Tired of using worm drive tape measures? Craftsman now offers the first ever sidewinder tape measure. Sorry for the cheesy joke – I couldn’t help myself. In case you didn’t get the joke, there is no such thing as worm drive tape measures. Worm drive and sidewinders are references to types of circular saws, but anyways Craftsman does offer a new sidewinder tape measure.
What makes the Craftsman sidewinder tape measures unique is that the tape comes out sideways. This allows the tape measure body to lay flat on its side as you lay out the tape. This design is for stability and to prevent tip overs.
Overall it looks pretty much like basic tape measure designs except for the blade being placed sideways as it comes out. It still uses the same internals as a regular tape except it includes a mechanism that turns the tape to its side as it comes out.
Other features include a rear catch that grabs on to the edge of material for one handed measurements so you can lay the tape and “hook” on the body on the end of material while you pull out the blade.
The blade has easy to read fractions with number labeling for quarters, eights, and sixteenths. This should greatly help those that have a hard reading tape measures.
It has an auto blade lock just like Komelon tapes and other self locking tapes. The last feature is a writable surface on the back of the tape to jot down measurements or small notes. I’d stick to use with a pencil and eraser otherwise it’s usefulness would run short with pen markings.
It comes in a 25 foot blade length and is priced at $19.99
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