Decimal Feet

[FWB]

OK, first a question.....How Tall Are You?

I dont care but did you think x Feet y Inches or 1.something Metres ??

Another question.....How young do you have to be to give the answer in Metres ?

The point of this is that I dont like metres on charts and tide tables. I can set my plotter and sounder to read in feet but I can only get Imperial tide depths from the computer.
It would have made more sense to use Decimal Feet rather than metres.
Only Russia and China use metres in their aircraft, even the French use feet!
So why do we have these foreign depths on our Admiralty Charts? Surely its just as easy to write 17.5ft as it is to write 5.3m only I can imagine 17.5ft whereas 5.3m means little.

What do other British, and possibly, Irish passport holders think?

 

[Tisme]

I think it's time you moved on.

You've got plotters, sounders and computers rather than charts, lead line and pen and paper. It's time you adopted the metric system.

PS I'm 5ft 9 1/2" high.

 

[andy01842]

A common tyre size is 13 x 135 that is 13inches diameter x 135mm wide can anyone explain this? Petrol in now in liters but all road signs are in miles! Metric is good so is imperial but convertion is a pain.

 

[tazzle]

Of an age and background where I can think in both without having to do mental conversions ... and if you use units of measurement on spreadsheets, or CAD systems, then metric is the only sensible way to go. So happy being binumeral in length, volume and area - the only one where I get stuck is mass and density. Always think in metric - and have to get pencil and paper out to convert cwts or tons to tonnes or kilos, or lbs / cu. ft to kgs / m3. Oh, and I can never remember HP to Kw either.

 

[MrG_2]

As is typical of this country we get a half and half for many things.
For my height I think in feet & inches, my weight in stones and pounds, IQ in millimetres.

I like the metric for depth as its simple when you're tired.
Its almost like there's some thought behind it for the user, of course how it should have ended up is Charts in fathoms/feet and chart plotters in metric with out the option to go fathoms and feet.
I suspect if the government ever wanted to change the side we drive on (slight thread drift) they'd do cars one week and aim to do trucks the next...then back it out for trucks...

 

[Sgeir]

Not a problem. Navdesk depth sounder shows metres, cockpit repeater shows feet. And, errm, some charts show fathoms.

 

[Lakesailor]

I don't think a a problem of "moving on".
I'm an imperial man, but will use decimal measures if that's what I need. I always double and triple-check though as mistakes have been known!

But as others have said there is a hugh amount of duality still
Ply in 8x4 sheets of 6mm etc. etc.

 

[FWB]

I'm not advocating getting rid of decimals, just metres. We can have decimals of a foot. Why did we need to change the charts and tide tables to this foreign rubbish?

 

[Tisme]

Is ply available in Imperial still? I've been buying it in metric sizes (1220 x 2440 IIRC) for years. It's a Metric-Imperial dimension these days!

I tend to think in Imperial, but work in Metric.

 

[Malcb]

I noticed in France, when I was living there, that some plumbing fittings have imperial measurements on them and some paint brushes are measured in inches. Also eggs are sold in half dozens.

 

[Powersalt]

plywood is only available in metric sizes. I buy tons of the stuff!!! but over the phone you can ask for 4 x 8 sheets and they all know what you mean.

 

[Lakesailor]

Well, err, yes. That's what I mean.

 

[2Tizwoz]

My feet are a foot long (size 9). I use them for measuring without a tape. If the distance is longer a stride is a yard.

I don't use a metric stride for health and safety reasons!

 

[damo]

I know someone whose willy is a foot long, but he doesn't use it as a rule.

 

[Lakesailor]

2Tizwoz\'s Shed

He used his own measuring system

 

[2Tizwoz]

Re: 2Tizwoz\'s Shed

How dare you call my home a shed!

 

[reginaldon]

Re: 2Tizwoz\'s Shed

I think it's time you moved on.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I don't know why we bothered with all the hastle of Trafalgar and Waterloo, we surrendered to Napoleon eventually anyway.

 

[fisherman]

Plywood is imperial because we get it from countries that don't do metric.

When you do a flat roof, you have to space the joists at 16in on top, for the ply, and at 400mm below for the plasterboard. Ply is 1.5in too long. Your timber standard lengths, however, are thoroughly metric, 2.4, 3.6mts ...............

Edit: just noticed you say ply is only metric????? Well yes, if that is 2440x1220. It's 8x4.

 

[tazzle]

[ QUOTE ]
Your timber standard lengths, however, are thoroughly metric, 2.4, 3.6mts

[/ QUOTE ]

Uhm, I thought all standard timber lengths are just
metric equivalents of feet, thus

1.8 = 6'
2.1 = 7'
2.4 = 8'
2.7 = 9'
3.0 = 10'
3.3 = 11'
3.6 = 12'

Hardwood is still all traded in imperial, tho' - never figured that one out.

 

[fisherman]

Thought the extended dots would indicate irony................

Hard wood, probably from Malaysia or S. america, all clinging to imperial.