See our printable 60вЂі tape measure or our 12вЂі/30cm printable ruler. If you own a printer, then you can actually print out a very accurate ruler or tape measure. Keep in mind that craft paper or other non-standard size paper will not be the standard letter size and cannot be used unless you have the exact dimensions of the paper(hint: it may be on the package). Use the short edge or the long edge as needed. Use these everyday objects to measure in place of a ruler or tape measure.ДЄ sheet of letter paper is exactly 8.5вЂі x 11вЂі (215.9mm x 279.4mm), and a sheet of legal paper is exactly 8.5вЂі x 14вЂі (215.9mm x 355.6mm). If you know the dimension of any other object, then you have a makeshift ruler. If you donвЂ™t have a tape measure, then the key is to find something you do have that is a known dimension. If you find yourself without a tape measure, maybe you lost it, forgot it, or simply donвЂ™t have one, then there is still hope! There are some tips and tricks to measuring without a ruler or tape measure. 25 inches from your eye is the ideal distance.Save on Pinterest Save Share on Facebook Share Share on Twitter TweetДЄ tape measure is a vital tool in the toolkit, and many of us would feel lost without it. Turn and face it, holding the rule at armвЂ™s length. The way to use this one is to pace off 25 feet from the tree, building, etc. They fold down to just 9 inches long and fit nicely in a survey bag. Garrett Wade carries a good reproduction of them.

They were sometimes called BlindmanвЂ™s rules because the numbers are large and easy to read, making them perfect for this use. I like to use a Four Fold ruleВ which is the original folding rule from the mid 19th century.

We were taught to use a yard stick (not very compact) or a 6 foot folding rule, which is a little wobbly to hold vertically. The Biltmore Stick ( sometimes called a hypsometer ) gets itвЂ™s name from the famed Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina and was invented in the 1890вЂ™s by a German forester named Carl SchenkВ who was the master forester at the estate.ДЄ real Biltmore stick has graduated markings that take into account for foreshortening but thereвЂ™s a less expensive method.

ItвЂ™s based on the Biltmore Cruiser stick which is a way of determining the heights and widths of trees and how much lumber they would yield. This is a trick I learned from my Boy Scout days. This is the cheapest and easiest method of determining height but itвЂ™s also the least accurate. They come in both Imperial and metric units. ItвЂ™s a great tool to have to put in location survey photographs as well for accurately scaling details from photos when you donвЂ™t have time to measure everything at a location. It has black and white graduated scales on one side and red and white on the other. ItвЂ™s a collapsable surveyors stadia that rolls into itвЂ™s case. Like the Theodolite app, itвЂ™s good for shooting grades and taking elevation surveys as well.ДЄ handy addition to both the above devices is to get a Keson Pocket Rod. The results may not be quite as accurate as with the Theodolite app, but youвЂ™ll never have to worry about a dead battery and the device will still work perfectly 50 years from now.

The list price of the Tandem isnвЂ™t cheap, but IвЂ™ve seen them go for $20 on Ebay, so you should check there before you buy a new one. The back of the Tandem has tables of cosines and cotangents printed on it to make calculations easy. Like before you need to know your distance from the object youвЂ™re measuring, so it would be a good idea to determine your average stride to have a semi-accurate way of pacing off distance when surveying. Adding the height from the ground to the center of the clinometer will give you a very close figure for the objects height. From there itвЂ™s just a simple trig calculation. Then you refer to the cosine table on the back of the device. You sight the top of the object in the device and read out the angle. The graduated scale is superimposed over the object youвЂ™re centered on and you can read the results as either a percentage of slope or degrees of elevation. You look through the peep sight, leaving both eyes open.

How to measure height without a ruler