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I was a child of the metric system I was near the beginning of them teaching it in schools but at home on the farm everything was still imperial so I had to continue learning it as well, (imagine telling your Dad 75mm when he asks how much room) and so I learned a bastardized system of measuring imperial for some things like short lengths in inches and temp in f but then metric for distance volume and weight. I personally like the metric system better for my brain its just easier math, but in real life there is no way you can only do one and I will be cursed with knowing and confusing both, if it was just one life would be so much easier, pass me the 12.5mm wrench.
 
We have the argument on the ship all the time as the new metric generation grows. Several pet peeves of metric: the measurements stay constant but the scientists have now introduced standards vs the original definitions - kinda why they complained about the whole imperial system. Example - 1 litre of distilled water weighed 1 kg at sea level and fit a 10 x 10x 10 cm cube. - well, not anymore. They have some ball that is the Kg standard and a mm (not a Km or M) is the length of a beam of light from some crazy science apparatus - Boo on them I say.

The fact that they took the ratio aspect away from threads and redefined as a pitch is plan loony. What is wrong with threads per centimetre - well, that is a fraction and we can’t have fractions in our pure system. The imperial system allows the whole mixed bag of stuff - perfect :p
 
No harm done @Chicken lights ! I've said a little of this elsewhere, but I'll say it here again.

I am a child of the Imperial system. All my schooling was imperial. But a boss of mine who is long since gone was a member of the Canadian Metrication Committee. At the time, the stupid Canadian government actually believed that by going metric Canada could show the US how to do it and they would follow our lead. Stupid stupid stupid. It was and still is a lot like a dog walking backwards. The only success that I know of was the auto industry. That's because my boss was the auto rep on that committee and he took on the job of metricating the auto industry and was successful. Most other sectors of the economy are a mess. Try building a big factory or an office building in metric or imperial. It's a dogs breakfast 2nd time around.

Me? I'm actually a fan of Octal! If only humans had left their thumbs out when we used our digits for counting. If we had done that decimal wouldn't be base ten, it would be base 8. Anyone here who programs computers knows how perfect octal is. It's a perfect three digit multiple of binary. Math becomes easy once you learn to think in Octal. Anyone can multiply and divide HUGE numbers simply and easily. No multiplication or division tables or calculators required. Just shift digits - easy peasy.

So ya, no worries @Chicken lights ! May the force of Octal be back atcha!
 
Brent H said:
Example - 1 litre of distilled water weighed 1 kg at sea level and fit a 10 x 10x 10 cm cube. - well, not anymore. They have some ball that is the Kg standard and a mm (not a Km or M) is the length of a beam of light from some crazy science apparatus - Boo on them I say.
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Ya, my favorite is the conversion of inches to cm. Exactly 2.54. Not 2.54729336504. Nope - exactly 2.54. Thank God in many ways I suppose. Cuz 127 teeth gear made mechanical conversion possible. But seriously? Redefine the foot so it could convert to metric exactly??? Totally stupid all the way around. But I suppose being that the original foot was just some kings shoe size that changed as he grew fatter and older, maybe it wasn't so bad after all. Damn good thing that they didn't strap Queen E down to measure her feet before they did the metric equivalence thing ....... And what if they tickled her at the same time?

And why sea level anyway? What about Polar sea level VS the equator? And where was the moon all that time?
 
combustable herbage said:
I was a child of the metric system I was near the beginning of them teaching it in schools but at home on the farm everything was still imperial so I had to continue learning it as well, (imagine telling your Dad 75mm when he asks how much room) and so I learned a bastardized system of measuring imperial for some things like short lengths in inches and temp in f but then metric for distance volume and weight. I personally like the metric system better for my brain its just easier math, but in real life there is no way you can only do one and I will be cursed with knowing and confusing both, if it was just one life would be so much easier, pass me the 12.5mm wrench.
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I imagine most of us are used to making the conversions between systems because even though Canada and most of the rest of the world is officially metric our big elephant next door neighbor to the south continues with imperial and doesn't give a crap what everyone else does. Maybe if the USA continues with its descent into chaos via arguments between the right and left China will take over and the world will finally become uniformly metric.
 
Canadium said:
our big elephant next door neighbor to the south continues with imperial and doesn't give a crap what everyone else does.
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Yup!

But ever notice that most folks on the US side don't call it "Imperial"? That's too British.. They seem to prefer SAE as the overall term. Yet the SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) has no such blanket standard! In fact, the SAE is mostly metric! Too funny!
 
I was schooled in the Imperial era and in my industry & local farming , metrification caused no end of problems that cost many thousands of dollars to folks that couldn't afford the loss's.
When the change was dictated upon us the Govt contracts all switched to metric measurements and I know of 2 instances where imperial & metric were mixed up & caused a 300 grand mistake in bidding (advantage to the govmt.). I had a night foreman that used imperial instead of metric used on the blueprints....he got fired & dayshift worked 2 days correcting the highway to design parameters.
For years afterwards, farmers (mostly the older ones) calibrated & mixed weed spray with the wrong formula and thousands of acres of dead brown fields resulted instead of the lush green that should have been.
For 15 yrs after the change-over, a "metric conversion" pocket brain was my constant companion.

One humorous note on the subject, a local gas station in Stettler erected a sandwich board on the curb...."better gas up here, We don't know how f#$%ng far it is to Lacombe now".....pretty much exemplified the local sentiments.
 
When I was travelling through the US a long time ago I once struck up a conversaion with one of the locals. He asked me if metric was really better. I answered that it was but the change over was painful. In retrospect I think personally I never completely changed over. Instead I'm using both systems because in Canada we are caught in the middle between the USA's imperial and the rest of the worlds metric.
 
Born imperial, and the metric brainwashing they tried applying in grade school really didn't accomplish much other than convert me to Deg C. I still think in inches, feet and pounds. KM and KPH now as that's what all the signs display now as well as vehicle gauges. Last driving trip to the US we relied on the GPS for MPH because you couldn't read the MPH sub dial on the truck. Still don't have my head around KGs. And then there are KNOTS. Who the hell thinks in nautical miles? @RobinHood and @Brent H maybe? MILs make a lot of sense to me but even the aviation industry hasn't converted yet.

My rant could go on and on......
 
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I got suckered into taking a refrigerated trailer to Chicago a couple years ago. Loading carrots to come home they told me to set it to 34 F. It was in C so I set it to 1.5 C. Goooooood lord that turned into an argument. How can you be that....close minded....to not know there’s more than one temperature scale. Ended up calling dispatch to get them to call the shipper to try to explain it. Even walking them through a temperature conversion website wasn’t working. It had to say 34 to those two guys. Unbelievable

Fun fact somewhere around -36 C and F cross over. It’s fun messing with Americans when you say it’s -36, they’ll ask C or F and I always say does it really matter at that point? :D
 
Incredible to think the United States, Liberia, and Myanmar are the only remaining countries using imperial (supposedly). You'd think they would ask themselves why even in their own countries scientifically precise fields such as chemistry and pharmacy use metric despite their official measurement system still being imperial.

Having said this, Monty Python cast members managed to solve highly scientific problems easily using just a large scale and a duck.

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Janger said:
Maybe I should rename this thread? Metric vs Imperial vs SAE? :D
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Good one - funny how things morph…

YYCHM said:
And then there are KNOTS. Who the hell thinks in nautical miles? @RobinHood and @Brent H maybe?
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Aha, yes, BUT did you know that according ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization, headquartered in Montreal), the standard unit for distance, speed, and altitude is the meter (or kilometre), kilometres per hour, and meters, respectively? There is only one country in the world that actually follows that: Russia. They even are starting to use feet for altitude at some major airports now to avoid confusion and reduce the stress on the flight deck for “foreign” pilots.

Each signatory country (presently 193 Member States) publishes, in their Aeronautical Information Publication, any deviation(s) from the standard ICAO rules applicable in their airspace.

So yes, converting from one system of measurements to another is a very big deal in my field of work. One gets used to it.
 
RobinHood said:
Good one - funny how things morph…


Aha, yes, BUT did you know that according ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization, headquartered in Montreal), the standard unit for distance, speed, and altitude is the meter (or kilometre), kilometres per hour, and meters, respectively? There is only one country in the world that actually follows that: Russia. They even are starting to use feet for altitude at some major airports now to avoid confusion and reduce the stress on the flight deck for “foreign” pilots.

Each signatory country (presently 193 Member States) publishes, in their Aeronautical Information Publication, any deviation(s) from the standard ICAO rules applicable in their airspace.

So yes, converting from one system of measurements to another is a very big deal in my field of work. One gets used to it.
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One that’s dangerous for me is bridge height signage, I’m strongly against them being in metric only. 13’6” is legal height, or 4.2 metres. But where it gets tricky is my truck can clear 11’6”, so I get nervous if the sign says 3.7m because who can convert that in their head. Frantically googling metric conversions while driving towards a low bridge :D

I’m like most guys in here, I wish we’d pick one system and commit to it. It’s so annoying. I’m biased because I do so much cross border work, all kidding aside you’d think it would make more sense to match what you’re largest neighbour and trading partner is doing.

But what’s funny is the US Army largely uses the metric system
 
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