Guy on a job site tried to tell me his tape measure was more accurate than mine

I was working on a big tank repair at a chemical plant outside Gary last Tuesday, and this older boilermaker named Dave walks up and starts measuring the same seam I just laid out. He's using this beat up old Lufkin with a hook that's clearly bent sideways, and he goes 'my tape's been in the family since 1982, it's never let me down.' I just laughed and pointed out his hook has a solid 1/16 inch wobble on it. He got all defensive and said I was relying too much on 'fancy modern tools' because I had a brand new Stanley FatMax. We ended up measuring the same 6 foot section three times to settle it, and both came up within a hair of each other anyway. But the whole time he's shaking his head like my tape is the problem, not his crooked one. Has anyone else run into a guy on site who swears by some beat up tool that's way past retirement?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_nina1mo ago

@ruby_lane nailed it, old Dave probably trusts his bent hook more than most guys trust their level.

ruby_lane1mo ago

Older Dave's Lufkin has a bent hook, but that doesn't mean it's useless. A skilled hand knows how to account for a little wobble after thirty years of using the same tape. Maybe his beat up tool is more reliable than your shiny FatMax because he's already proven it works on a hundred jobs before yours.