Husky Tapes review

[JLB builders LLC]

Ok a little back ground for this post. I started out using stanley tapes 22+ years ago then shortly after that using them switched over to Crapsman (ok Craftman)since i was about 18 which I have always used and had no problem with til last year.

My last Craftsman tape broke last year and I gathered a few of them up and took them to Sears for a replacement. They stopped doing this 2 years ago!!! [mad] People abused a good thing and would cut the ends off of a perfectly good tape just for a new one. WHAT HAPPENED TO LIFE TIME WARRANTY? Any way the sales person knowing I was upset let me take some Stanley tapes.

I have tried to use these Stanley tapes but they won't hang onto the end of trim or a door frame when I pull to measure a room. Purely a crappy tape, for me anyway.  My craftsman worked perfect for me doing trim work. I went home and searched the web for the tapes but no luck. Checked the Starrett website because I have a chalk box that is a Starrett that is a perfect match, part number and all to craftman  and still no luck.

So I wandered into Home deposit  [wink] [tongue] and walked past the tapes and decided to check them out. Now Im not a Husky fan boy but I do have a mortar mixer and Tile saw by them. I found a 30 footer that didn't feel bulky and had easy to read numbers on it along with a protective coating that is suppose to last 10X longer. It has a magnet end, wide hook with a small hook on top that seems to grab also. there are numbers on the back of the tape also like a surveyers story pole. Great tape! But wait I picked up the 25 footer or maybe 16 footer and it is the same but with metric on the bottom edge and inches above that. The only thing with that tape is it also has 32nds which make it harder to read, I'm use to spliting a 1/16th by eye without having to focus on the tape as much. Anyway a Win/Win for the Husky Tapes, I bought both and they have a life time warranty so I am finally happy with my tapes again.

I gave the Stanleys to a friend who seems to go through tapes fairly fast at the shop he works at. He is happy and I am too. I was going to throw them out in a field or at a wall they had me so frustrated with trying to measure.  [big grin]

~Jamie

 

[Ken Nagrod]

Thanks Jamie.  I'll have to check out those Husky tapes.  Same issues here with the Stanley and Craftsman.  By the way, the lifetime warranteed Craftsman tapes were yellow and the new ones w/o the lifetime warranty are red.  What I need is one of those old cast iron ones with the belt and pulley system inside, something like Darcy uses.  [big grin]

 

[JLB builders LLC]

I had a couple yellow and a red one [mad]

The Husky for me is a great tape. Keep in mind I picked up the 10X longer life one which has almost a cloth like feel to it. Doesn't get dirty like cloth just has that feel. I will get some pics today, have one more 25 ft Stanley to find and throw somewhere.  [big grin] maybe some side by side pics

 

[fdengel]

I don't have one of their tape measures, but the handful of Husky products I do have I've been very pleased with.  Not exactly Festool, but then, who else is?

 

[JLB builders LLC]

16' and 25'. I added my festool tape as more of a refearnce  [big grin]

 

[Vario]

For me, on construction (electrician) The best tapes are the stanley fat max. yellow 26'. I work in inches but the plans are metic. It has both, a good standout, and survives harsh conditions. Everything else didnt last. The fatmax extreme sucks balls. The nice thing about the husky is the numbers on the underside of the tape.

 

[Roseland]

JLB,

I have the BMI tape (the one also sold branded as Festool) which I find nice and clear, but it doesn't retract fully without being punched back the last few inches.  I thought I had a defective one, but in my nearest store (Azminster) they were all the same.  Is yours the same?

Andrew

 

[Vindingo]

I have been using the Husky tape for almost 5 months now. My biggest problem with it is the silver and black color.  It just disappears ALL THE TIME! 

I used a Stanley fat max for years, so I am conditioned to look for a yellow tape.  I spend so much time looking for that damn Husky tape that I have started to switch back to a fat max. 

Besides the color problem: imperial/metric, magnet on hook, and numbers on bottom of the tape have all been nifty.   

 

[greenMonster]

The fat max extreme seems to be consistently hated, but i rather like it for its great standout, probably best in that department

 

[Brice Burrell]

The fat max extreme seems to be consistently hated, but i rather like it for its great standout, probably best in that department

I just don't get like the fat max tapes, way to fat for me.  Throw one in your belt and that's all you'll get in there, no room for any other tools.

 

[greenMonster]

definitely agreed. Then again it isn't my goto tape, but when i need the standout its great.
Nothing more annoying then a floppy tape for long measures on a ladder.

Can always take off the clip, that helps with its bulk

The fat max extreme seems to be consistently hated, but i rather like it for its great standout, probably best in that department

I just don't get like the fat max tapes, way to fat for me.  Throw one in your belt and that's all you'll get in there, no room for any other tools.

 

[JLB builders LLC]

JLB,

I have the BMI tape (the one also sold branded as Festool) which I find nice and clear, but it doesn't retract fully without being punched back the last few inches.  I thought I had a defective one, but in my nearest store (Azminster) they were all the same.  Is yours the same?

Andrew

Im not really sure now. I will check next time I am around it. I bought it cause it said Festool but don't use it and it is very floppy. Sorry for the delayI didn't get an email saying there was a reply and have been away from the site for a while busy with work.