to the dewalt with like variable friction which allows me to move it a bit when need be. Best tape going and still in white easy to read and not a busy tape at all for us older people.

Personal preference I guess White not yellow and Light to carry around in the shop all day. Paul, I personally have a American made vintage Lufkin tape that is easily 40 years old and is still as legible as this was seemingly day one. But I also own a American made Wilde 25 inch tape measure as well, which in contrast to the Lufkin, has yellow tape compared to the white tape.

This factor is measure king digital tape measure review work of origin. The Milwaukees are so new very few people own one, so no on can comment on them directly, instead just talking about what they already use. Everyone does have their favorites, which is why I tried to emphasize the subjective nature of my assessment. In terms of foot tapes, this Milwaukee has become my clear favorite.

I might even pick measure king digital tape measure review work a foot model as well, once the non-magnetic version hits the market.

Dewalt makes great stuff, I guess it just seems like Milwaukee has been trying to make innovations for the tradesman instead of just marketing the crap out of the color yellow. The Milwaukee tape will prematurely fail because the opening at the bottom will allow dirt and water inside.

The coating on the blade doesnt matter if the spring dries up. I find the Milwaukee nylon coating to be particularly noisy and obnoxious when retracting.

The case feels cheap and chachki and the lock kept popping loose when I pulled on the blade. For those who commented above on the big hook from DeWALT, use a Fatmax or a Fatmax Magnetic since that is the only tape with a True Zero reading and you can take the magnet off if you want.

The other brands are not as accurate. The Dewalt is a good tape measure, but in my opinion not as great as the Milwaukee. Time will tell if the Milwaukee tape suffers from high wear and damage due to ingress of contaminants through the bottom opening. Take a look at the time stamps. If we enter an advertising relationship with Dewalt, measure king digital tape measure review work that mean there is hidden meaning to the one or two times I have had to call out Mulwaukee-affiliated commenters?

Of course not. If a opening lets dirt in would it not also let dirt out? Which really would not guarantee a faster fail rate, just that you could possibly get something inside that would then fall out. No, not yet. Stuart — I rennovate houses and I have many friends in the industry. I prefer to measure king digital tape measure review work before I buy.

Thanks for the clarification! I figured there was a chance of you being a well-informed pro or enthusiast vs. SBD associate. I was doing something with the Milwaukee tape last night, and my wife called out from the other room asking what the heck was making that sound.

I know everything milwaukee is chinese made, it may be good quality, but its a chinese made, chinese owned company. At least Stanley Black and Decker is an American company. Call me bias. The big hook claims are great, but the reality is that it is too heavy for the tape when trying to measure horizontally on vertical surfaces.

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