Recommendations on an American made 25'-30' long 1" wide tape measure that does not suck?

Something with a nice rigid blade ideally. Metric tapes need not apply.

Helping my dad do soffit and fascia on his place today and watching him struggle with the piece of garbage unit he presently has today led me to believe I need to replace it for him.

He was a Stanley tape man for years, but the traditional silver Stanley tape isn't durable enough based on our years of drop testing them and his last one broke leading him to buy the one that was frustrating him today.

He's not a leverlock or magnetic clip guy either. Traditional belt clip and blade hook all the way. Rubber grip on the outside is a plus.

Any recommendations? Does not need to be available at Menards/HD/Lowes etc.

Thanks.

I only use the Stanley Power Lock. The old fashioned one with the chrome finish. They last the longest by far.

For USA assembled it's probably going to be the Craftsman CMHT37725S or Stanley FMHT33338L for me. I like the autolocking tapes.

I also have several made in USA by US Tape and they are a step down in quality vs my USA assembled tapes.

Stanley power lock it is, 50 years in construction thats all I ever used, won't go wrong.

Stanley FatMax for me.

25' Stanley Powerlock is the only one I'll use. I've probably gone through 100 of them in the last 30 years.

Stanley 25' FatMax. 1" wide blade.

I was in the window covering business. I had to measure thousands of window openings for the fitting of the blinds, Shutters etc.

I liked the FatMax that had a magnet on the end. It allowed me to catch the metal cornerbead that most windows have and run the FatMax across with very little sagging. It goes out 10 plus feet without any bending.

It was my go to tape measure.

quote:

Originally posted by YellowJacket:
Stanley FatMax for me.

I have three, they are all reliable.

Being a former tradesman, I used it a lot. Best one I've tried.

Dewalt.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6517aSbzlyE

Stanley Fatmax, Craftsman and Kobalt all good. I also have a Stanley Powertape and it seems as good as any of the above to me. Lasers are another ball of wax. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHsxIkjQCuo

If you have a model that you like then they do come up on ebay. I've bought a couple older models rather than get the new builds.

Stanley FatMax. I have one that I got out of a junked car 10 years ago, and it has become my favorite tape measure by far. Life's too short to put up with a floppy tape.

+1 for the Stanley FatMax. Love mine.

quote:

I only use the Stanley Power Lock. The old fashioned one with the chrome finish

Mine is still good after 40 years of home use. 40 years ago all were made in USA.

Stanley Fatmax is still the best. Dewalt, Milwaukee aren't as good as a 1" wide Fatmax.

FatMax w/o a 2nd thought.

Andrew

I have been consolidating toolboxes as some of the places I kept the tool have been sold.

I found I have collected at least 7 tapes all
Stanley over the years.

Just Stanley, power lock, power lock II, level lock, FatMAx.

If I could only have one it would be the FatMax.

Especially for bigger jobs.

For around the house the smaller Stanley control lock.

Fat Max all day long. It’s available in a variety of lengths and with a magnetic tip. I have had several over years. The end of useful life in eye is usually accumulated damage to the edge of the tape. They hold up very well.

My favorite tape measure is my 16 ft. Milwaukee Autolock

another vote for the Stanley Fatmax.