How Useful Is Adam Savage's Tattoo? 

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Actually, would love a full length "Adam Reviews Candy" video.

I have dwarfism, and I'm not sure when I figured it out, but I heard an adult tell someone else at a very young age to memorize the length of their fingers, hand, forearm, foot, and shoulders--and to use them as measuring tools. It was probably my grandfather who is a mechanic. I somehow put two and two together, and realized that, since I don't change size like my peers, I could start doing that right away. I've measured stuff with the side of my hand or my whole forearm to my pinky for the last 20+ years--11cm and 23cm. I also know exactly how wide my wheelchair is and can judge the width of a gap from literally 150ft away as long as I am facing it. To where if I am not in my chair I can feel the sense leaving me. First time I saw Adam's tattoo I've wanted to get the same thing.

I think the best part is that even if it was NEVER useful, having a ruler tattoo on his forearm pretty perfectly matches Adam's overall aesthetic

I'm a commercial/industrial electrician and Adam's tattoo inspired me to put a half meter on my calf/leg. No BS, I use it almost every day. Not only that, I have co-workers walking up to my leg to measure sh*t constantly. It's hilarious. Thank you Adam for the idea too good not to copy.

I was an archaeologist for 40 years. We often took photographs of finds in the field, hopefully with ruler or something to provided scale, an idea of size. I really, really, really wish I had a time machine.

I'm not a tattoo person. I've never been into tattoos. But if I ever decided to get one, it would 100% be a ruler. That's just effing brilliant.

Im an A/V Tech in Australia and have about 12 different types of cable heads tattooed up my arm, the number of times ive used them to explain what cable i needed, either to my self, a hirer or a collegue is ridiculous...full support for functional and also cosmetic tattoos!!

Adam, don't ever stop taking 8 minutes to explain a ruler. Every ruler is valid, and your ruler tattoo is inspirational!

As a musician and a percussionist, I have a marimba tattooed on my right arm (looks kinda like a piano), and I can't begin to count how many times I've used it in music theory classes. Being able to count the number of notes between two specific notes or being able to visualise chords to figure out which notes it consists of has been super useful. Love these practical tattoos!

I like how, stylistically, it's drawn and shaded in that same style as the scales used in the high speed shots on Mythbusters.

This makes so much sense to me. Often when I'm running a design through my head, I'll pull out a ruler or tape measure, just to check what a certain distance looks like, so I can understand how a particular size will relate to the context the product might be used in. Our living situation changed a year ago, and it's currently hard for me to keep a ruler close enough to just grab whenever I feel like, and the inconvenience of having to take the extra effort is very noticeable. Even before that though, I would sometimes find myself just grabbing a ruler and a notebook on the way out the door, going to the store or other places, if I was in a creative mood, so I would have it available. A tattoo is a very logical solution to this!

Practical tattoos need to be more common. This is honestly cool af (in my eyes) and would love to get something like this done

I've been considering getting a tattoo of several common socket sizes for quickly checking bolt heads and nuts.

When I first saw the ruler tattoo, I lost my mind and I still believe its one of the most genius things I’ve ever seen.

It's interesting that your most surprising use of the tattoo is the ideation measurements. The ideation use is exactly what makes me want a tattoo like yours. I am horrible at guessing sizes, but also do not carry a ruler. The quick visual reference of rough sizes would make my life so much easier.

I love the idea of tattoos that aren't just art, but also have genuine uses. Like John Vargas from Angel Motorsports has a diagram of a rotary engine tattooed on his wrist so that he can see which order the bolts need to be tightened when putting the entire motor together.

whenever I saw his tattoo I always thought to myself "the truest tool a maker can have is their own body" and Adam has gone right on ahead and did that lol very cool to learn more about it I always wondered

only Adam would have a "useful" tattoo my man is a legend

I'll be honest, Adam I have loved you from when I was a child and am glad I'm here now on your channel, but it took me 18 years to realize that you are very full of ADHD and I love it

Putting size numbers on a screen (or paper) into the real world is really helpful for fleshing out ideas! I am totally with you, I have a fold up 2m ruler near by at all times for that exact reason!

Most framing in homes are built to within 1/16 of an inch. So the fractional equivalent of "20 thousands" (.020) would be 2/100. You could technically build a house with your arm.

My partner has said to me countless times over the 6 years of us being together “are you ever going to get a tattoo?” And my response is always “maybe, but I never know what to get” well I finally have an answer.

I've found my next tattoo. As someone who was not only looking for another forearm tattoo, but was looking for something interesting and to some degree practical and also grew up as a teen interested in the weirder applications of science and being a big fan of MythBusters and by extension Adam, his tattoo would be awesome. In relation to neurodivergence and my own world outlook "I reject your reality and substitute my own" has been kind of a mantra of mine, so I feel like this tattoo isn't too directly tied to Adam himself, but still is a throwback to someone I have looked up to over time.

I LOVE the no edit videos! feels like im right there with you lol. its great watching another vid Adam, thanks!

What I did was print out a ruler with inches and cm and glued it to my phone case. It works great! Super accurate and I always have it on me.

A wine gum is superior in every way to ANY of those “gummy” textured confectionery. As a small child in Australia, I would always get wine gums when we went to the movies. They weren’t available at our local store, so for a long time I thought they were only available at the cinema. It’s interesting how our “world” gets a little bigger as we get a little older.

I love watching these videos. I am always looking in the background to see what I know how to use because of my older family, don't know how to use or actually want to learn for my projects. You truly have it all and if you don't u build it. Respect Sir.

I would love to know more about it: What was the process on designing it? Did you do it, by yourself, from scratch? Was it easy to find a tattoo artist willing to follow all of the parameters given? What was your inspiration for it? (There are so many different sorts of measurement apparatus available, which did you chose?) Was there a chosen template you've referenced and took it to the letter?; or was it customized, either by you or the artist, to fit the functionality aiming towards precision? Are there strictlty aesthetics aspects, or was all of it thought in a manner o "form follows function"? As soon as I have some spare money, I will set the wheels into motion, and get my I would LOVE with all my heart, and reeeally appreciate if you'd be willing to answer these questions. This is an ingenious quick reference material for everyday in a maker's life. Sorry for making it lengthy, here are the bullet points: •what were the inspirations? •what was you layout choice? •were there design improvements? Hope you see this and make another extended video about it. (it would make my day 🥰)

“Making my body useful…” that so justifies not just a tattoo but to look into other body hacks and mods. “Resistance is futile”

Very ingenious! I'm too indecisive to have cosmetic tattoos. But, as soon as I saw yours some time ago, I thought "Now that is a tattoo I could live with." Always looking for an elusive tape measure or ruler. Even a mini one in my pocket gets left somewhere and yet another hunt.

I've always liked this idea but being alright at estimating linear measurements, I'd be more likely to get a protractor of sorts as guessing the degrees of angles with any sort of accuracy eludes me.

Love the chops Adam. Very cool my dude. Thanks for doing you and sharing that with all of us. It's humbling and I always get a sense of joy and humour and excitement in each moment I experience through your experience. You live in and for the moment a great deal taking what you can from every point of interest. I don't know how you keep on track sometimes. Anyway... Love you and love ya work bud. Thankyou heaps xx

I’ve been living in the US for the last 25 years. But from growing up in Australia and looking at metric rulers literally every school day for 12 years, I could tell immediately that styrene was 1.5mm thick as soon as Adam held it up edge on. It’s weird what information your brain retains.

I actually had a course in college about engineering math. And it was all about estimating and approximating. So when you see a number on a plan, you can look at that number, and say that number makes sense. But if the person making that plan has messed up, you should be able to recognize that that number isn't right. And at that point you can then do the math and find out if it is right or not. Because sometimes your intuition is wrong. But if it isn't, it can save a lot of wasted effort if you can identify an error early on. As an engineer, i use engineering guesstimates all the time. If there is something that makes me question the math, then i have to go and do the math. But if the numbers look acceptable, then i feel comfortable that the numbers are probably correct.

Adam is one of those rare people who can just talk about anything and make it entertaining

I love love LOVE that this is unedited

Hey Adam. I'm seriously considering getting a tattoo with similar functionality to yours. After living with it for three years, is there anything you would edit about it's design, layout, length, etc.? Many thanks.

I've been considering getting a 6" ruler tattoo on my arm. I am on my way to becoming an architect and I think it could be helpful when thinking about wall sections and the different thicknesses of all the layers within a wall

Your content has a great way of feeling like I'm just chilling in the garage with you chatting away. I love it

I totally appreciate that ruler tattoo and the stories you have to go with it. My current Swiss Army knife has a fish de-scaler with a 3" ruler imprinted on the side of it, and wouldn't you know, I use the ruler more than almost anything else on the tool. lol

this is amazing. i have tattoos from when i was younger and as much as my wife tries to talk me into getting a new tattoo, i have no desire to. at least not until now. i mean stores usually have tape measures or rulers that i often grab off the shelf to measure things i want to buy when i'm not too lazy or have the time. however the convince alone is incredible. i've seen terrible tattoos of actual rulers but this design and functionality is impressively talking me into a new tattoo

I've thought about tattooing a millimeter/centimeter measure on the side of my index finger. Back in the days, when I was a smoker, knowing that a cigarette was exactly 75mm was very useful on a lot of occasions. It allowed me to easily make accurate measuring tape on the spot. One piece of a4 paper gives 6 meters of measuring tape in no time at all. Since I don't smoke anymore, I no longer have that available, but my index finger is almost exactly that length and I don't think the side of my finger is going to shrink or grow very much.

Adam I've watched you since I was a kid and all I can say is thank you for inspiring young minds across the globe. You molded so many peoples lives and when you said basically you're not getting any younger, it made me sad cause I love the energy you brought to science. I hope to be able to do the same as you one day.

i love how you got the new DJI microphone system cool to see you early adapting and not caring that RODE is the popular brand in that segment

Now I’m gonna have to find that candy, because your advice has always been impeccable.

One of my former coworkers had a notepad tattooed on her arm in a similar location. Basically a rectangle with one fat writing line on top and lots of more narrow lines under it. She wrote all sorts of daily lists and reminders on it.

LOVE Haribo berry candies, they are best. The texture and crunch is so satisfying.

Achievement unlocked indeed. Thanks for the share

I have wanted a tattoo for several years now but could never settle on something I knew for sure I would never regret as I always overthink things, but this is useful, I might go talk to a trusted well known local tattoo artist this weekend. Also this eliminates one fear and that’s that most of my ideas have been for the shoulder and I’m not as fit as I wish I was and bicep muscle mass would be a big goal. This would be on the forearm, since I’m not trying to get ripped, this wouldn’t be effected

"Let me grab a piece of plastic." Hmm. . . I spy with my little eye. . . The best planer Ridgid ever produced, powermatic table saw, Uber Wilton vise, Festool vac, EPIC organization for stuff. Keep up the good work. The content is great as well. Nice shop

Always enjoy your videos!! That Swiss army knife in the background caught my attention very neat!!

I’ve been binge watching Mythbusters the past few weeks, and it’s really interesting to go from season 3 to tested videos

On a related note. I've found that no tool gives me a better feel for a certain dimension (especialy at the ideation stage) than a pair of calipers. With a ruler I feel i'm just looking at some arbitrary lines on a piece of metal that don't have any meaning, but there is something about the two metal jaws on a set of calipers that just clicks with me.

I've been loving this ruler tattoo idea, just wish I personally wouldn't get that problem of stretching overtime. It is such a simple tool body mod but I can't stop thinking about it, If I were ever to get a tattoo it'd be this.

Ive been watching all of myth busters from the beginning, i miss the show! i miss you and Jamie! I miss all the knowledge you guys gave us! you are the best!

Your videos on styrene came in clutch for a design project I had to do recently. Had to build a 1/12th scale trade show booth design and styrene was the perfect material

I have long considered whether or not to get a tattoo. The measuring tat would indeed, be most useful. My primary reason for not getting tatted is because it would interfere with donating blood. I would have to wait a year after a tattoo to start donating my O neg again.

I used to call those wine gums as well here in Canada.

That is by far the best reason for a tattoo I have ever seen. I think even my elderly dad would be into that one (and he has a mouthful to say about tattoos usually)

Adam used to walk into my grandads machine shop in Palo Alto and he taught them how to do all sorts of stuff. He long passed from Alzimers but it is cool to see the same tools live on in these videos.

This should be one of the first options on an implant with digital tools that you can install on your body. Having this to perfect scale would be amazing.

I have a Starrett ruler glued to the back of my phone case .

I'm not a fan of tattoos, but Adam has convinced me that they can actually be useful. Still not getting one of course, but it's nice to know at least one person found a useful way. Yes, I am aware some also get tattoos to remember loved ones and that's also good. But I'm more logical than emotional, so the artistic reason is lost on me.

i absolutely LOVE how detail-oriented and informative Savage-sama's eloquent and slightly flowery speech is. no joke, i'm pretty sure i could listen to him/you talk about anything for hours!

You know what, yeah I will watch Adam reviewing candy! Time to start a movement

with Adam's tattoo and some other practical-use tattoos i'm seeing mentioned in the comments, this makes me want to get a practical-use tattoo of my own. i'm a graphic designer, so i wonder what i should get: a list of type x-heights ranging from 10.5 pt to 36 pt? a CMYK/RGB/HEX color palette? a collection of bezier curves?

Thank you Adam. Always a treat to hear how your mind works.

I want to get one on my own arm, as I do a lot of estimates. I am also a trained anthropologist and think it would be helpful in a pitch for reference data, and quick hand. In terms of sizing I am able to tell several different size socket sizes without testing them. I used to work on jeeps with my dad and the jeeps largely use metric while aftermarket uses imperial. I have gotten pretty good at getting my hands dirty and I always love to see someone else who is as passionate without being judgmental when looking at projects.

Getting a ruler as a tattoo is probably the most Adam Savage thing he could have gotten. It's such a pristine distillation of his personality, that you see it and think "of course it's that, what else would it possibly be?"

This reminds me of a tattoo I got a little over a year ago. I was getting into environmentalism pretty heavily, so I decided to tattoo a list of everything I could recycle where I lived onto my arm. It genuinely made my life easier being able to just check my arm every time I went to recycle haha

I wish myth busters was still going. Adam and Jamie made an awesome show with that. Side note: Adam, you're completely right about the candies. They're my favorite too 😋

This is an ingeniuos idea. Have been thinking about this since I first saw it and yesterday had mine done.

Ever since I saw that tattoo always thought it was brilliant idea. Also agree with the Gummy Bear thing, them and the rings I just can't eat.

Loved those "berry" candies as a kid growing up in Chicago. They were only available, but in both "raspberry" and "blackberry", at "Stop and Shop", a specialty grocery store in the Loop. It was a real treat to have my mom take my sister and me downtown, maybe twice a year, to visit the toy department at Marshall Field, have lunch at Italian Village or The Berghoff, and shop for dinner makings (and candy!) at Stop and Shop. We would take the subway back to Logan Square, then catch a cab back to our little old brick bungalow.

I carry a six inch scale with me EVERY day(even when I'm not at work[I also carry a tiny note book to take down ideas and draw up sketches] because it's so useful) I'm a lowly technician and work with amazing engineers/people. The amount of times they are looking to measure something in my field that's usually less then 12 inches and could easily be measured with said scale, is mind blowing. Knowing that, My first tattoo is going to be a scale like this because measurements are a huge part of my life. Not just at work but at home and I don't need a high degree of accuracy(most of the time) I just need to know what its rough measurements are and this tattoo embodies that idea. I love this so much.

For parts that are in distinct standard sizes or aren't requiring a super exact measurement, this is amazing

I've seen ruler tattoos used by fisherman, usually on their leg, to measure their catches

I have historically use my hand as my measure, it can get cover the gross measurement I generally need at the store. My knuckles are 4 inches, tip of my index finger to the first knuckle is one inch. Spreading my finger is 10 inches so this has fulfill my needs for gross measurement quite well.

Would love a video of the design thoughts and process of it!

Went to your panel in KC planet comicon had a blast and you have the best stories! Definitely inspired me to get back into raspberry pi tinkering

This is the most functional tattoo in history, and now I have to get it 👍

i actually made my own version of your tattoo in a pixels to inches form. its black and white and measures down to an 8th of an inch. didnt think about inches to centimeters but i might revise it before getting my own ruler tattoo,

I’m 30, a huge nerd and I’m getting a copy of this tattoo with the color changed to blue on Monday, so glad I saw this bc I’ve been wanting a useful tattoo for a while.

I am anti-tattoo . . .but the ruler thing (same age as me) just makes a lot of sense. The only other tattoo would be blood type (just in case). Having said that, I wanted to hear your thoughts on how that has worked out for you. But I will tell you this. Recording like you do/did in this segment, getting up and walking out of the camera frame as you did, and NOT editing that out just really ADDs to the one on one feel of these teaching vids you do. Editing OUT the phone call but us aware, just pure gold. Thank you for sharing. Teaching. Encouraging. You are more valuable than you know.

we were just watching this video and Jackie asked me what did I think you were going to do with that yellow head in the background and I told her well everybody wants to get ahead in life and apparently you have😂

As a man with a notepad tatooed to his arm i can say that many people find a tatoo with a use fascinating. Also thanks for discussing the accuracy, as that was the only reason i hadnt yet added a ruler to my other arm yet.

That is so cool! What a great idea for a tattoo!

I am absolutely getting some variation of this tattoo! And maybe a table of basic unit conversions

I've measured and memorized different parts of my body for the same purpose. Then one I use the most is from the tip of my thumb to the first knuckle. People are skeptical the first time I use it in a pinch, but it definitely comes in handy.

The haribo berries are my favorite too!!

Adam, I really enjoy watching your show. You capture the enthusuiasm of the kid in all of us /combined with the good sense to not blow yourself up in your experiments. I didn't go for the tattoo ruler option as I had heard from Wiiliam Blake , who heard it from his art peice "The Ghost of a Flea" , that fleas use the ruler to judge jumping contests! When I was a kid, my Dad showed me a couple of tricks. He reminded me to make adjustments periodically as I was still growing. 1. Stretch my fingers on my hand to the absolute max. Then measure from my thumbtip to my pinkytip "as the crow flies." This allows me to use my hand for estimating some dimensions. 2. Find something on my hand that naturally is 1" long. Find something else that is the difference between my hand stretched measurement and 12" . OPtionally, some other body part dimension that is exactly 12" long. 3. Measure my foot heel to toe. 4. Measure my shoe/sneaker heel to toe. 5. Measure my stride or measure my other foot too. Stride is not very precise, but using one foot infront of the other (touching the first foot) gives more precision. 6. If measuring an object (or room), find a repeating pattern that you can measure and then multiiply. For example. A room with 2"x2" rug tiles. Measure one tile, then count the tiles in the directions required to get the room dimensions. 7. As I grow, periodiclly update these measurements. And start carrying a ruler! (just kidding) 8. Now 50+ years later, at 64 years old - it's time to remeasure theses to take into account the incredible shrinking AARP person that I am now.... much of my life, this advice has come in very handy estimating sizes. In some cases I can precision measure objects well enough to make decisions.. My dad , a dental surgeon, loved science and was always looking for ways to do things better and faster. I have no idea where he got these ideas, maybe the military ? Keep up the great videos! David Rosenthal You Tube: Travekin2wit www.cloudofiron.com

Hey Adam, In England Wine Gums we also have, one if my favs too, also Miget gems which are similar. 😁 Yup I've seen you use that biological measure lots in your videos 😆 An Awesome idea 💡👏

Actually Adam, in some parts of Germany, where Haribo is originally from, they're also called "Weingummi" which directly translates to "Winegums". Here in the Southern Parts of Germany we just refer to them as simple "Gummy Bears", even if it aren't Bears. But no matter what you call them, the Berries are an excellent choice either way! :D

I keep a dial caliper at my desk for just this. Besides the obvious use of measurement and marking, whenever I need to make a decision on the size of something, I go from my notebook or computer and to the does that look right test with the jaws of my calipers. Having a ruler on hand (or wrist) all of the time for the same purpose does seem pretty neat.

if i ever get a tattoo its definitely gonna be very similar to this, such a useful thing to have with you all the time

Since Adam has a body modification that makes his body more useful, then Adam must be a cyborg.

As an aging person with tattoos, I am wondering if the tattoo is loosing its accuracy?

You inspired me to get a ruler tattoo, When I first saw you have it I fell in love with the idea and needed one. I got mine back in January this year and it was a decision that I don't regret one bit! Thanks for the inspiration!

I never saw a similar tattoo before seeing it in your videos. I only have one myself, a ring, and I just got it recently. I could see myself getting a ruler for sure as my second one.