Talk:284: Tape Measure

I think it should be mentioned that Randall uses the unit Foot instead of Meter.--Dgbrt (talk) 10:28, 8 July 2013 (UTC)

All of the tape measures of the given type that I've used are in feet because I, like Randall, am in the US! (I've seen metric ones, but not used them). It seems entirely natural, although if you really feel it's relevant... --Quicksilver (talk) 18:41, 22 August 2013 (UTC)

I wonder why they don't make the tapes with metric on one edge, and imperial on the other. Some rulers and most vernier calipers do that. BK201 (talk) 17:35, 12 December 2013 (UTC)BK201

I have seen them with both units, but unless you're switching between them, it's better to have the same on both edges, since you can then make your pencil marks accurately on whichever side is more convenient. (For household use, though, my favorite shows inches on one edge and half that on the other, for centering.) 108.162.221.64 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

They do in some countries. I can confirm that it's a standard in New Zealand, at the very least. Apparently that's just not the case in America. Daniel 02:16, 20 February 2014 (UTC)

Or in Denmark - here we only have the metric tape measures.Kynde (talk) 11:33, 7 March 2014 (UTC)

In china we use meteric units and traditional units like Chi(1/3 m from the last century till now) and Zhang(10 Chi's as far as I know). I think only some clothes-making rulers use traditional units because people are used to them. 173.245.48.134 10:39, 7 July 2014 (UTC) Not registered

UK here, and pretty much any tape measure I've ever encountered has both metric & imperial. --Pudder (talk) 16:08, 7 October 2014 (UTC)

In Germany they're metric in most cases. But I found some with both scales. And I got excited since some tabletops (such as Warhammer) use imperial units, whiles others (Battlefleet Gothic - at least in the German rules) us metric units. And some (Flames of War) provide rules for using both. Now I can play all of them with only ohne tape measure :) Elektrizikekswerk (talk) 12:19, 17 November 2014 (UTC)

Another U.S. here, and I commonly see tape measure with both systems. I think that may be what Cueball is using here, but he just thinks "8 feet" because Americans tend to think about things in the imperial system. Trogdor147 (talk) 19:00, 7 September 2023 (UTC)

Stanley Fat Max tapes have this measurement as a selling point: http://www.stanleytools.com/default.asp?CATEGORY=HT_TAPES_FATMAX&TYPE=PRODUCT&PARTNUMBER=33-716&SDesc=16%27+x+1-1%2F4%26quot%3B+FATMAX%26reg%3B+Tape+Rule First one on the list. 141.101.99.82 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

As a very serious professional carpenter I can confirm that, indoors to avoid wind, one can with patience achieve at least 25’6”. My longer tapes lack enough of a cup to support much length. I mean extending vertically of course, if done at an extreme angle as shown the comic I am unable to get more than 6’ based on rigorous trials performed just now.

I tried how long my tape measure could go, the maximum length when I held the measuring tape was 9'9, which is around 2.98m. Guess this can really be an Olympic Sport when done correctly.Boeing-787lover 08:02, 26 June 2018 (UTC)

I will say, it must be insanely easy to measure results in this sport. Trogdor147 (talk) 19:00, 7 September 2023 (UTC)

I've just overhauled the middle of the explanation (it was a surrounded by brackets, for a start, which I removed (then added sub-patenthises of my own, for asides, naturally)...) and I've mentioned that the tape's own measurement probably isn't "competition standard measurement" as the long, low arc is an unreliable distance compared with horizontal distance. I suppose using "stock" tapes (ostensibly commercial tapes, like certain motor-racing events sort-of-use "production" vehicles) might still have graduations on them (perhaps a "tape-cam" is trained closely on the unit, to reveal the final 'unsupported' number visible, at a certain level of competition), but in the full professional/olympic-level version of the sport I think it'd probably be a matter of how horizontaly far from the spool can the tape go, using a sport-approved standard tape which needn't then have any graduations (or just marks for competitors' own 'pacing' purposes) and the measurement is on the ground.
As, indeed, is the case on the depicted sports' field, though I'm a bit worried about the various lateral positions of the competitors depicted. Possibly those are just guidelines, and VAR/Hawkeye/whatever technology is used to establish 'end to support' distance to laser accuracy.
The other pondering I had about this is whether it's a 'sustained' distance (the distance extended to that you maintained/exceeded for <x> seconds, prior to any collapse), 'achieved' distance (that which was instantaneously reached just before ground-strike), 'reached' distance (like long-jump, the nearest point at which the ground was eventually contacted, a "collapse" would be like falling badly backwards on landing) or 'recovered' distance (spool out, spool fully back, any ground strike at all disqualifies that attempt, so you have to push it only as far as you feel you can). Each of these could even be different disciplines, with their own particular tactics and techniques (e.g. "push it out as you feel it tangibly collapse, to try to gain that extra 'extension' slightly before it hits ground, but not so much that you induce more bending/kinking!", or "patiently stay behind the others, waiting for theirs to fail then complete your recovery"). Which would make for a more varied sports event. (Like going to see a race-meet involving F1, Nascar, Rally and Demolition Derby events on/within/around the same track. Or, yuknow... full Field(-and-Track) Athletics events, or even (tri/pent/dec/etc)'-athlons' for cummulative cross-discipline abilities! ((Yep, that's all worth considering. Future ITEF members, please feel free to take notes...)) 172.70.86.67 14:01, 19 November 2023 (UTC)