Skinfold Caliper in Black with Booklet

When you're seeking to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight, it's critical to keep an eye not just on weight but on fat percentage. The Slim Guide Skin Fold Caliper is an inexpensive way to know your body's fat level. There are no electronics at all here. Just two pieces of plastic and a spring. By pulling on the "trigger" you open the pair of jaws seen on the right. You pull out your skin and put it between those jaws. The spring pulls the jaws gently closed on your folded skin. The left side then tells you the thickness, in millimeters, of the skin fold. This helps you know your fat percentage. So many times in dieting a person "stalls" on weight loss - and it's because they are changing from fat into muscle. That is of course a GOOD thing. Muscle is better for you for so many reasons. This caliper helps you see what is happening and gives you a better picture of your overall health. We have several other fat-measuring devices of varying complexity, both electronic and non-electronic. With careful use, this one is just as accurate as the others ones, and tends to cost less. So that seems to be a good thing. The caveat of course is how you use it. You need to use the SAME locations each time you do your measurement. If one time you're two inches high, and then the next you're two inches low, the numbers will of course be different. You need to figure out exactly where you're going to measure and then be consistent. Also, compared with other units we own, this one would be quite challenging to do well on your own. Half the time you would have to be a contortionist to twist your head to see the readout while holding the jaws at the right angle on the right part of your body. This is definitely a unit made for having another person do the measuring for you. If you're not going to have another person around, I suggest looking into the other options on the market. Still, if you'll have a "buddy" to help, and you need something cheap and quick, this fits the bill. Yes it comes with a manual, but there is FAR more complete information on the web for how to use a caliper and how to properly calculate your weight from the measurements given a wide range of criteria. So I would only consider the manual as a "starting point". You'll probably want to do research once you get into it, to determine exactly what body parts you want to measure and what calculations you want to use for your specific shape and needs. Well recommended for its stated purpose. I purchased my caliper with my own funds for the purpose of doing this review.

I like these way better than the smaller clicky-type. The little clicker on the other ones became nonfunctional after a while. This is more heavy duty and easy to use, with a simple spring design. Who knows which is more accurate, who cares. What matters is that you can take consistent readings from week to week with this and thus gauge your progress (literally). Works great.

Very attractive and durable, and ACCURATE. You have to twist it or your head to read it. But it's very good if you are using the single site method (suprailiac) mentioned by trainer Mike Matthews. Used that way, you don't have to get a friend to help you, a major advantage. The high quality is definitely there. Poke around the website "Muscle for Life" for Mike Matthews' method of determining body fat percent with just one location to measure. He says it is more accurate than the four-location method which doesn't seem right but Matthews says it is. The included booklet is absolutely necessary and is included. It does not have the chart for Matthews one-location method, you can find that at: https://www.google.com/search?q=accumeasure+calipers+chart&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=ccYiVeajF4XZsAWiqISwAw&ved=0CDEQsAQ&biw=1247&bih=1071#imgdii=_&imgrc=ry7q7nu52dLmqM%253A%3BOEzkDcjnGeUMQM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fecx.images-amazon.com%252Fimages%252FI%252F914Dz75PkgL._SL1500_.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.amazon.co.uk%252FIDASS-Body-Fat-Tester%252Fdp%252FB002T4H576%3B1500%3B1003.

I initially purchased this product in order to do skin fold testing and body fat measurement on myself in order to more closely track fitness. The product itself is easy to use and lends itself well to the purpose of getting a fairly close measurement of body fat percentage. Keep in mind, however, that even in the most skillful of hands, caliper-style measurement has a margin of error of +/- 3%. If you need something more accurate than that, then it's recommended that a DXA (formerly DEXA) scan be obtained. The Good: The caliper is lightweight and durable and can be opened and closed without too much resistance. This is important since the spring tension must be adequate enough to give an accurate "pinch" measure, but not so strong that it hurts or is difficult to open. The booklet that accompanies the caliper is good at explaining the concepts related to body fat measurement and showing one how to make the simple calculations once the various measurements are obtained. The Bad: Quite simply, this is not a device that's well-suited for conducting these measurements on yourself. Areas like measuring the subscapular skin fold can be reached by the flexible or nimble, but you'll find it difficult, if not impossible, to actually see the measurement reading on the caliper. You'll need a helper to either do the measurements for you, or read the values once the skin fold has been properly pinched. If you're not inclined to conduct these measurements sans clothing in the presence of another person, you'd be well-advised to purchase one that stores and displays readings digitally. Overall, this is a great device for conducting these measurements on other people or using it with help for yourself. Either way, you can't beat the quality and value.

I use these calipers to measure my body fat and compare it with my smart scale. These read slightly higher than the scale, but this method is considered to be more accurate than the bio-impedence technology used by smart scales. The product works exactly as advertised, and includes a manual explaining how to use the calipers for both men and women, as well as an alternate method for those that have an extremely low level of body fat. I highly recommend this product if you are looking for an accurate way to measure your body fat.