Irwin’s Line-Marking Tape Measure
By Brad Justinen
Irwin’s 25′ Strait-Line tape measure features a pencil-less, quick-marking tip. Simply measure out your distance, press the bottom of the tape against your material, and mark your line. I wouldn’t recommend using this for precision work, but for rough marks I’d use it all day long.
With the dual-sided blade, you can easily read both elevations and flat-surface measurements, and the blade’s bright white color will keep you working until that last minute of daylight — if you’re into that sort of thing.
Street pricing starts around $20.
25′ Strait-Line Tape [Irwin]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?] [What's This?]
May 9th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
these guys make cheap/crappy products. I dont think Irwin is synonymous w. quality…
May 9th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
I had this tape for 4 months before i even realized it had a pencil on it. ITS AWESOME, especially for drywall work. Its solid and i really liked it.
May 9th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
oh and we get them for 15$ up here in canada, i paid 20 for it WITH the fancy irwin 6x rewind chalkline and a bottle of chalk at home depot. but good luck finding that…
May 9th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
Newell - the folks that used to compete poorly with Rubbermaid - until they bougt Rubbermaid out - also bought up a vriety of tool companies and brands that include:
American Tool Companies, American Saw, Baker, Bernzomatic, Bulldog-VSI
Chesco, Hanson - Hanson/Whitney, Irwin, Lenox, Marples, Quick Grip
Record, Shur-Line, Vise Grip
I’ve noticed that many of the product lines have now been blurred - wit the record name on some Chineese plumbing tools - while the original English company made great woodworking vises and hand planes.
I think that they’ve kept up the Lenox brand pretty well - but for some of the others there seems to be chaff mixed in with the wheat.
May 9th, 2008 at 6:02 pm
Yes these tapes ROCK for drywall work (sort of pun intended)
For rock its not like you are trying to be accurate anyway, since within a 1/4 is good.
As for carpentry these are just complete trash. For framing they just are not stiff enough compared to my regular silver Stanley 30ft (not the fat max).
And the little hook on the end has TO much play. Sometimes pulled it will read say 5/8. Other times pulled against lumber it will read 3/4 or 1/2.
No I do this for a living so its not like I don’t know how to use a tape, and after 3 of them, I have learned to just keep them in my drywall box.
May 12th, 2008 at 9:10 am
Hmmm, I wouldn’t go as far as Nick and say it’s complete trash for carpentry. I’ve enjoyed using mine. I do mostly custom furniture with a good dose of renovation on older structures (100-200 year old houses) and haven’t found it to be as inaccurate as he did. I do tend to cut pieces a bit long and then mark them to fit (remember that I’m not doing new construction, but usually fitting in pieces to existing construction).
I felt that the pencil is a gimmick and only good for rough cuts.
May 12th, 2008 at 11:11 am
For drywall they are the ticket, and Lowes stores around me were clearing them out for $3 a pop.
I bought 4-6 of them. They are a very good design and the pencil feature actually works pretty well.
JT
May 16th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
[...] Irwin’s Line-Marking Tape Measure Irwin’s 25′ Strait-Line tape measure features a pencil-less, quick-marking tip. Just measure out your distance, press the bottom of the tape against your material, and mark your line. It’s not laser-accurate, but it’s great when speed is the key. [...]
August 7th, 2008 at 6:45 am
IM A SOLDIER IN IRAQ I HEARD COMPANIES SUPPORT US BY SENDING FREE STUFF IF THIS IS TRUE IT WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED THANKS AND GOD BLESS MY ADDRESS FOLLOWS
DCO 1-8TH INF
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