Top pick

The PowerLock is easy to use, durable, affordable, accurate, and capable of doing its job without additional features that aren’t necessary for around-the-house work.

The Stanley PowerLock is the best tape measure for a number of reasons. It has a durable blade, a functional tang, a solid stand-out, a strong locking lever, and a convenient belt hook. The PowerLock is a very basic tool and its pared-down simplicity makes it very light and easy to handle.

It’s one of the most inexpensive tapes that we looked at, as well as one of the best, combining quality and value. The other tapes, which cost more, all had failings—a poorly protected blade, a gigantic tang, a lame stand-out, or an impossible belt clip.

The most important characteristic of a superior tape measure is the durability of the blade. The Stanley blade is coated with a Mylar polyester film, which our testing proved to be superior to most of the other tapes. Remember, this is the key point in the durability and longevity of a tape measure. When we dragged the weighted sandpaper over the PowerLock, the coating showed some surface scratching, but the printing remained fully intact. On many of the other tapes, like the Johnsons and the FastCaps, the printing came off like we were erasing a pencil mark. The Stanley was in the small class of tapes that held up to this abuse.

We also found that the durability of the PowerLock’s blade extends beyond a resistance to grit and debris into kinking and general abuse as well. One of the projects we used the tapes on was measuring for 20 custom storm windows, a task consisting of seven measurements per window. For the diagonals, we planted the tang at the lower corner, extended the tapes, and then bent them over with a twist in order to read the upper corner. The PowerLock handled this repetitive bending and kinking with no problems, but we were surprised at how quickly this task worked over some of the tapes, like the Keson and the Tajimas, which quickly developed slight warps and wrinkles in the thin blades.

The tang on the PowerLock is minimal, but very effective. It was dead-on accurate when we tested it with the Lixer Calibrator, meaning both the push and pull measurement are right where they’re supposed to be. This indicates the quality of the tang as well as its relationship with the tape blade. In the PTR round-up, DeBoer writes, “believe it or not, we found the Stanley PowerLock to be the epitome of how a tang should move—forward and backwards with almost no lateral movement. Maybe that’s why the tape has been around for 50 years.” As we said above, all of the tapes are within what we feel to be the margin of error for accuracy. Still, using the PowerLock for a carpentry project, we were comforted knowing that it is 100 percent dead-on accurate.

The PowerLock has a blade stand-out of 7 feet, 10 inches, which is on the upper side of the limit indicated by Clement and DeBoer. This length is attained with the PowerLock’s 1-inch-wide blade and was the third furthest stand-out of the 1-inch tapes (the Milwaukee had 9 feet, 2 inches, and the Starrett has a bizarro-long 10 feet, 5 inches).

The locking lever is strong and easy to use, with a nice texture that prevents the thumb from slipping. You can easily lock the blade with one hand. Once locked, the tape didn’t budge as we bounced it on its own weight.

The belt hook is a standard but functional design. It has a nice spring to it and the flare at the end makes it easy to blindly hook on a back pocket.

Because of the 1-inch blade, the body of the PowerLock is a slim 1½ inches wide. It’s one of the taller tapes, with a classic “D” design, but it’s not unwieldy. In Clement’s review of it, he says, “No one will accuse me of having large hands and the PowerLock fits in my hand nicely.” He goes on, “The squatter, rounder topped tapes with wider (1¼ inch) blades feel too bulky. I can hold the [PowerLock] in my hand, pay out tape, and bend the tape—say for measuring across a floor or from floor to ceiling—in a fluid motion without having to readjust the tape in my hand.”

The people we asked to handle the tapes had similar experiences. A couple of them commented on how light the PowerLock was compared to the others, especially the 1¼-inch tapes (the PowerLock is 13¼ ounces, tied with the Keson for the lightest tape tested). The solid feel of the tool and the smooth locking lever were also noted as high points. Because the PowerLock has been the standard tape measure for so long (and the one that everyone’s dad owned) it seems to have become what people are comfortable and familiar with. “Yeah, it’s a tape measure … it’s what you expect,” one person said. Everyone thought that the 1¼-inch tapes were bulky and heavy. The Tajimas and FastCaps got high marks for their compact size, but they each have their own flaws that we’ll get to in a bit.

A really nice additional feature of the PowerLock is that the tape case is marked for inside measurements. The body of the tape is exactly 3 inches long (which is printed right on the case), so if you’re measuring a room from wall to wall, you can extend the tape until the back of the case touches the wall and just add the 3 inches to what you read on the tape. About ⅔ of the tapes that we tested had this feature, but the Stanley was one of seven that kept this measurement to an easy-to-use 3 inches. Using the DeWalt, you have to add 3¼ inches and the Snap-on makes you add 3⅛ inches.

On the underside of the case, right where the tang sits, the PowerLock has a slightly loose piece of black plastic. This acts as a shock absorber when the tang comes slamming back into the case. A few of the other tools had something similar with varying degrees of success. The Johnson JobSite, Johnson Big J, and Keson tapes also had bumpers, but when they were pressed, they actually forced open the seam along the underside of the case. Better versions were found on the Starrett and Tajimas, but those tapes had other issues covered below. The Komelon, Lufkin, and Snap-on extend their ample rubber over-mold up to the nose of the tool so that it directly acts as a bumper. But again, those tools didn’t fare well in other categories.

Stuart Deutsch of ToolGuyd also reviewed the PowerLock and the only fault he had with it was that he felt the smooth design of the case and sweaty hands don’t mix too well. He ended by saying, “Overall, I highly recommend Stanley’s PowerLock tape measures, especially given that they’re cheap enough to replace if or when they’re dropped too many times.”

This last point he makes is worth emphasizing. At around $12, the Stanley PowerLock is one of the least expensive quality tapes on the market. DeBoer also picks up on the cost analysis in the PTR piece. His bottom line verdict: It’s “the affordable, no-frills standard.”

The PowerLock has a fairly typical warranty. It doesn’t cover any user wear and tear, but if there is something inherently wrong with the tool, they’ll give you a new one.

We need to note that Stanley sells another version of this tape measure that they refer to as the PowerLock with Blade Armor. We tested this model out too, and even though it sounds like it would be the superior tape, it pales in comparison to its more stable sibling. On the good side, the Blade Armor version has an “industrial thermo-plastic” coating over the first 3 inches of the tape, where the wear is the hardest. This is a nice touch, but we also found that it had one of the weaker blade locks of any tape we looked at. The tape started recoiling with even the slightest movement. While we liked the added blade durability, the loosey-goosey blade lock was too frustrating.

Last, with its long 50-plus-year history, the PowerLock is also something of an icon. And while we’re interested in performance here and not historical status, the fact that the PowerLock was good enough to be packed on the Apollo 11 lunar landing mission means that it’s probably good enough for your kitchen drawer.

We’ve continued using the PowerLock since 2015 and we’re still impressed. It has held up despite numerous drops, and we’ve occasionally checked it against the Lixer tape measure calibrator and it remains accurate.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

For all of this goodness, the PowerLock still has a couple slight flaws. First, the belt hook is a simple metal clip. This is a standard design on tape measures, and when clipped and unclipped repeatedly on a pocket, it starts to fray the fabric. However, this is only a concern if the tape is being used on a very regular basis.

As stated earlier, the PowerLock has been around for over 50 years and the one thing that has changed over time is the case. Somewhere along the way, most likely for cost reasons, Stanley stopped making them out of metal and started making them out of plastic. In our research, we found that many longtime users of the PowerLock wistfully long for the days of the metal case. The fact is that plastic cases are simply the norm these days, and they offer enough durability to get the job done. Of the tapes we tested, only the Johnson Big J had a significant amount of metal in the case and at no point did we get the sense of any significant added durability.

Top pick

The PowerLock is easy to use, durable, affordable, accurate, and capable of doing its job without additional features that aren’t necessary for around-the-house work.

The Stanley PowerLock is the best tape measure for a number of reasons. It has a durable blade, a functional tang, a solid stand-out, a strong locking lever, and a convenient belt hook. The PowerLock is a very basic tool and its pared-down simplicity makes it very light and easy to handle.

It’s one of the most inexpensive tapes that we looked at, as well as one of the best, combining quality and value. The other tapes, which cost more, all had failings—a poorly protected blade, a gigantic tang, a lame stand-out, or an impossible belt clip.

The most important characteristic of a superior tape measure is the durability of the blade. The Stanley blade is coated with a Mylar polyester film, which our testing proved to be superior to most of the other tapes. Remember, this is the key point in the durability and longevity of a tape measure. When we dragged the weighted sandpaper over the PowerLock, the coating showed some surface scratching, but the printing remained fully intact. On many of the other tapes, like the Johnsons and the FastCaps, the printing came off like we were erasing a pencil mark. The Stanley was in the small class of tapes that held up to this abuse.

We also found that the durability of the PowerLock’s blade extends beyond a resistance to grit and debris into kinking and general abuse as well. One of the projects we used the tapes on was measuring for 20 custom storm windows, a task consisting of seven measurements per window. For the diagonals, we planted the tang at the lower corner, extended the tapes, and then bent them over with a twist in order to read the upper corner. The PowerLock handled this repetitive bending and kinking with no problems, but we were surprised at how quickly this task worked over some of the tapes, like the Keson and the Tajimas, which quickly developed slight warps and wrinkles in the thin blades.

The tang on the PowerLock is minimal, but very effective. It was dead-on accurate when we tested it with the Lixer Calibrator, meaning both the push and pull measurement are right where they’re supposed to be. This indicates the quality of the tang as well as its relationship with the tape blade. In the PTR round-up, DeBoer writes, “believe it or not, we found the Stanley PowerLock to be the epitome of how a tang should move—forward and backwards with almost no lateral movement. Maybe that’s why the tape has been around for 50 years.” As we said above, all of the tapes are within what we feel to be the margin of error for accuracy. Still, using the PowerLock for a carpentry project, we were comforted knowing that it is 100 percent dead-on accurate.

The PowerLock has a blade stand-out of 7 feet, 10 inches, which is on the upper side of the limit indicated by Clement and DeBoer. This length is attained with the PowerLock’s 1-inch-wide blade and was the third furthest stand-out of the 1-inch tapes (the Milwaukee had 9 feet, 2 inches, and the Starrett has a bizarro-long 10 feet, 5 inches).

The locking lever is strong and easy to use, with a nice texture that prevents the thumb from slipping. You can easily lock the blade with one hand. Once locked, the tape didn’t budge as we bounced it on its own weight.

The belt hook is a standard but functional design. It has a nice spring to it and the flare at the end makes it easy to blindly hook on a back pocket.

Because of the 1-inch blade, the body of the PowerLock is a slim 1½ inches wide. It’s one of the taller tapes, with a classic “D” design, but it’s not unwieldy. In Clement’s review of it, he says, “No one will accuse me of having large hands and the PowerLock fits in my hand nicely.” He goes on, “The squatter, rounder topped tapes with wider (1¼ inch) blades feel too bulky. I can hold the [PowerLock] in my hand, pay out tape, and bend the tape—say for measuring across a floor or from floor to ceiling—in a fluid motion without having to readjust the tape in my hand.”

The people we asked to handle the tapes had similar experiences. A couple of them commented on how light the PowerLock was compared to the others, especially the 1¼-inch tapes (the PowerLock is 13¼ ounces, tied with the Keson for the lightest tape tested). The solid feel of the tool and the smooth locking lever were also noted as high points. Because the PowerLock has been the standard tape measure for so long (and the one that everyone’s dad owned) it seems to have become what people are comfortable and familiar with. “Yeah, it’s a tape measure … it’s what you expect,” one person said. Everyone thought that the 1¼-inch tapes were bulky and heavy. The Tajimas and FastCaps got high marks for their compact size, but they each have their own flaws that we’ll get to in a bit.

A really nice additional feature of the PowerLock is that the tape case is marked for inside measurements. The body of the tape is exactly 3 inches long (which is printed right on the case), so if you’re measuring a room from wall to wall, you can extend the tape until the back of the case touches the wall and just add the 3 inches to what you read on the tape. About ⅔ of the tapes that we tested had this feature, but the Stanley was one of seven that kept this measurement to an easy-to-use 3 inches. Using the DeWalt, you have to add 3¼ inches and the Snap-on makes you add 3⅛ inches.

On the underside of the case, right where the tang sits, the PowerLock has a slightly loose piece of black plastic. This acts as a shock absorber when the tang comes slamming back into the case. A few of the other tools had something similar with varying degrees of success. The Johnson JobSite, Johnson Big J, and Keson tapes also had bumpers, but when they were pressed, they actually forced open the seam along the underside of the case. Better versions were found on the Starrett and Tajimas, but those tapes had other issues covered below. The Komelon, Lufkin, and Snap-on extend their ample rubber over-mold up to the nose of the tool so that it directly acts as a bumper. But again, those tools didn’t fare well in other categories.

Stuart Deutsch of ToolGuyd also reviewed the PowerLock and the only fault he had with it was that he felt the smooth design of the case and sweaty hands don’t mix too well. He ended by saying, “Overall, I highly recommend Stanley’s PowerLock tape measures, especially given that they’re cheap enough to replace if or when they’re dropped too many times.”

This last point he makes is worth emphasizing. At around $12, the Stanley PowerLock is one of the least expensive quality tapes on the market. DeBoer also picks up on the cost analysis in the PTR piece. His bottom line verdict: It’s “the affordable, no-frills standard.”

The PowerLock has a fairly typical warranty. It doesn’t cover any user wear and tear, but if there is something inherently wrong with the tool, they’ll give you a new one.

We need to note that Stanley sells another version of this tape measure that they refer to as the PowerLock with Blade Armor. We tested this model out too, and even though it sounds like it would be the superior tape, it pales in comparison to its more stable sibling. On the good side, the Blade Armor version has an “industrial thermo-plastic” coating over the first 3 inches of the tape, where the wear is the hardest. This is a nice touch, but we also found that it had one of the weaker blade locks of any tape we looked at. The tape started recoiling with even the slightest movement. While we liked the added blade durability, the loosey-goosey blade lock was too frustrating.

Last, with its long 50-plus-year history, the PowerLock is also something of an icon. And while we’re interested in performance here and not historical status, the fact that the PowerLock was good enough to be packed on the Apollo 11 lunar landing mission means that it’s probably good enough for your kitchen drawer.

We’ve continued using the PowerLock since 2015 and we’re still impressed. It has held up despite numerous drops, and we’ve occasionally checked it against the Lixer tape measure calibrator and it remains accurate.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

For all of this goodness, the PowerLock still has a couple slight flaws. First, the belt hook is a simple metal clip. This is a standard design on tape measures, and when clipped and unclipped repeatedly on a pocket, it starts to fray the fabric. However, this is only a concern if the tape is being used on a very regular basis.

As stated earlier, the PowerLock has been around for over 50 years and the one thing that has changed over time is the case. Somewhere along the way, most likely for cost reasons, Stanley stopped making them out of metal and started making them out of plastic. In our research, we found that many longtime users of the PowerLock wistfully long for the days of the metal case. The fact is that plastic cases are simply the norm these days, and they offer enough durability to get the job done. Of the tapes we tested, only the Johnson Big J had a significant amount of metal in the case and at no point did we get the sense of any significant added durability.