My all-time favorite tape measure is the older style Lufkin 12 footer, #22xx. I find longermeasures to be too bulky, and I seldom had need of more than 12 foot when doing HVAC service. Plus, the locking device is a pivot switch (much easier to activate than the slider locs on most measures), and it's located at the 11 o'clock position (perfect for thumb actuation). Most slide locks are at the 8-10 o'clock position - much harder to quickly lock the tape one-handed.
When I started at Ace Hardware, that was the measure I used there. At some point I laid it down and lost it, then found when looking for a replacement that that model had been discontinued. Scrounged a bit on line and found one at Amazon - old stock had two left. Then I found not on, not two, but three around town in pawn shops. Various teatures, too - never knew they were so varied. Blade is split with SAE on one edge and metric on the other edge (really helpful at the store). Latest one I bought had fractional and decimal equivalents on the blade. (Now I have 4)!
The thinner one is the one I've had awhile. The wider one is a newer version of that model. I've got two of each in different blade versions.
