I have a question for people that use the metric system (AKA most of humanity that’s sane and normal)

@MalteseFalconPunch I work for a living. I am conversant in both. I prefer the imperial because it is a working man's measurement system.

@MalteseFalconPunch It is true. Try torquing a bolt with a term that makes sense. A foot pound is more understandable than a newton meter. A quarter inch is easier to measure than 5 mm. Most men's stride is 5 feet from left foot impact to left foot impact. Need to step off a room? I can do it a lot faster using imperial than I can metric.

@hippyjoe1955 the only reason why is because you are more accustomed to imperial and have come to think in imperial. The same comfort can be gained in any system.

I travel a lot and am very comfortable with exchange rates but many people I have met while travelling are absolutely lost by it.

@Muthafukajones No one is talking about the units of measure. The fact is that it is simply easier to calculate 1/2s 1/4 and 1/8s than it is to try to find .5 or .25 or .125

@Muthafukajones When you are in the field it is much easier to measure 1/8 than 0.125 regardless of what units you are using. It is easier to visualize once again regardless of the units of measure. 1/8 of a cubit or 1/8 of a meter or 1/8 of a rod or 1/8 of a chain. Simply easier to do. BTW Rods and chains are surveyors measurements when they used the imperial system.

@MalteseFalconPunch Only to you. If I gave you a stick and asked you to cut it in half you could probably get pretty close to the requested amount. If I gave you a stick and asked you to cut it at 29 cms you would need to measure it. Because you would not likely know that the stick is 59 cms long.

@hippyjoe1955 or say 3mm.

@MalteseFalconPunch So you just confirmed my position. You can use fractions but that is not how the metric system is meant to be used. It is based on units of ten not halves quarters eighths sixteenths etc. The imperial system is used that way by design. Thus the imperial system works extremely well in the field while the metric system works extremely well in the lab. They both have their advantages. One is better for one purpose and the other is better for another purpose. When I was working in a lab it was so convenient to have everything in tenths. However when I am in the field tenths don't work as well. Seems simple enough.

@hippyjoe1955 its what you get used to. 1/2 inch or 12mm. 3/8 or 10mm.
You are guessing at halves and quarters, like we can guess at cm's or mm's

@Hatt94 Go back and read what I wrote. I am not talking about wrenches or bolts. I am talking about taking a quick and yet accurate measurement of estimate of a measurement. BTW a 12 mm is not a 1/2 inch nor is 10 mm 3/8. The only wrench that is interchangeable without stripping the head of the bolt is the 3/4 - 19mm.

@hippyjoe1955 they are close.
We dont have 12.5mm wrenches or 9.5mm
Most newer American vehicles use metric bolts anyway, so might as well change.
Its only a matter of time.

And much easier to divide by 10, than halves of a halves of a halves like you said.

You dont need a computer to move a decimal point.

@Hatt94 Yes there are both kinds of nuts and bolts. Much like the farms in western Canada were all laid out using Imperial measure are for government purposes all converted to metric. The farmers still use imperial measure. Why? Why not. Bushel per acre is just as quantifiable as a tonnes per hectare. Which is better? There isn't a better. There is just government fiat vs existing reality. There are 160 rods in a half mile and if you multiply a rod by a half mile you get an acre. Therefore there are 160 acres in an area 1/2 mile by 1/2 mile or a quarter section. A section is a mile by a mile which is the distance between the roads. No body moved the roads and no one changed the fence lines so the farmers keep farming the land of their fathers and grandfathers using the measurements of their fathers and grandfathers. A bushel is a useful measurement because it is both a volume and a weight. You know you granary holds 3000 bushels you know how much weight is in the bin. If it is wheat each bushel weighs 60 lbs. therefore there is 180,000 lbs of wheat in that bin.

@hippyjoe1955 i agree, roads are measured in miles, maybe they will change in future generations.
I work in the oilfield. We just know to drive 1.6km or 3.2.... for 1 or 2 miles.

@Hatt94 I switch my units of measurement if I am driving country lanes. My truck does both. Having grown up on a farm I can also find a plot of land based solely on its legal land description.