Good thing you said *server racks*, otherwise this ruler has an entirely other entertaining mission.

Ya... that someone in the "FBI" might use...

...or you could make one using a $1.99 tape measure and an industrial-strength permanent marker.

Never fails that people will go with the expensive solution over a good-enough substitute that's far cheaper.

derrick said exactly what I was thinking ... except that it needs to be said much more brutally!

The kind of people who read cool tools probably ridicule all the junk that the average person buys along with all the environmental waste it causes - to say nothing of the wasted productivity of the people involved in it's creation, distribution and sale. I love the right tool for the job but how many people actually need this?

This is the right tool for the job. If you don't work in data centers you wouldn't understand, Chatsworth Products makes one too ...

"This is the right tool for the job"

Of course it is! That's why all the IT departments I've seen have made one from a regular tape measure and a permanent marker, saving shipping and the SEVENTEEN DOLLARS that they otherwise would have spent on this - what I call not a "solution looking for a problem", but a "cheap problem solved expensively".

Make your own. Lay a measuring tape out on the floor and mark it off at 1U intervals with a permanent marker. Easy and cheap, takes about 10 minutes to do enough marks to do a 10' rack, which is really all you need. Done.

@Ted:

I am very fond of a number of very arcane, task-specific tools in my collection, the difference being that they perform their task better, faster and/or more easily than an ad hoc tool. While I agree that the tone of dissenting comments on this blog can be overly negative and harsh, I think the criticisms of this tool are very valid: a conventional tape measure, altered as described above, is more practical, useful, less expensive, and less demanding of resources than this overly specialized tool. In this case, the ad hoc tool actually performs as well as (or better) than the purpose-built tool, so I’m not sure why this thing exists at all, other than to conjure a few dollars from your wallet. (Simply memorizing the dimensions that fall on the module, similarly to the way carpenters and masons do for their respective trades, might be the best solution of all – with only a bit of mental acumen supplanting any need for specialized hardware.)

And I might respectfully suggest that you consider how your complaint against the earlier comments, replete with childish name-calling as it is, is really any more valuable than those original complaints against the tool.

Ted, nobody is saying we should make our own screws by filing a helical groove into nails. Also, how exactly is this tool "quicker, easier"? With the marker solution you can actually make the lines thicker, brighter, different colours etc. And does the tool shown have "other markings or information" - honest question, what would be useful?

Unlike my original comment, you can even mark them with smiley faces to indicate that some chastising is meant in good humour :-)

Comments that insult individuals, or attack posters personally, using name-calling will be deleted, as I just did to one earlier in this thread.

I'll tell you what, nothing gets people more riled up than debating tape measures! =)

My comments were more about the malcontents that seem to be jumping in more and more frequently with some pretty sarcastic and unnecessary criticism. That I chose to use some colorful language just indicates how these people are seen (by me, at least) and in no way detracts from or makes any less valid my point. If you don't like the product, just ignore it, rather than making fun of the person for posting it.

Frankly, I am very much a "tool guy" and prefer a tool that's made for a specific purpose and probably have several tools that serve a purpose that could be served, likely less efficiently or effectively, by something not so task specific.

Keep promoting the dissent, and we all suffer, as fewer will post a tool out of not wanting to be ridiculed for appreciating the doggone thing. Unless I'm mistaken, this blog, or whatever you call it, is intended more as a way of letting others know about something that someone found to be cool or useful, rather than as a forum for a chosen few to exercise their sarcastic sense of humor, or to take out their frustrations on others.

@Ted:

This site is about people sharing what they know about tools and offering their opinions: that’s why it exists. The fact that opinions can differ only makes this site richer: I often learn as much about a tool and its use from dissenting commenters as from the original review. Of course, if your point is that some criticism has an overly harsh tone, fine, understood: welcome to the internet. I might suggest, though, that you simply heed your own advice and “ignore it” rather than “taking your frustrations out on others.” After all, even the comments about which you’re complaining are more civil (and germane to the blog) than yours.

Seriously cool tool. The only reason I do not get one right now is it is something useful I can get for my birthday.

I just received this tool today. The manufacturer was Starrett, which I know to be an excellent manufacturer of Machinists measuring devices, such as micrometers, scales, etc.
Unfortunately, the quality of the ruler is poor. I understand that the ruler only needs to be 8' long but the narrow 1/2" tape is very frustrating to work with. The spring return is not very strong, when compared to my Stanley tape measure (even my cheap 1/2" wide one) and it tends to feel a bit chintzy in the hands.
The formulas on the back have to do mainly with attenuation of the cat 3,4,5 cables over distance. Nothing was noted for cat 6 or 7...
Overall, although it's a really cool idea, I am disappointed in this product from Starrett and I took an extra Stanley tape measure and marked off the RU's.

I thought this was a good comment:

>similarly to the way carpenters and masons do for their respective trades, might >be the best solution of all – with only a bit of mental acumen supplanting any >need for specialized hardware.)

That said, if I were doing this all day, and working long hours, I might like a tool like this that was retractable, esp.

@Rick. It's a real disappointment to me that the LS Starrett Co. tool is cheap. Maybe it's from their "imported" line which is often Chinese junk. A lot of the American-made Starrett stuff is among the best you can get. Over the years, I've invested heavily in Starrett tools -- maybe 20,000 dollars worth.