You've heard the DIY commandment, "measure twice, cut once," and you can't do it without your trusty tape measure. You may have noticed in the process of getting those readings that the hooked tab at the end of every tape has a bit of play in it, which seems odd for a tool so dedicated to precision. But this isn't a fault—it's actually an important feature.

When you hook the tab of your tape measure over the end of a board or table, the hook will extend slightly. The resulting gap between the hook and the tape measure is the calibrated thickness of the tab itself.

Here's why that's important. Imagine you're measuring the distance to a nearby wall. To make the measurement, you butt the hook of the tape measure up against the wall itself. Now imagine you're measuring a certain number of inches in from the top of a bookshelf. Here, you'd hook the tape over the shelf's edge. It turns out that if the tab were locked in place, then one of these measurements would always be wrong. Having a little bit of play in the hook means you can do either one and get it right.

So your tape measure is smarter than you think. And one more thing: although the hook also prevents the tape measure from rolling back into the case, you should allow it to gently wind back with ease, using your fingers instead of letting it slam back in place. This will keep the calibration accurate for as long as possible.

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