I've used one of these for years, it was a replacement for the one I have as the tape wore off and the magnetic 'buttons' fell out when I reattached the tip (see . note below). The magnetic end has a good grip on ferrous (magnetic) metals, and the tape is stiff enough to stretch several feet for handheld measurements. with pliers or a vise, don't force it back into shape like I've tried, this will loosen the magnetic "knobs". This is for reference only, not a complaint about the quality of the Komelon 7125 tape measure.