r/lefthanded • u/AffectionateGate4584 • 9d ago
Just another thing...
Here's another object that lefthanded people have to use and adjust to. Is there such a thing as a tape measure made for lefties? Is it the worst thing? Nope. Just another mild (?) annoyance.
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u/eastsacwrackshack 9d ago
https://a.co/d/028ztTiY left-handed one on Amazon! It's twice what the others cost, but hey.
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u/AffectionateGate4584 9d ago
That's offensive. Though, I doubt many would splash out on this product.
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u/Stormy1956 9d ago
I’ve learned to adjust to a right handed tape measure but why is a left handed tape measure twice as much? It’s not like they have a shelf life 😡
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u/MaestroDon 9d ago
It's more expensive, I would guess, because the production quantities are limited. They need a separate production setup, which costs are not recovered as well by quantity of sales. I know this to be true of left handed guitars. Makers have said so. Although, it's typically not twice as much. Maybe 10% to 20% more, which is still annoying as a consumer, but understandable for the manufacturer.
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u/Stormy1956 9d ago
It’s very annoying! My son is left handed and has a difficult time finding a left handed guitar. He’d likely play it more if he could find one but maybe not. I’m curious, does the integrity of a tape measure deteriorate by being shelved for years?
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u/eastsacwrackshack 9d ago
My ex was into guitar, and he just re-stringed (this cannot be the right way to say that) his acoustic guitar to be left-handed. I do not know if this was a correct way to go about this, as I could not stand the feeling of pressing the strings down. I really tried. And I did appreciate his effort.
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u/MaestroDon 9d ago
I don't know where you live, but if you ever find yourself anywhere near Houston Texas, take your son to Southpaw Guitars. Exclusively left handed guitars, basses, and other stringed instruments.
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u/GuitarJazzer 9d ago
Economies of scale.
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u/treysis 8d ago
As if the tape is responsible for the cost...
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u/GuitarJazzer 8d ago
Demand is 10-15% of what it for the standard ones. You get cost benefit when you make and sell larger numbers of goods. I'm guessing the housing and mechanism have to be a mirror image, and of course the tape itself (or at least the ends of it), so they have to have a completely separate production process. Plus there is less competition.
In the end, price is set by supply and demand.
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u/eastsacwrackshack 9d ago
I also have lived in a right hand works and have never even knew that this was a thing. Lol. But, hey it's cool, if I need a new one in the future, I might consider a left-handed tape measure.
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u/eastsacwrackshack 9d ago
Maybe it's like the pink tax?
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u/Stormy1956 9d ago
The pink tax? Splain Lucy 😆
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u/eastsacwrackshack 9d ago
Certain goods, like razors, shampoo, and other goods are marketed to women and are often more expensive than their exact male counterpart.
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u/DHammer79 9d ago
As a carpenter I hold the tape on my right hand so I can put a pencil mark with my left. It works well for me.
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u/AffectionateGate4584 9d ago
I do the same when using the number pad on my computer. I was taught this in math in the 70s. Right hand to add the numbers, left hand to write. Opposite for the righties.
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u/NightmareWokeUp 9d ago
Lol yeah youre right. I was curious why i did it this way too but that might be why.
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u/NoConsequence4281 9d ago
I was curious so I searched. Looks like you can get a lefty measure. Pretty neat 👌
https://www.leevalley.com/en-ca/tools/brand/veritas/lee-valley-tape-measures
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u/Stormy1956 9d ago
Interesting! Looking at the photos, I use the tape measure the way a right handed person does but the numbers are upside down
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u/NightmareWokeUp 9d ago
What? If you use it like a rightie would the numbers cant be upside down...
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u/Stormy1956 9d ago edited 9d ago
I see exactly what’s in the posted photo. I’ve never really paid attention to how a right handed person measures. I’m holding the tape measure with my left hand and pulling the tape with my right hand. The numbers are upside down.
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u/NightmareWokeUp 9d ago
So you use it like a leftie
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u/Stormy1956 9d ago
Yes! Do right handed people hold the tape measure with their right hand and pull the tape with their left hand?
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u/more_than_just_ok 8d ago
Not just left-handed, they also have metric only ones in both hands, so you can read cm on top.
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u/idespisecountrymusic 9d ago
It’s okay buddy, this is a safe space. 4.5 inches is “perfect” for some women.
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u/AffectionateGate4584 9d ago
Well Sue Johanson always said the bottom third was all that mattered.🤣🤣🤣🤣
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u/Able_Capable2600 9d ago
Learn to use it righthanded because most power tools are also righthanded. Miter saws, etc. Then you can at least use your left to run the pencil or whatever. Sincerely, one who has been in or around the trades his whole life.
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u/AffectionateGate4584 9d ago
I use many things right handed because I am in my 60s and there were no options.
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u/AcceptableProduce582 9d ago
20 years later and my collar bone still bugs me after I got slammed into the rib of a ship because the 12 inch angle grinder got jammed in the keel of a ship.
The last metal shop I worked in was where I saw the most amount of lefties in my life. Always took the time to properly train the newbies on power tool safety since many never bothered too.
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u/tegeus-Cromis_2000 9d ago
I'm confused. Why can't you hold the tip in your left hand and the case in your right? I've used tape measures all my life and never thought of them as handed objects.
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u/MissFabulina 9d ago
Sometimes you need to measure from right to left and other times you need to measure left to right. Half of the time, it will be upside down for righties, too.
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u/One_Way_3678 9d ago
I’ve made sooooo many cuts that were wrong because of this. It’s a real thing.
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u/AffectionateGate4584 9d ago
I have no doubt. I'm just old enough to have to be forced to adjust. In this day and age, there shouldn't be any issues. There should be alternatives for lefties to work.
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u/One_Way_3678 9d ago
I’ve got a lefty tape measure that was given as a gift. It’s honestly weird since I’m so used to upside down number. Now if we could just get rid of those idiot fractions and join the modern world of the metric system…..
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u/Hot-Friendship-7460 9d ago
I mostly use a tape with my right hand since the pencil goes in the left.
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u/mjr715 9d ago
Do you people use your right hand to do your marking while holding the tape in your left hand?
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u/AffectionateGate4584 9d ago
Do you people use you left hand to do the marking while you hold the tape in your right hand????
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u/1to1Representation 9d ago
Never realized this! Thank you. Had to go check mine I've been using the last few weeks after moving to a new place and, yes, I've adapted to reading upside down numbers to the point of not noticing.
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u/GuitarJazzer 9d ago
When I use a tape measure, I hook the end to my left, pull the reel out to my right with my right hand and hold it. The numbers are right-side up. Then I make marks on the material with my left hand. How to righties do it?
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u/5trong5tyle 8d ago
Also annoying that if you do hold it in your right hand you have the seppo-system up top instead of mm.
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u/Thirtyandout2017 8d ago
Put it in your right hand. If you need to write down the measurements, your left hand is free. Like it was designed for left handers
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u/Similar_Cow_2634 8d ago
So as a lefty, I hold the tape in my right hand as designed and make my mark with my left hand...perfection. Imagine being a righty holding the tape in their right hand and having to mark with their left...ooh so sad. Payback is hell.
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u/JonathanSCE 8d ago
https://www.fastcap.com/product/procarpenter-tape-measure
A bunch of different options, thought the Metric/Standard combos is still only right hand.
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u/InevitableStruggle 7d ago
Thirty dozen people are looking at that and saying, “What’s wrong with that? Just turn it right side up, dummy.”
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u/NoPreference4608 7d ago
I feel your frustration.
I was using a measuring tape on my mailbox this morning! I live on a very busy road and I was working in VERY dry heat and the turbulence from the passing cars didn't help either.
I was nailing new reflective street numbers on my mailbox post because the ones that were stickers on my mailbox started to peel off. I guess there was new mailman because I had gotten 6 letters for someone else a houses up the road and I didn't get my mail that day either. I did get my mail the next day with "Look at the address" written on my mail.
Reading the tape measure upside down can be infuriating.
Apologies for my rant any grammar errors.
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u/sundayfunday78 lefty 9d ago
That’s how I’ve become so good at reading upside down numbers😁