STANLEY Tylon 8m/26ft Pocket Tape Yellow/Black, 0-30-656

Have found that my current 5m tape just doesnt quite do all the jobs needed of it so 8m seemed perfect. Strong clearly marked wider than usual tape and robust housing make this a good buy. My only reason for 4* is that the tape lock just doesnt feel quite strong enough. Happy with the buy though

Cant beat Stanley pocket tapes - inexpensive, last forever, do the job. I only had to buy this one as someone walked off with my last one (15 years old).... unless it eloped. I guess that could have happened (come back baby, alls forgiven!)

Stanley is something of a household name in the field of all kinds of tools, and Ive found their instantly recognisable yellow and black colour scheme has become an indicator of a certain standard of quality. Im happy to say that this extendable metal tape measure lives up to that reputation. Sporting the traditional yellow & black Stanley livery this item has a very robust and durable plastic and rubber casing held together with metal screws, and measuring 8cm x 8cm x a surprisingly hefty 4.5cm width. It is also rather weighty - in fact it has about the same dimensions as my dual steel tape & laser measure and weighs even more. This I assume to be the result not only of the superior and more robust build materials, but also of the length and width of the metal tape, extending as it does to 8 metres (26 feet). It has the same width as my laser measure because of the Metres and Feet/Inches measures marked on either edge of the tape. The tape itself is Tylon coated for protection, though I cant imagine this contributes much to the weight. The markings are clear and precise, and it is accurate; indeed over longer distances it is more accurate than my laser measure, albeit only marginally. The terminating metal tab is configured so as to allow it to be used to measure externally or internally, taking the width of the tab into account for more precise measurements. It extends freely and smoothly It also features the standard belt clip on the back. At only 3.5cm long it wont clip fully onto wide belts but the clip is stiff enough to secure it nonetheless, and while the clip is held by a central screw, it wont accidentally and annoyingly rotate around it if it loosens, as it is cleverly recessed to prevent that occurring. Having said all that, it does fall a little short of perfection; a minor irritation for me is the lack of carrying strap/loop or even a suitable hole to utilise one of ones own, but the major irritation is the stiffness of the locking tab, which requires undue pressure to lock and release, and when it does release it does so very suddenly with a jerk, thus exposing the user to the danger of having fingers caught by the metal tape as it spring-zooms back into the case. To be fair, this is all too often a property of spring loaded retractable metal tapes in general and not specific to this particular brand or model There is however a halfway position on the switch that allows one to keep the tape in position without actually being locked, just by keeping ones thumb held in position as a kind of brake, and this I find particularly useful for making fast, smaller measurements which dont require the tape to be greatly extended. Overall, I have to say that this product is as well built and efficient as I have come to expect from Stanley, and at the currently advertised price of £7.90 I deem it particularly good value for money.

RUBBISH. I used it today for the first time. After the 5th measurement (180) the tape refused to retract after half had gone back into the holder. I couldnt even push it back. The locking button is incredibly stiff. My solution was to draw out about 8 of tape and squirt WD40 inside it using the fine red straw provided on WD40 cans and squeezing it past both edges of the tape where it goes back inside the holder. The tape now works moderately well but still sticks when retracting AND the darn thing is now coated in WD40 so I cant even return it as I will presumably be deemed to have messed with its construction. No idea who Stanley have now subcontracted to make their equipment, but this is appalling quality. This will be my last purchase of a Stanley product.

Replacement for one I left on site

Excellent tape measure, very strong so you can measure up to 3 or 4 meters horizontally in the air before it bends. 8m is plenty for me, I usually use 6 meters or less.

Not good at retracting. Disappointing as so tough to push back.

The paint on the blade is comming of after the first rain

I’ve had this tape a few weeks now and I am a roofer. It’s perfect. Tuff durable. It’s fallen from 15-30 meters at times and still works perfectly. Great buy

This is a very nice measure. However, in my view it does seem to have one or two flaws. The main one being the pocket or belt clip. I strained the very small clip getting it away from its packaging. So, I had to take it off and reform it. It now works OK. I do though think the clip could be a little more in line with the rest of the tape measure. The other thing that would be nice on a measure like this, is a magnetic end tag. Even some of the cheaper tape measures have a magnetic end tag. Just a thought really.