In my review Maxi Systainer Review - What Festool doesn’t say that could change your life! Someone asked about dimensions… so I added some images showing the dimensions annotated with a tape measure. In a reply, Brian.ca, wrote “What type of tape measure is that in the pictures Steve?   That looks really slick.”. Check the above post to see the tapes in action… don’t hold your breath they are not that exciting.

Someone quickly replied and gave him the link for the tape measure I used. I thought about replying to my other review and adding information to that thread but realized that Brian.ca’s question really pointed to the fact that things as simple as tape measures can be a valuable product to and more information can be of benefit.

I don’t know how many tape measures I have owned, used, broken or lost over the years. Some I liked many I loathed. Too many times I found the scale down to 1/32 of an inch or even 1/64 of an inch, on the first few inches and Dang! Try and read that when you’re working above your head in dark corner!
Or they are only readable on one side of the tape and you can’t get to that side for the location you need to measure in. Also the color tape and the numbers so close they have no contrast and are hard to read.
 
FastCap makes many things; their website says the best selling line for them is their tapes measures.  I just have just three types of their many measures and would enjoy having a complete set to see how much I would use the others. What I find refreshing and like about the FastCap line is that they offer many options.

As with any measure accuracy is important. Now if you only have and use one measure you are always accurate. But if you want “Your 36” cut match someone else’s 36” cut. All tapes need to accurate. But even then measurement is a moving target. Take a tape sitting in your vehicle at -30 F. and measure something outdoors at -30 F. then go into a heated shop them tape warms up and you cut warm material… load it in the vehicle and the next day take back to the -30 F. location and don’t be surprised that you cut it short… How much?  In rough/framing…not enough to matter. Want it to fit an existing dove tail… not going to happen.

I took all of the below tapes and my others and in a temp stable site shop all my FastCap tapes measured spot on the same, at the full length of the tape. I checked my other tapes against them and found a couple of off brand tapes to be measuring differently. But not much more than the width of the line markings when tape to tape was measured. The oldest tapes had more hook slop….go figure.

We all work differently, on different things; therefore having measuring options just makes sense.

When working in remodeling the Lefty/Righty is what I use the most. I have two of them and have no issue having someone measure with one and another to mark and cut to the other.

I use the True32 for standalone project work as I just like to work in mm and Festool supports that. Also it is getting harder to find products, materials etc. that are not manufactured in mm…but labeled in inches.

Both the Lefty/Righty and the True32 use conventional locks. If you pull the tape out and let go it will retract back in. Push the lock lever down with your thumb and it locks.

The PMS (how they came to name it that, I have no clue), had an Auto lock. If you pull it out and let go, it stays! A very handy feature! Also the overall shape of the PMS is more comfortable to hold.

If I had to pick Auto-lock or manual lock, I would pick auto-lock for all my tapes. Now will the self brake wear out? Most likely I will lose, someone will take, or it will get kinked/stepped on before it wears out.

Other features on all of FastCap tape measures are:

The White dot on the label is a reusable writing surface that I have come to love and depend on! At first I thought it was a gimmick. I soon found that I have come to depend on it. I have even found the myself and crew marking down the measure and tossing the tape to the cutter and they toss back a clean tape so we don’t have the excuse of not hearing what the cut was.

With a writing surface included you need pencil… (I will review the Fatboy pencil later)… with a point.  All the FastCap tapes have a built in pencil sharpener!  WhooooHoooo! I don’t know how long I have used my Benchmade knife as my pencil sharpener.  Once you see this you wonder why someone else hasn’t done this before!

Another feature that is head slap moment is that is that clip on the tape. Most tapes have a fixed clip. FastCap’s have a thumb actuated clip. What I like about this is it goes over thicker surfaces with ease. All my other tapes I have to work to get them on even a thick tool belt strap. The FastCap is just flat out faster to clip and unclip.

I haven’t tried the flat tapes that FastCap offers. I like the concept and look forward to finding one on a dealer self soon so I can try them.
 
01 The three tapes I use most


02 View of what the tapes look like


03 You can write on the white area many times


04 Erase with the pencil eraser or with your thumb


05 The build in pencil sharpener gets a lot of use as it is always with me


Cheers,
Steve

I'm glad you found the review helpful. I find it very amazing how many times I learn stuff just chatting with people in the trade/hobby/interest.

Cheers,
Steve

I haven't had them all that long...but am going 2.5 years with not issue with sharpeners. How long have your lasted?

Once I went to Reading glasses I wish everything was printed bigger.... in all honesty I find them very read able.... and when I compare them to others... the they are better.

Got to say ... never had a recoil issue...

Cheers,
Steve

I just bought a Stabila recently. It has a much stronger return than my Stanleys, which sometimes need help to get the tape in. There's a nice spring loaded shock absorber to save the hook. The build quality is great. It fits nicely in my hand. The tape is very easy to read and printed on both sides. I'm generally impressed.

There are some drawbacks, though. I bought one with metric, which is half metric, half SAE. I would prefer an all metric tape. (They do make all SAE tapes.) The hook is only on one side of the tape, which means that there's no hook when using it upside down.

On balance, I think it's an excellent tape. Unfortunately, I have yet to find a perfect tape.

Sure. Here you go:

Here's a front and top view of the tape. I put it next to two of my Stanleys so you get an idea of the relative size.




Here's a view of the shock absorber. It's the yellow area that the hook hits when the tape is retracted. It's spring loaded and can be pushed all the way back to the black rubber part of the case. You can also see that the hook has a fairly robust connection to the tape.



Here's a comparison shot of the markings on all three tapes. The anti-glare coating on the Stabila is very good:

Thanks for posting the pictures.

I did look at the same place on the Fast cap and the blue and green ones also have a retraction bumper, to easy the shock of contact. It seems to be connected to the locking mechanism.  The yellow ruler with self lock...doesn't.

Cheers,
Steve 

Tom, just have to ask do you sell the FastCap rulers?  Being a dealer here not just a user could effect your feedback. If you sell  both cool!  If not.... Hmmmm

Cheers,
Steve

Tom,

Thanks for being a stand up guy and dealer! I very much appreciate and respect  your response. I had to ask as I got a personal email outside of the site asking....  I posed the question for the person and you addressed it. Thank you so much Tom!

Please keep up the posts!

Cheers,
Steve

Yes I generally find all tape measures vary in their accuracy from batch to batch.  I always use one tape measure from start to end of a project.  FastCap will refund or exchange any product you find to be faulty or unreasonably out of true, for life.  Whilst a UK dealer for their products, I have been impressed with the FC Tape Measures and I only stock items I have complete confidence in.

The Stabila and the Fastcap combo imperial / metric tape look great. Id like to check out the Fastcap with the little black dots that mark 32mm and marks for the standard Cabinet heights. I have been happy with my Husky that I did a review on last year but always searching for the perfect tape.

Question from a Trim carpenter stand point. Why 16 feet tapes? most trim I use is 12 or 16 feet so why not have a tape that goes to 18 feet? Gives a little extra tape for when you need to bend into a corner and still have enough tape to keep from having your hand jammed in the corner blocking your view and struggling to pull the last few inches out of the tapes housing fighting the return spring.

Funny about Julian's comment above.  I bought the Stabila 16 foot tape measure at JLC Live this year.  As Tom Bellemare said, it does feel like a quality tool.  After using it all this time, I think it's no better than the FastCap tapes (and you know what I really think of them).  The steel used for both the blade and belt clip is very poor in performance.  The tape easily gets kinks in the blade and the belt clip spreads apart too easily.  I've frequently taken the clip off to squeeze it tighter.  That lasts a second or two.  Can't recommend the Stabila tapes to anyone.  Back to the drawing board for the engineers at Stabila.  I can say that I never had these two issues with my Stanley Fat Max tapes, not that they're perfect in other regards.

If you don't mind, Ken, I'd like to make sure this gets passed on to those at Stabila... Their tapes are made to hire, if I'm not mistaken.


Tom

We've talked about this brand in the past.  I think it was JMB who first posted about them.  I believe their products are NAINA, however they could be imported without restrictions like Festool has.  BTW, got inches? 

+1 That looks real functional. Like a Fastcap tape and Accuscribe in one!