My brand new tape measure snapped at the 10 foot mark during a drywall job in Austin yesterday

I was finally getting into a rhythm cutting sheets for the garage ceiling and the metal tab just broke clean off. Now I'm stuck guessing the rest of the measurements and the whole room is gonna be uneven. Has anyone else had a brand new tool fail that fast or did I just get a lemon?

4 comments

4 Comments

mia7005d ago

I heard a guy on a podcast say the metal on new tape measures is way thinner now lol.

spencer_owens585d ago

Has anyone actually tested the thickness side by side, or are we just trusting some podcast guy's opinion? My buddy bought a brand new Stanley last week from Home Depot, and honestly the steel feels exactly the same as the one I've had for ten years. I think people just grip things tighter now and notice every little flex. Plus, if the metal was really that much thinner, we'd be seeing tape measures snapping left and right, and I haven't heard a single complaint from actual contractors I know. Maybe that podcast host just had a bad batch or was trying to stir up drama for listeners.

murphy.aaron5d ago

Did that podcast guy actually pull out a caliper and measure it, or did he just hold two tapes side by side and squint? Because I've seen that same "everything is getting cheaper" theory applied to socket wrenches, shovels, and even toilet paper rolls over the years. It's usually just someone noticing normal slight variations between different production runs and turning it into a conspiracy. Unless someone does a proper micrometer check on a bunch of new tapes versus old ones, I'm just gonna assume my new Stanley is fine until it actually breaks on me.

spencer7825d ago

Hear me out, I actually agree with you. I've been swinging a hammer for over a decade and I have tape measures from five years ago mixed in with ones I bought last month. The only time I've ever had a tape fail was when I dropped it off a ladder and the tab bent. I think that podcast guy was just trying to get people riled up for clicks. If the metal was really that much thinner, we'd be seeing way more posts like this one about them snapping on the job. So unless your tape came from a weird discount store, I'd say you just got a random bad one.