This steel rule represents a good compromise between tape length and portability. Its 26-foot length (8 meters) is useful more often than it might seem, but the tape is not too bulky to carry easily in a tool belt. Stanley says the 1"-wide blade will support itself for nine feet. This is an important consideration for anyone who often works alone and needs to hook the end of a tape on a distant window casing or rafter tail. Narrower blades wont reach nearly this far.
This tape shows both millimeter and more familiar fractional graduations, and its three-rivet hook slides so the tape can be used for inside and outside measurements.
It sold for about $21 in September 2004.
Supplier: Stanley Toolworks
