Stanley PowerLock 25′

Sun, 12 Jul 2026 00:00:00 -0400

Why it’s here

The PowerLock arrived in 1963 and promptly became what a tape measure looks like: chrome case, yellow Mylar-coated blade, sliding lock. Sixty-plus years of continuous production later, it is the measuring equivalent of the Casio F-91W — a solved problem sold at a price that forecloses debate. Carpenters with $80 boutique tapes in the truck still have a PowerLock somewhere, usually several, usually old.

The story

Stanley had been evolving toward this tool for decades — the D-shaped case with its flat measuring edge came out of the postwar housing boom, the retracting spring arrived in 1956 — and in 1963 the pieces fused into the patented PowerLock: the first tape with a coilable spring return and a sliding lock, operable with one hand. Six years later a PowerLock flew on Apollo 11, which remains the category’s only lunar field test.

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Stanley PowerLock 25′

Why it’s here

The story