STANLEY FATMAX Autolock Tape, 5 m/16 f
STANLEY FATMAX Autolock Tape, 5 m/16 f
About Us
Since 1843 STANLEY tools have been on the belt and in the hands of professional contractors and accomplished homeowners. Synonymous with quality, reliability, innovation, and value, STANLEY is the name in tape measures and trusted worldwide for accuracy and dependability.
We’re proud of our reputation for excellence and are dedicated to continually designing, and improving our products to ensure quality and maximum function. Maintaining our standing as at what we do is vital to us and what you expect from a name like STANLEY.
| Weight: | 440 g |
| Size: | 5 m/16 ft |
| Dimensions: | 17.91 x 11.51 x 6.2 cm; 440 Grams |
| Model: | ZSTA-0-33-503 |
| Part: | ZSTA-0-33-503 |
| Colour: | Yellow/ Black |
| Pack Quantity: | 1 |
| Batteries Required: | No |
| Batteries Included: | No |
| Manufacture: | STANLEY |
| Dimensions: | 17.91 x 11.51 x 6.2 cm; 440 Grams |
| Quantity: | 1 |
| Size: | 5 m/16 ft |
Tape measure doesn’t rewind and slice fingers or smash knuckles. 3.3m before snapping. You push button to make it return so it can be used one handed.
I use these on a wet saw so the last a year or two before rust gets the numbers.
Then I buy another.
Cheaper ones last weeks get rusty twist kink are as substantial as a ribbon.
Robust and well made but quite heavy. The storage slot for the spare piece you’re not using doesn’t really work, especially if you try and store the magnetic tip as it just sticks to other things and gets pulled out. Standout is excellent but not quite up to the claimed length. The belt clip is really surprisingly flimsy too and is easily bent out of shape.
Used daily for six months great sturdy tape measure will open 3.5m plus before bending, the magnetic end can sometimes be annoying, lifting out of my tool pouch it comes out like a lucky dip with all sorts stuck to i
I prefer the tape to come back on its own, you have to press tye button to let it back in, solid piece of kit, easy to lose the attachments when not in use thou
Been using one of these tapes for the last 5 years, mine finally gave up on me last week, surprised it lasted as long as it did especially the amount of drops from a height it has had. Also Amazon is probably the best price for this tape at the moment ordered 11 o’clock this morning and delivered by 7 o’clock this evening
Loved the autolock facility, the magnetic end, excellent wide tape enabling you to take long measurements on your own, and good protection on the tape. Hope it lasts well. Downside was the wide end that loosely clips into the body. Its so loose, I lost it on the job on day one and could have been useful, but no idea where it went. Needs a better placement fixing
The wide blade extension is not secured like in the pictures. When you insert it in the rubberized overmold the extension doesn’t go all the way in, so it’s not secured. If you clip the tape measure in your jeans pocket, chances are the blade extension will fall due to motion. It is not like in the pictures. Also, the belt clip hurts a bit if you place it in your jeans pocket, as I do. That’s due to the clip’s curve. Bothe these things are not a dealbreaker in my opinion, because this seems a great tape. Powerful magnet, mine is hard to remove from the tape, it’s still in there. Large number for us folks that need to reach for glasses all the time. Seems robust, but time will tell. Feels nice in the hand, although a bit bulky, but that’s the price you pay for the wide tape and large numbers. The rubber gives nice grip, unlike the all plastic casings. It’s my favourite tape along with an old Stalnely metal-cased powerlock.
Great tape in every way but very disappointing that the magnet is so difficult to remove. Not sure if this is a common problem or just a faulty tape. Once I did manage to remove it the larger head clips on and off quite easily but the magnet seems to now be stuck on again and will likely remain there for the foreseeable future
I needed a tape that would survive the environment of outdoor work and this certainly does the job. It is easy to read even in low light situations and of a great build quality which you would expect from Stanley tools. Should last a long time as long as you don’t abuse it too much
I bought this after using a friend’s fatmax 5m measure. It arrived in good condition with the magnet attachment already attached. The tape had a slight squeal when first fully extended but this stopped after a couple of uses. One thing to note is the last few inches of the tape, as you approach the 5m mark, are unmarked. It stops at 192″/16′ but continues on to 5m in metric markings. The recoil function is a weak point once extended past a couple of metres of so, needing a helping hand thereon.
Overall I’d recommend this tape but be aware it’s bulky and heavy.
The product is excellent, however not exactly what I was wishing for. More precisely it is because of what seems to be an illogical offering decision, (I will venture to call discriminatory,) by Amazon UK. This is the reason I gave the transaction a 4/5 stars.
Let me explain. I’m an American working in the EU, so having a measuring tape as this one could be of great help. (Yes, I have difficulties jumping between inch and cm. Yes, I’m an old clumsy guy, so what?) Originally, I wanted to have the 26ft version, but I had to settle for the 16ft version because the 26ft would not be sold outside the UK (not to mention Amazon DE which does not even have the 16ft version in their short catalog). The why beats me. I can’t figure out a proper answer.
However, I bought the 16ft version with the hope I would survive the extra work. Guess what, I had to buy from another source the 26ft version. Fortunately, my son was more than happy in having the 16ft version as a present.
I’ve been using the FatMax for many years (the US version) and there is almost no other quality tape as this. deWalt, Millwakee get close, but if I have the choice, I’ll go for the FatMax without hesitation.
I needed a new tape and Amazon was the best price. I like the FaxMax range so went for this one. It feels nice in the hand when using. It’s very accurate, has a few options on the end (interchangeable hook or magnet) which are useful and the auto-lock is handy. I like that you can lock the the button back to stop it from auto-locking when needed. Most useful though it the standout on the tape. I’ve forever played games trying to run a tape out, praying it won’t drop or fall off whatever I’m running it along. Not with this tape. The only thing that is a little useless is the holder for the attachments. So the magnet is stuck to the unside of the tool box for safekeeping and the oversized hook lives on the tape. It’s still perfect for my needs though.
– Very strong, so I can easily measure some 4 meters in the air if I use both hands.
– Very convenient and comfortable to use. I love the auto-lock feature, that’s the main reason I bought it. So nice, it’s a measuring tape that isn’t constantly trying to close on itself and potentially cut your fingers.
– My other auto-lock tape (very old so I have no idea what brand it is or even where I got it) is very thin so it kept falling sideways when placing it on a flat surface. I love that this Stanley is very stable when upright, so very easy to measure on a flat surface, as you can just pull it open and let go of it if needed, and it just stays put while you mark/measure.
– I really like the rubbery surface on the bottom. Helps to prevent it from slipping if you move the work piece a little.
– Swappable magnetic clip / large clip. The magnet is nice and strong.
– Easy to retract without the tape going too fast, after a couple of minute of practice I can do this very easily, either by tilting the tape or by not pressing the button too much.
Cons:
– Mediocre build quality for the price. It looks and feels nice enough, but the first day of use it was getting stuck whenever I tried to pull it out. It is now working perfectly fine.
– Pretty large, so not ideal for carrying on a belt.
– Poor belt clip made of very thin folded sheet metal.
– The swappable clip that isn’t attached to the end of the tape doesn’t hold very securely to the side of the case. I would suggest finding another place to put it if you don’t want to loose it.
Overall pleased, even with the high price point. It’s a nice tool to work with. Hopefully it lasts at least a few years.
The tape come with two different tape ends. One is a very large flat plate that helps you hook the tape on the edge (such as the corner of a wall) of what you are measuring. The other end option is a smaller of these flat hooks but also allows you to attach a magnetic end to the tape. This is extremely useful if measuring from something made of iron as you can attach the end of the tape to the metal and just pull back on the tape.
The main issue I found was that the instructions for swapping from one of the end attachments to the other are quite unclear. Essentially you have to remove the magnetic one to be able to insert the larger one. Even when you work this out its fiddly to take these off and reattach.
This aspect is the only reason I have not given this tape measure a 5 star rating. Other than the fiddly tape ends its probably the best tape I have used and have had quite a few over the years.
Oh and by the way as is so often the case with Stanley tools the packaging is totally overdesigned. The cardboard and clear plastic display card that this comes on is really annoyingly quite difficult to remove. I am sure it would look great on display for sale in a shop but it’s not designed for easy removal.
Would thoroughly recommend this great tape measure but the swappable ends are awkward to switch and will probably get lost anyway (even though there is a basic storage slot) and the packaging is a pain. Still better than most starndard tape measures out there.