Greg:
So, be honest, who carries an appropriate measuring instrument with them most of the time?
Is that the real sign of being a crusty?
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I keep a (plastic) mm+in caliper in my cell phone holder with my LED flashlight for rough measurements, plus a 16 ft inch+mm tape measure on my belt. Sure, neither is calibrated, but when I need to confirm a bolt diameter, or explain to a Spanish worker overseas how long to make the scaffolding under the genrator, I don't need/want thousandths tolerances. In the tool room, there are calibrated devices, I want the millwrights to use them when appropriate, but my own are needed where I am, not back down a dozen ladders and across the road in the turbine building.
Sure, you can make inches and mm errors, but I NEVER want to make conversions in the field. So I always carry double reading tapes and rulers.
Also, in today's non-tech, poorly trained worker, never shop-disciplined and poorly union-trained as youngsters and helpers, I will not trust most vernier readings, but feel they are more likely to make less errors with a digital instrument. Sure, the "old guys" will read verniers correctly. But the youngsters can't nowdays.
In today's work, would I trust