Skin Fold Caliper

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...Read more

If you are looking for a fancy caliper to show off at the gym or infront of your clients this is not for you, however if you want to get the job done, I don't see any reason why you should spend one dollar more, this caliper does what its supposed to do and does it well.
If you are not familiar with using calipers, you can find instructional resources online ( video and written), a lot of people make it sound like its very hard and complicated but lets face it, this is not rocket science.
The booklet included shows you with some black & white picture illustrations how to use the calipers, after you get the numbered measurements you use the data at the end of this booklet to get your body fat %. The method used in this book is called ( the Durin & Womersly) and is based on 4 skinfold measurements:
1) Back of upper arm
2) front of upper arm
3) back below shoulder blade
4) side of waste

If you are a male athlete with bodyfat below 12% or...Read more

The Slim Guide calipers are a decent alternative to the Lange or other, higher end calipers. While not quite as accurate, you will get a similar reading on this $20 version as you do on the $150-$300 calipers, as long as you are a reliable, experienced tester.

While I recommend spending the extra money for the best calipers that produce the most accurate results, these aren't bad for someone just starting out.