Your opinion on the FatTrack II Digital Body Fat Caliper.

[biterman]

What's your opinion on the FatTrack II Digital Body Fat Caliper from the site? Is it good? or do you recomend buying a different one?

http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/acc/fattrack.html

Sorry if this is a repost, but the search function seems to be broken.

Thanks in advance.

[TrishB]

It is probably the best one out there for personal use. I paid $39 for mine..so that is a good deal.
But like any caliper, they take practice to do it right. If not done perfectly correct, the accuracy can be way off.

[motorhall]

I went with the cheapie:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/acc/accu.html

The BF% conversion charts that came with it are completely useless. The only variable in the charts are gender and age - nothing about height or weight. I just use it to measure how much I can pinch from week to week. And it does take some practice to get consistent readings.

I think its usefulness is questionable, so I'm glad that I only spent $13 instead of $39.

[VegasLife]

Anyone else try one of these out? How's it working for you?

[Hibiscus09]

I thought they tested way low on my body in comparison to the manual caliper readings at the gym that caliper was about 5% off. They also have those scales you stand on at the gym and they're off also -- but they are even worse -- they test about 5% higher! LOL

[Sam_I_Am]

I have one, I think I paid about $30 for it, and it came with a Myo tape included. The tape was the best part. Its a retractable measuring tape that does not stretch at all, and clips back onto itself for easy one handed measuring. The tension is set, so there is no cheating by pulling the tape tighter.

As for the calipers, what the others said is true. It is really up to the operator to get accurate and consistent results, and it is pretty hard to take your own measurments. Accurate though when done correctly. I also cross reference the results with the online calculator found here:

http://www.healthcentral.com/cooltoo...s/bodyfat1.cfm

[Lynne]

I think the only real use for a caliper is to watch the progress. 3-4% error margin is a lot.

[VegasLife]

Here's some information on bodyfat and how to measure it.

http://mb-soft.com/public2/bodyfat.html

[RaSP]

I use it to monitor my own progress. It tends to read a little low for me compared to a caliper test at the gym, but only by about 2%. To me, the important thing isn't knowing that I'm exactly 9.3%, but to check my progress. I find it quite useful when bulking to monitor my fat gains.

I think it (and the myotape) are certainly worth the 30 bucks.

Best Regards,
*R*

[VegasLife]

I use it to monitor my own progress. It tends to read a little low for me compared to a caliper test at the gym, but only by about 2%. To me, the important thing isn't knowing that I'm exactly 9.3%, but to check my progress. I find it quite useful when bulking to monitor my fat gains.

I think it (and the myotape) are certainly worth the 30 bucks.

Best Regards,
*R*

Thanks for the reply. Gonna do some research and see what's available locally.