Komelon Tape Measures – Item of the Day
Every day I bring you an item on Amazon that I personally use or has been purchased by many members of the audience and I have researched enough to recommend.
Today’s TSP Amazon Item of the day is the Komelon USA Tape Measure. These are available in 12-Foot, 16-Foot and 25-Foot lengths. This one became a TspAz Item of the day because I received so many requests review a tape measure. The one I recommend is inexpensive, long lasting and has one feature that will make you wonder why they don’t all have it.
Let me start off with something, I have had very expensive tape measures break and by break I mean come unraveled and once that happens, just accept your fate and throw it away. It usually happens when someone is “helping” and jerks the thing hard past the end of its reach (for which there is no good reason) and blammo it is toast.
So I stopped in my quest for a tape that would never break, because additionally I don’t know what it is but there are three things I lose more than anything else. They are in order sharpie markers, tape measures and nail clippers. I just don’t get it, I am talking not leaving a room or a garage, having just had it in my hand and fing GONE LIKE A FART IN THE WIND. Sometimes they show up, a day, week or month later, sometimes they are gone forever.
I tend not to believe in the super natural but if their are gnomes or some such shit that steals things, they must adore pens, tape measures and nail clippers.
So I set out a couple years ago to find a tape I could buy 2-4 of at a time, keep some in a drawer so when I lost one I just had another one. Funny thing though, I have misplaced these but I have yet to break one. I am going to call it luck but when I got sick of losing tapes and tried to find a low cost reliable one this was the first one I tried.
Now here is what got me to give them a look, other than a lot of positive reviews it was a feature called “power lock”. Now most tapes work like this, you run the tape out and then engage the lock. You disengage the lock to retract it. “Power Lock” is the reverse, it is sort of always on, when you run out the tape it locks so it will not retract but you can just keep running it out until you have enough to measure what you are working on.
When I thought about this, my first thought was, “why the hell would you make a tape the old way in the first place”? Seriously have you ever run out a tape and thought, man I am so happy that it didn’t self lock? Have you ever run out a tape and not needed to lock it, or at least hold it with finger tension so you could use it to well, measure something? Or have you ever thought, man when I lock that thing I am so glad you have to unlock it to pull more tape out of the holder? I mean a bird or a frog or something might just grab it and pull it out and mess me up!
In the end it seems completely backwards to have tapes lock the way they always have. If you have used tapes your entire life it does take a day or two to stop reaching for the lock and inadvertently unlocking it, but once you get used to it you will never and I mean never want anything else.
Once again these are available in 12-Foot, 16-Foot and 25-Foot lengths. Personally I see little utility for 16 foot tape measures and I instead have standardized on keeping a 12 foot and 25 foot tapes around.
My rational is as follows. The 12 foot tape is compact and caries easily on a belt or in a pocket. Because it is so small I tend to put it in my pocket when working and hence the gnomes that steal my stuff are less likely to find it. I find that a 12 foot tape with be enough for 90% of my daily project work, cutting lumber, measuring pipes, doing estimates etc.
For everything else I go grab my 25 footer that lives in a place in my pantry that the gnomes have yet to find, I use it and I put it back. Take that you thieving little gnomes!
In all seriousness I have never had a 25 foot tape in my hand and said man I wish this was 9 feet shorter! So here is what I recommend, pick up two pack of the 12-Foot, tapes for about 15 bucks, guys that is only 7.50 a piece. That way you will have a spare if the gnomes get one of them! Then pick up at least one 25-Foot one and keep it in your tool box or some other gnome safe location. The good news is even the 25 footer is under 10 bucks.
Remember you can always find the TSP Amazon Item of the day by just going to TspAz.com and by shopping at TspAz.com anytime you shop online you help support TSP and the work we do here no matter what you buy.
Yep, the Power Lock feature is great. I have expensive as well as cheap tapes, but my favorite ones to use have the auto locking feature and then you press the button to retract it.
Solid Item of the Day recommendation Jack!
Your thieving little gnome story is hilarious……!
Hard to beat the bang for buck ratio with the free ones you get at harbor freight with those coupons they have.
But even though I’ve collected enough of them to have one in every room, out building and vehicle… they still have a way of occasionally being harder to find than you would think.
Gnomes man, Gnomes I am telling you.
The power lock feature seems pretty nice! We also like to get the free ones from Harbor Freight whenever possible.
I have had these tapes in every corn of my house for years. They hold up the best and are easy to read.
I’ve had 2 of these (well, still do actually) and I love the way they work as opposed to the usual tapes, however both of them started slipping after a couple of years of daily use. After a certain amount of pulls the clutch starts to slip and just keeps getting worse and it just pulls itself back in. Probably fine for the average home owner not for contractors.
I used to use Stanley Leverlock doing tile work professionally. Similar concept, very cool design. http://amzn.to/2FCMe3Y
They would get covered in thinset and the powdercoating(or whatever it is) would wear off the underside of the tape after a year or 2 but I would get 3-4 years out of them. I still preferred the regular tape measures for measuring big areas like when I was measuring rooms for tile or carpet but for the most part the leverlock was preferred. I still have one in my tile bag but I also have the free harbor freight ones in every car, truck, toolbag, outbuilding, welding cart, grinder box, etc lol.
This one is cool too!
FastCap PSSR16 16 FastPad Standard Reverse Measuring Tape https://amzn.to/2Uacmqj
As a Gnome I take exception to your comments. Who has been stealing my stuff?
fyi for those just wanting these cheap, the 16 footers are under 5 bucks each. So 3 for the price of the 12 foot 2 pack. At least as I post this. Just a heads up.
Got mine today, they’re solid pieces. Thanks for the heads up Jack.
Saw the same thing. So Jack tells people to only get the 12′ and 25′ and Amazon reduces the price of the 16′ by 75%. So I got 4. Thanks Jack, you big Jerk.