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.

It's simple, and easy to use. If I had to offer one suggestion it would be the charts. Since this is more about measuring the changes in body fat over time, being able to test various areas on the body is good for establishing good averages. 3 Locations, 5 Locations, 7 Locations. I could build an excel spreadsheet easy enough, but the researching getting there was more than I expected. The product was just as described and did just what it is designed to do.

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.

This is a very accurate method of tracking body composition changes and the Slim Guide Skin fold Caliper with the Booklet is a GREAT tool for doing this. I have used a few tools over the decades and for the price...this is a great tool!The booklet DOES give you answers for 1, 2 and 4 location tests instantly without any complex math. (see P.S. at bottom.)This is best used by taking measurements over a period of time and tracking changes. If your interest is simply to monitor your body composition over time for general health, once every one to three months is a good interval. If, on the other hand, you have a specific goal or are in an intensive nutrition/training cycle, you may wish to track once a week.If you are looking to lose weight (by losing excess fat) ...measuring Lean Body Mass and Body Fat is the only way to insure you are not losing muscle and water.Many diets cause massive losses of water and muscle (very low calorie and low carbohydrate diets for example)...leading to a quick regain of pounds at some point. If you are on a diet program, and nobody is measuring your Lean Body Mass and Body Fat, you simply do not know what your body is doing.So you know my credentials, I have been involved in health and fitness for over 20 years as a Body Builder, Body Sculptor, Trainer, Consultant, Coach and many other positions in the field. I am currently the Director of Personal Success Now.For the best accuracy with this...You should have the same person take the measurements at the same time of day. You should take your body weight (needed to determine Lean Body Mass and Body Fat) on THE SAME SCALE at the same time of day every time. The first time, you should measure how far down the Biceps and Triceps you take the measure and make a note. Make a picture diagram of where you take the other two measurements (below the shoulder blade and the side of the waist.) There are directions and diagrams to help you in the book, so don't worry about a thing.Also, note what cloths you were wearing when you weigh yourself on the scale...always wear them for the weigh-in. Take a photograph of yourself now!! It is very helpful to see images of yourself at 30% bodyfat, then at 25%, then at 20%, then at 18%! If you feel shy, take them yourself in front of a mirror!You will be glad you did. Just trust me on that.If the program you are following is not giving you results in three weeks, something is not right. Get some help from a knowledgeable and qualified trainer. They can help you shorten the time it takes to reach your goals and be Your Personal Best.Always ask potential program managers/trainers how they will help you achieve your goals. If they will not be using these components to help you...consider finding someone else:1) Food and Nutrient intake monitoring2) Cardiorespiratory Training3) Resistance Training4) Personal Assistance including Body composition monitoringAdditionally, if you are looking to lose body fat, you should consider removing foods with flavorings, colorings, additives, and preservatives from your diet at this time, as clinical tests have demonstrated that some of these can adversely effect bodyfat mobilization (i.e. fat burning) and some even enhance fat storage and stimulate the appetite.Wishing you Personal Success Now!P.S.It is important to know up front that you will need another person to help you if you wish to get the most accurate results using this method of body composition monitoring. To more accurately determine your Lean Body Mass and Body Fat, you take caliper measurements from 1, 2, 3, 4, or 7 (or even 9) locations on the body. 2 of these are from behind: Just below your shoulder blade and the back of your arm (which you can reasonably do alone.) There is an option to use a measurement from only one location (front of the arm) to determine bodyfat, however this is not as accurate as taking it from multiple (3+)locations.There are on-line calculators that will allow you to use a 3-site measurement that 1 person can do alone. Here is one such: linear-software.com/online.html. Since this is based on a mathematical calculation, you can do it yourself if you are interested...here is the information:The 3 Skin fold sites required for Men are:Chest, Abdomen, Thigh;The 3 Skin fold sites required for Women are:Triceps, Suprailiac, Thigh.There are illustrations on the website given above.You must determine body density:Body Density for Men:1.1093800-(0.0008267*(sum 3 skinfolds))+(0.0000016*(sum 3 skinfolds)^2)-(0.000257*age)Body Density for Women:1.0994921-(0.0009929*(sum 3 skinfolds))+(0.0000023*(sum 3 skinfolds)^2)-(0.0001392*age)To Calculate Body Fat %:(457/Body Density)-414.2

I really liked the booklet which had large amounts of information accessibly laid out. Some might find it dense, but I was impressed with its thoroughness in a few pages. The diagrams were clear and easy to follow. The tables were easily accessible. The calipers are light and easy to use and to read.

I bought this to have something a little more advanced than a self test model. This works well for what I needed it for. It is easy to read and the book is helpful. I didn't want to spend hundreds of dollars for a professional caliper that I am using on cliens only few times a month. Worth the money.