Barnaby picks: tape measures
Meet the crew · The riverside workshop · badger
Barnaby’s story
Barnaby keeps the workshop where the river bends past the old willow. He measures everything twice. Then once more, for luck.
- Fixes every chair, shelf and cutting board on the river.
- Keeps a pencil behind each ear. Only one is for writing.
- Has a sign on the wall that says NO TASTING THE WORK. He put it up for one beaver.
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Barnaby’s pick: tape measures
“A tape is only as good as its hook. If the hook slips, you measured the air,” says Barnaby.
| Tape measure | What the testers said | The catch |
|---|---|---|
| Crescent Lufkin Black Widow L1025B · Check price on Amazon | Reviewed’s Best Overall: “the most versatile, dependable tape measure we’ve tested.” The hook grips edges well and the print is easy to read on both sides. | Inches only, and the print scratches |
| Stanley FatMax 33-725 · Check price on Amazon | The tape held up to hard wear with “barely visible scratches.” | Markings on one side only, and the hook doesn’t always hold an edge |
Barnaby’s pick: Crescent Lufkin Black Widow L1025B. It was the only tape Reviewed named Best Overall, and its hook holds the edge of a board, which is the whole point.
Also good: Stanley FatMax 33-725, if your tape lives in a toolbox full of rocks and you care most about a blade that won’t wear off.
Barnaby came down the river one spring with a toolbox, a folding ruler and no plans to stay. Then the mill needed a new door, the inn needed new shelves, and the kitchen needed a lot of cutting boards fixed.
Gear in this story: jump to the picks →
He is slow on purpose. He measures, writes the number down, measures again and only then reaches for the saw. Gerzsi thinks this takes forever. Barnaby has never cut a board too short. Gerzsi has.
Spike the hedgehog makes the boards. Barnaby is the one who fixes them when someone bites a corner off. He doesn’t say who. He doesn’t have to.
On his day off he does the same thing he does on his work days, only slower and with more coffee.
Gerzsi’s visit: Stop 12: Barnaby’s Workshop, where a bitten board gets trimmed, sanded and oiled.
Barnaby is made up, like everyone on the river except Chef Tamás. The gear and the test results are real.
🦫 The Lodge Letter. Black Friday is November 27. We’ll email you when a tested pick actually drops, plus one story a week. No spam, he’s a beaver.
🛒 Shop the story
Tape measures
Pencils
Affiliate links. Tape measures rated by Reviewed, pencils by WeAreTeachers.
