DeWalt 300 ft. Measuring Tape

Why I picked it up

I had a week of fence layout and landscape beds on the schedule, including a couple of 250–300-foot pulls across uneven ground and a warehouse interior where measurements had to translate cleanly into decimal feet. I grabbed the DeWalt 300-foot tape because the fiberglass blade promised rust immunity, the dual-scale printing fit the math I needed, and the grade-stake loop looked like a time-saver for solo work.

Build and ergonomics

This is an ABS-framed long tape with an open feel around the blade path and a plastic crank arm geared 3:1. The body sits flat to the ground, which makes storage easy and keeps the frame from wobbling in the truck. The trade-off is knuckle clearance. There isn’t a standoff nub or foot to tilt the reel up while cranking, so if you rewind with the frame flat on concrete or compacted soil, your hand drags unless you angle the reel on its edge. I learned to either tilt the body against my boot or hold it by a side spoke while cranking to keep my knuckles off the ground.

The crank shape is comfortable and the 3:1 ratio is a good middle ground: enough speed to keep 300 feet from feeling like a chore, without the high resistance you sometimes get with faster gearsets. However, the entire crank/reel interface is plastic. Under normal loads it felt fine, but I did feel a faint gear “skip” once when I tried to force a fast rewind with the blade twisted and pulling against debris. Lesson learned: keep the blade aligned and the path clear before you put torque into the handle.

The frame is otherwise sturdy for its weight. It didn’t flex appreciably when I pulled to tension the blade, and the reinforced hook connection at the blade end took several hard sets against stakes without separating.

Blade, markings, and anchoring

The fiberglass blade is half an inch wide and printed on both sides: fractional inches on one, decimal feet on the other. That combination is exactly what I want on a long tape. On the soccer field layout I could read 158.4' directly without converting; back at the fence line I flipped to the fractional side for layout of rail spacing. Print contrast is high and the finish shed mud and water well.

Fiberglass is a smart material choice here. It won’t rust, it’s nonconductive, and it shrugs off damp grass and wet soil. It’s not as stretch-resistant as a good steel tape, so you don’t crank it to violin-string tension for accuracy; you pull it taut, keep it straight, and let it lie on the ground. Do that and it tracks reliably.

Anchoring options are thoughtful but require some attention. The foldaway hook grabs lumber edges and forms nicely, and the grade-stake loop is excellent when you’re working alone with stakes or rebar. Be aware the loop and tooth are not the same physical zero point. If you switch back and forth without accounting for the offset, you’ll introduce a small error. My workaround: pick one anchoring method for a given job and stick with it; or, measure a 10-foot check against a reference tape using each anchor and Sharpie the offset onto the frame as a reminder.

One minor quibble: the little clip meant to secure the blade end to the frame for storage doesn’t hold very confidently. A bump in the truck let the end dangle. A strip of Velcro One-Wrap around the frame solved it.

Rewinding and blade control

Rewind speed is good for a 3:1. Clean, straight pulls took a little over a minute to bring back from 300 feet, and shorter pulls obviously faster. The blade feeder at the frame entry helps reduce twist, but it won’t cure a sloppy reel-in. You still need to guide with your off-hand and aim the tape into the feeder, especially after turns or when the blade has picked up grass or grit.

On rough ground, I made a habit of walking 10–15 feet toward the stake as I started the rewind to get the first length aligned, then cranking while gently “pinching” the blade right at the frame entry with gloved fingers. That kept the spool stacking clean and reduced the chance of a twist dump that loads the crank sideways. Do not force the crank if you feel resistance; pause, clear the blade path, and resume. If you treat it like a winch, you’ll eventually regret it.

Accuracy and field use

With moderate, consistent tension and the blade straight, I compared 100-foot pulls against a steel reference tape and was within a sixteenth—plenty tight for fence lines, hardscape layout, and field distances. Over 200–300 feet you have to respect sag, terrain, and how square you’re pulling. Two-person pulls are always more precise, but I did several solo pulls by staking the loop and walking the blade. In those cases I kept the blade down on the ground rather than elevated, which minimized sag and gave repeatable results.

The dual-scale printing proved its worth all week. Decimal feet made calculator work painless on a site plan that specified offsets in tenths, and the fractional side saved me time when transferring to lumber. The blade finish rinses clean, and mud didn’t obscure the marks once wiped with a rag.

Durability notes and maintenance

This tape is built around a fiberglass blade and a plastic gear train. That combination has real advantages—light weight, corrosion resistance, and cost—but it comes with limits. After several days of use, my crank still spins smoothly and the gear teeth look intact, but I can tell the rewind mechanism is not designed for high-torque abuse. If you routinely drag a grit-laden blade through tight turns and then reef on the handle, the stress shows up at the crank.

A few simple habits keep it happy:
- Clean the blade before rewind. Wipe it with a glove or rag at the frame entry to keep grit out of the gears.
- Guide the tape into the feeder. Don’t let it freewheel twisted onto the spool.
- Avoid shock loads. If the blade snags, stop cranking, clear it, and continue.
- Don’t use the crank as a handle to pull stakes. Unhook first.
- Store it dry-ish. The blade won’t rust, but clean hardware lasts longer.

Follow those, and I’d expect a long service life for typical jobsite measuring tasks. Ignore them, and the plastic drivetrain becomes the weak link.

Where it fits in the toolbox

For layout, landscaping, fencing, athletic fields, and general long-distance measuring where you’re pulling along the ground and want easy-to-read markings, this tape does the job. It’s especially nice in wet or muddy environments where steel blades corrode or get nasty. The ergonomics are decent with the caveat about knuckle clearance, and the grade-stake loop is genuinely useful for solo work.

If, however, your day looks like constant long pulls with fast, repeated rewinds—survey crews, fence companies cranking hundreds of yards per day, or anyone who routinely loads a reel under tension—you’ll want a more robust drivetrain. A metal crank hub and higher-torque gearbox offer more margin for abuse at the cost of weight and price.

Recommendation

I recommend this tape for homeowners, landscapers, builders, and maintenance crews who need a 300-foot measure that’s easy to read, rust-proof, and reasonably quick to rewind—provided you’re willing to guide the blade and treat the crank with some respect. It’s accurate enough for layout, the dual scales are genuinely helpful, and the grade-stake loop speeds solo work.

I would not recommend it as the primary tape for crews who crank all day or who expect a drivetrain to shrug off constant high-torque rewinds through dirt and twists. In that environment, the plastic gear train is the limiting factor. For everyone else, use good rewind habits and this fiberglass long tape will earn its keep.