Last summer, the folks from FastCap won an award for their new ProCarpenter FlatBack measuring tapes at the Association of Woodworking and Furnishings Suppliers show. Because these flexible tapes are flat, not curved to make them rigid, they bend easily for measuring curved surfaces. They also have a built-in stainless-steel pencil sharpener, a shock-absorbing rubber casing that’s comfortable to grip, an erasable note pad, an easy-to-read scale, and a sturdy belt clip. You get all that in a 16-ft. length for $7.95. 

The tapes come in three versions, with imperial or metric graduations (or both), and erasable tape surfaces. People who prefer to build furniture and cabinetry using the story-pole method can make pencil marks right on the tape.

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