Nothing fancy. Just a basic 25 ft tape measure because my 10 year old Harbor Freight one finally broke.
Does it flock its elf?
this post was submitted on 18 May 2026
83 points (97.7% liked)
Dull Men's Club
4157 readers
623 users here now
An unofficial chapter of the popular Dull Men's Club.
1. Relevant commentary on your own dull life. Posts should be about your own dull, lived experience. This is our most important rule. Direct questions, random thoughts, comment baiting, advice seeking, many uses of "discuss" rarely comply with this rule.
2. Original, Fresh, Meaningful Content.
3. Avoid repetitive topics.
4. This is not a search engine
Use a search engine, a tradesperson, Reddit, friends, a specialist Facebook group, apps, Wikipedia, an AI chat, a reverse image search etc. to answer simple questions or identify objects. Also see rule 1, “comment baiting”.
There are a number of content specific communities with subject matter experts who can help you.
Some other communities to consider before posting:
5. Keep it dull. If it puts us to sleep, it’s on the right track. Examples of likely not dull: jokes, gross stuff (including toes), politics, religion, royalty, illness or injury, killing things for fun, or promotional content. Feel free to post these elsewhere.
6. No hate speech, sexism, or bullying No sexism, hate speech, degrading or excessively foul language, or other harmful language. No othering or dehumanizing of anyone or negativity towards any gender identity.
7. Proofread before posting. Use good grammar and punctuation. Avoid useless phrases. Some examples: - starting a post with "So" - starting a post with pointless phrases, like "I hope this is allowed" or “this is my first post” Only share good quality, cropped images. Do not share screenshots of images; share the original image.
.
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
In my part of the world, KOBALT stuff is always blue colored, or so I thought. This yellow is closer to what DeWalt typically uses. What is this world coming to?
DeWalt yellow is quite different. I'd say that is closer to Ryobi green than it is to DeWalt yellow.
I've never figured out the little slidey tab on the end. Why does it move around?
It moves a tiny bit so that when you use it either push or pull, it reads correctly (think pushes against an inside corner vs hooked and pulled an outside corner). The little slop makes up for the thickness of the metal.
Wait. You only keep one tape measure around at a time? We buy one every time we can't find all the others.
Somewhere in my house is some corner where 35 tape measures have accumulated, because of some weird natural flow
Yep. I buy about 3-5 depending on sale price each time.
How far out can it go before cracking?
Pro tip: buy one with a magnetic end on it. Fantastic for grabbing those bolts or nails or whatever you dropped in a tight space that your hand doesn't fit.
The only downside to this (funny enough) is if you're measuring metal a lot. The end sticks to shit all the time and is a nuisance imo if you just need a bunch of quick measurements. If you're doing wood mainly, the screw/nail pickup thing you mention is really handy
They also collect a ton of shavings when you use them for metal, which gets to be a pain in the ass.
Nice! I got a new one a couple weeks ago because one broke and I couldn't find my other couple. Of course, immediately found them after the purchase. So it goes.
It's the only way to find lost items ... Buy replacement.
I've tried performing a symbolic ritual where I pretend I got the replacement and then go to put it in the perfect place. Never works. But when I get the new one, the place I pick that time is the place ei left the old one.
Do not -i repeat not - put stuff in the perfect place!! It's the only way to never find it again the next deccade. Please trust me on this one.
I'M NOT LISTENING. I now have 12 tape measures.
Real recommendation: go clean up. Not the project you need the missing item for, but a tangentially related project/area. Same type of project, different place. Or same place, different type of project.
Travel buckets for tools are a trap.
Ay I just got a new set of steel calipers to replace my shitty plastic ones... yes they're still harbor freight I'm not that fancy.
Everyone likes to crap on Harbor Freight tools, but for casual work they last me at least 8-10 years in most cases. Considering they cost 1/3 or 1/2 the price of bigger brands, I'm fine with that. It's not like any tool you can by these days, especially power tools, are heirloom quality like the tools our dads or grandpas used.
Harbor freight is also one of the only places you can get tools that isnt donating to shitty political campaigns.
They don't make campaign contributions as a company, and their higher executives have only donated to a couple democrats. Compared to the politics of most tool/hardware stores thats kinda incredible honestly
Huh, I thought all Kobalt stuff was blue.
Lowes carried a neon yellow selflock Komelon. They got phased out at the time I noticed the neon Kobalts showed up. Maybe a year ago.
Ah, they're pulling the good ol' Amazon Basics move
Same SELFlock^TM logo though. Maybe private labeled as opposed to copied. I don't know how to figure out who has the TM to see if it's licensed from Komelon or if it comes from a separate entity entirely. Or if it's even a real TM. The case is distinctly different, as the Komelon was a rounded comfort ergo whereas the Kobalt pictured is a manly knobby grippy thing.
Before the neon Kobalts selflocks, there were Komelons. I got the 25ft Komelon and don't really like it. I haven't tested the Kobalt, but the Komelon retracts too easily. The "lock" is meant to toe the line between holding itself extended and being easy to extend. It retracts if it's pointed up or if extended into the last half of the range.
However, I picked it for the color. I have a knack for leaving it in odd places. Same neon yellow. Quite findable. Besides, I don't buy duplicates of tape measures. I have 8 unique tape measures at home so I vaguely remember where each one last was
This one seems to hold its place pretty well, but there's also a lock switch if you need it to really stay put.
Oooo the lock switch is nice, then. Komelon only has the release button. It also took time to wear out. Perhaps this thread will lead to the 13th tape measure