Rant: my tape measure ghosted me mid-job in a crawlspace in July
I was under a house in Portland laying out a subfloor repair, pencil behind my ear, and my 25-footer just snapped back into the case for the last time. The little metal hook broke off, so every measurement was guesswork for the next hour. I ended up cutting a piece 3/8 inch short and had to shim it with scrap. Anyone else keep a spare tape in the truck after something dumb like this, or do you just calibrate by eye and hope?
Learned that lesson the hard way about ten years back, same kind of deal but up on a roof. Now I keep a cheap 16-footer in the side pouch of my tool bag at all times, not in the truck where I have to walk back for it. The spare doesn't need to be fancy, just accurate enough to double-check a cut when the main one gives out. Also started writing the measurement on the wood with a sharpie before I even pull the saw out, saves me from guessing when my brain gets fried in the heat.