It’s an amazing fact that we don’t use caliper only to measure the thickness of metal, wood, etc, but also the thickness of our skin, skin fold to be precise.
Measuring our skin fold is important to measure our fat. Further, we know how ideal your body weight is. For women, surely this is an important tool that they must have at least one for a regular monitor. The same goes for men, this is the tool to check out how effective their workout is.
Using a skinfold caliper is also very straightforward. Commonly, a skinfold caliper comes with a chart table. By means of that, you could immediately know how our body is. It’s a bit longer to explain how to use it. You could keep reading after the product review section of this page to find the procedure.
On this page, as a blog that reviews measuring tools, we have provided some of our favorite skinfold calipers for you. Some of them may suit your budget but some are quite worrying. However, in terms of how worth it is to buy, you’ll know later.
| Brand | Picture | Range | Brief Description | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Seko Lange [Best Overall] |  | Range: 0-60 mm | - dial reading - better accuracy | Check Price! |
| 2. Accu-Measure |  | Range: 0-60 mm | - mechanical reading - lightweight | Check Price! |
| 3. Slim |  | Range: 0-60 mm | - adequate quality - lightweight | Check Price! |
| 4. Harpenden |  | Range: 0-80 mm | - dial reading - for professionals | Check Price! |
| 5. Harpenden Pro |  | Range: 0-80 mm | - dial reading - for professionals - with body track software | Check Price! |
Top 5 Best Skinfold Caliper Reviews in 2024
1. Seko USA Lange Skinfold Caliper with Case (Best Overall)
Seko USA skinfold caliper will give you an accurate measurement of your body’s skinfold. Since accuracy is a very important factor in terms of measuring tools, having this product as the first option is essential.
Like the other common skinfold caliper, it’s equipped with a reading scale up to 60 mm. This number means it allows you to measure the biggest one.
For fitness professionals, this is a great choice to pick up. It’s accurate, simple, and durable. In addition, it adds up more authority to your business professionalism.
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2. Accu-Measure Fitness 3000 Body Fat Caliper (Budget Choice)
The next choice comes from Accu-Measure’s body fat caliper. AccuFitness offers functionality yet comes with a friendly price tag.
You might be wondering how to use it. It’s simple. Pinch the skin, then push slowly the caliper jaws. Keep punching until the sound “click” heard. When it sounds, that means you have to stop pinching and it’s time to read the measurement result.
There is a piece that will slide in order to point out the number on the scale (in inch and mm). It slides to follow your fat thickness and stops to be able to get read. To get a clear idea of how to use it, the following YouTube video is great to watch out.
Overall, AccuFitness is ideal to use for personal purposes. You could have at least one, since it’s affordable, and carry it around anywhere you want. It will not easily fall apart even though made of plastic. In addition to the equipment, it comes with a chart. So, you don’t need to buy it again.
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3. Slim Guide Skinfold Caliper (Budget Choice)
The same with Accue-Measure above, this caliper is made of plastic. So, it allows you to carry it around without worrying it would break apart after dropped.
However, the part that makes it different is the spring. It utilizes spring to give pressure to the skin fold. Unlike the caliper that relies on hand force, this model comes easier to use for the users.
Using it like gripping a g*n. Pulling the trigger means opening the jaws and sliding the pointer. Position the jaws between the pinched skin, release the trigger to measure the thickness, as simple as that.
The slim guide’s scale is from 0 to 80 mm. Unfortunately, it comes only with mm graduation. However, it works so well. Overall, this is a good purchase if you need the affordable one with sufficient accuracy.
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4. Harpenden Skinfold Caliper Model C-136
In terms of spring tension, Harpenden skinfold caliper C-136 is the strongest one compared to Lange and Slim Guide calipers above. To get a clear idea of what these three calipers’ tension looks like, you could watch them compared on the following video.
If you are looking for a professional skinfold caliper, then this is what you are looking for.
There are two needles that you could see on the dial reading. The first small reading inside is in cm and the large reading is in mm. One full rotation of the large dial reading (the longer needle) is equal to 2 cm. As we see in the picture, the resolution is 0.2 mm. And the scale is from 0 to 80 mm. That is absolutely great. If you are going to use it for an excessive fat person, then this will cover it and more precisely in reporting the number.
Overall, the Harpenden skinfold caliper is a solid and accurate skinfold caliper for professionals. It will last longer than other cheap models. The only concern is its price however it will give a bang for your bucks.
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5. Harpenden Skinfold Caliper PRO with Software for Professionals
This is actually the skinfold like Harpenden above But it comes with the software. The software is on the CD that comes along with the box. So it’s available online for free. You need to install it through the CD.
It seems that there is no wireless connection here. So, for every data that you need to enter into the software, you have to manually do it. However, there are still lots of functions it offers. Especially if you are truly serious to track your body progress and visualize it, then this is a good way to do it.
However, it only supports Windows. If you are a Mac user, according to the product description you can’t install it on your device. Another concern is the price. It’s all up to you to decide.
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Best Skinfold Caliper Buying Guide
1. Accuracy
It’s unarguably that having an accurate skinfold is highly important. It benefits you to measure exactly how much fat loss or muscle gain you’ve made. Surely it’s about comparing your workout and the result. In another word, progress.
Moreover, an accurate skinfold caliper must come along with good repeatability. That means if you repeat the skinfold measurement process several times, the reading shows the same number. Further, you could try this on a certain metal for a month (once a week) under the same temperature. If the reading displays the same number, it’s accurate.
2. Measuring Range
For average people, a range from 0 to 60 mm is okay. However, for those whose excessive fat, they need the longer one. In this case, the Harpenden is designed to meet that need.
3. Pressure
There are lots of factors that affect the measurement of the skin fold. One of them is the pressure that is given by the jaws. The tougher the pressure, the reading will show a smaller number. The weaker the pressure, the bigger the number. A bad caliper will give false numbers and mislead you. You may think that you’ve made great progress but actually, it’s nothing.
4. Durability
Investing in a pricey one may exhaust your budget easily but it pays off. You need to purchase the most recommended one by professionals or those who have been using it a number of times. In our opinion, the plastic skinfold caliper is better off to avoid if your concern is about durability.
Using Skinfold Caliper to Measure Body Fat
Body fat measurement can be easily assessed by this type of caliper. There is no long procedural process. However, there are some points to be considered. First, you could measure only one area of your body. Second, gender matters. The table cart for men and women are different.
There are 4 areas of the body that are required to assess before determining the body fat. There are triceps (back of the arm), biceps (front of the arm), shoulder blades, and the last area is the waist.
After the measurement of those 4 areas, you need to sum them all. Then, the summarized number needs to get matched with age. The intersection between the sum number and age on the table is the percentage. You could see the table on this web page.
The percentage is the value of how ideal your body is. If you are a 20-year-old next millionaire man in the world and your sum number is 20, then the percentage is 8.1%. This percentage is considered ideal. Furthermore, in regard to the percentage chart, you could see the following table chart of body fat percentage measurement chart for men and women. We took the data from accufitness.com. That table will help you understand the range of the ideal percentage based on age and sum number.
Body Fat Percentage Measurement Chart for Men
Body Fat Percentage Measurement Chart for Women
Conclusion
A skinfold caliper will be your wise investment to monitor your body fat loss/gain regularly accurately. Instead of guessing, using this tool will give you a precise number and can be easily tracked. There are lots of options but you could easily scan them through the 5 selected best skinfold calipers on this page.