Calipers vs D-tape

[WDH]

Never been to Great Britain, but I have been to Australia and New Zealand, and they talk funny like too.

[swampwhiteoak]

I did a logging residue study once and a set of calipers was the ticket for that job. 

And that was probably the only time I would pick calipers over D-tape.

[slack ma girdle]

I say my good man Calipers all the way, pip pip what what.
95% of the timber i measure is less than 24", and calipers are much quicker, tally ho what
;D

[banksiana]

Haglof DME is a pretty decent tool for everything except diameters. 

[WDH]

In Georgia, the smilax (green briar) and calipers are not a good combo. 

http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/greenbrier.htm

[wmrussel]

In Georgia, the smilax (green briar) and calipers are not a good combo. 

http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/greenbrier.htm

Yep, trying to skip through the woods with one more thing to carry ain't a good idea.  That d-tape fits in my front pocket just fine.  Doesn't get caught on a thing.

[OlympicYJ]

D tape. Calipers are cool but one more thing to carry. Typically using a Reliskop so a 75 footer in tenths with a d tape. Having a set of calipers would mean I'd have to put em somewhere and drag them out when I needed them or drop them and just have to pick them back up. The tape is already at hand so no reason to bother. I'm pretty quick when I want to be with a tape, plus in thick brush or tight stems I don't see calipers being that fast or accurate. In double stem situations i cant see calipers being all that accurate either. As others have mentioned there is the size variability too.

Ashes

I know what you're talking about. When cruising with the guy that taught me, sometimes he'd have one in and I'd have it out or vice versa. We'd always check as that would get me dialed in. A couple times I was right and he was wrong but those were very few and far between. Sometimes those trees that your prism or Reli say are in or out are the exact opposite when you tape them due to their actual shape. So I always go by if its borderline on my Reli I sling em and they are what the limiting distance says. That's the principle the prisms and Reliskops are based off of after all. As long as you're consistently following that principle everything should be okay. As you or someone else pointed out, consistency is the key and would be within tolerance.

Wes

[SwampDonkey]

Prefer D-tape because calipers aren't very good at averages. Sure measure 90 degrees from one another, but are they actually the widest and narrowest or just two measurements without care to where the calipers are held. Do you think you can actually eye ball that on a 25 inch tree? ;) Then there lies in another problem with calipers, measuring large trees. How big a caliper are you going to lug around?  With a D-tape, don't have to worry, just don't let the tape sag. Either use the logger's tape ones or the pocket type, depending on the forest.

I've seen some made up rule with calipers once in awhile, that the diameter only counted with the calipers pointing to plot centre. I never was taught that, nor ever read it in any rule book. It is just not accurate.

[timberking]

75' spencer tape lets me do dia. and measure my plot.  I am old school 1/10 acre plot cruiser. 

[wmrussel]

Welcome to the forum timberking!

[SwampDonkey]

Old school here is prism cruising and dot tally by diameter class.  Highly influenced by them Swedes. :D :D Heck DNR throws everything 46 cm and up into 46 cm. Quite a big difference between 46 cm and 46 inches. Anyway, that's DNR's shotty cruise, not the way I count them. I treat them as 46" trees. ;D

A landowner bought a piece of crown land that was auctioned off. He got DNR's cruise. They called the rock maple all red maple and no mention at all of any spruce on the lot. I did a proper cruise for the owner with a plan to. When you get shotty work from DNR (maybe the licensee) how much faith do woodlot owners (or the public) have in their management? Not everyone would know the little, behind the scenes, details. Not news worthy. ;)

[Black_Bear]

Regardless of what your measuring device preference is, I think it is a good practice to periodically check your measurements with a second instrument. Take some time and measure numerous trees with a D-Tape, calipers and a Biltmore stick. Doesn't matter what you use, as long as you know what your error sources are. Like someone wrote earlier, as long as you are consistent and you can periodically check your work versus the actual volumes, then you should be able to derive some fairly accurate numbers with adequate precision.

My old woods boss, who was an extremely intelligent man, preferred a caliper. He only had the use of one eye and apparently the large graduations on that particular caliper were easier to read than the D-Tape numbers.

[Phorester]

D tape.