In poundland at the weekend and I always like to take a look at the tools as I have found some good stuff in the past. This week I spotted they had tape measures in their Tommy Walsh brand, 7.5m for obviously a quid. Now I am quite at losing tape measures, especially when out and about buying supplies so I picked one up to see what it's like, it's not going to be used in the shop or anything, I want to just leave it in the boot of the car so I know we always have one on hand and if I leave it at the timber yard or on top of the car when loading materials (yes I have done that) then I have only lost a quid.
As to a review of the tape, it's about standard size for a 7.5m tape, the tape itself is 20mm wide and I can get about 2m of extension before it breaks, the markings are clear and easy to read and pass the fingernail test. Belt clip works as expected, not the most sturdy but will suffice, lock works easy and the tape retracts fine. Biggest downside is the hook, it's a bit thin and the internal/external movement on the hook doesn't look terribly accurate, but then again I am not going to use this for anything particularly precise, I though that if it measures within a couple of mm then that is more than good enough to tell me if I have fit a piece of wood in the car etc.
Did a test using my Stanley, a Rabone Chesterman, and the TW using parts of my computer desk as a reference and measured the following:
External:
Stanley 1516mm
Rabone 1516mm
TW 1515.5 (ish)mm.
Internal:
Stanley 659mm
Rabone 659mm
TW (just slightly under) 658mm
Plenty close enough for what I want!
So if you want a cheap tape measure than you can throw in the boot of the car and can afford to lose, this is a pretty good choice, I am happy with my investment.
