We all have, at one time or another, a need to measure something. A waist, an inseam, a window, a door, the length of a crack or the thickness of a given material. After rummaging through the catch-all drawer in the kitchen or an elusive tool box, we usually find the required measuring device.

As apprentice carpenters we learned early on the importance of having at all times a measuring tape in our tool pouch or on our hip.

You don't need to be a pro to feel lost without a measuring tool. Think of the times while out and about you wished that you had something with which to measure (when tooling around the hardware store, when shopping for clothes or when determining the size of a room when looking to buy a home). What you might not know is that you had measuring tools at "hand."

You're probably familiar with the pace method of determining the length of a room. One pace is equal to about three feet, hence five paces means about 15 feet. For you cringing engineers, the suggestions that we make here are for approximating distances and obviously in no way offer the accuracy of a measuring tape. However, they're helpful in a pinch.

Legs are not the only part of your body that can be used to measure things. Measure the distance from the tip of your thumb to the tip of your pinkie. For most folks it's about nine inches. Thumb to thumb, both hands measure about 18 inches. For a shorter measure, use the distance between the tip of your thumb and index finger. The average span is six inches. Keep your hands in sight; we're not through with them yet. The first joint of an index finger is about one inch long. If you are average, you can determine the measurement of an object that is 16 inches wide by using together each of the three examples cited (9 + 6 + 1 = 16).

Other examples of how to use your body to make measurements include fingertip to fingertip with outstretched arms, and the distance from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger, which is approximately 18 inches. While being a human ruler has its merits, there are several other creative alternatives that are as close as your hip pocket or pocket book. Laid flat, a dollar bill is 6 1/8 inches long. Folded in half, it's about 3 1/16 inches; folding in half again it measures about 1 1/2 inches. Folded in half lengthwise, the 2 3/8-inch-wide dollar bill is within a fraction of 1 1/4 inches. A penny is exactly three-quarters of an inch across.

Measuring the circumference of a round or cylindrical object is possible even if you don't have a flexible tape measure handy. Wrap a piece of paper around the object and make a mark at the point where it overlaps. Then, lay the paper on a flat surface and use a ruler to measure the paper.

Even when using a measuring tape, many people find it difficult to read it when making an inside measurement such as a window opening. An alternative is to use an old adjustable curtain rod. Simply cut off the elbows on the rod, adjust it to fit the opening and tape the joint where the two pieces of rod overlap. Remove the rod and measure it.

Instead of discarding the broken tape from a metal retractable tape measure, try the following: Snip off a good 6-inch section of the tape and keep it in your wallet or pocket book. It can be especially helpful when checking the size of small items in the hardware store.

Here's a trick that we learned as kids while accompanying our mother to the fabric store. When selling fabric by the yard, the proprietor would run the fabric across a yard stick that was anchored to the countertop. This method works splendidly at a workbench when measuring string, wire and a host of building materials.

One final tip. When using a ruler or measuring tape, always read it straight on. Reading to one side can produce a distorted result. For the most accurate measurement, hold a measuring tape on its edge rather than flat against the surface. It is easier to read and to transfer a mark to the surface being measured.