[Drew4564]

Originally Posted by aphelps231

Even under driver movements, it won't bend?

I'm just imagining a lot of teams having problems of lining up without the tape bending, but I guess a better strategy is to slam into the tower all the way up the batter and then extend.

As Waialua359 said, heavy-duty tape measures are surprisingly resistant to bending. We spent a good amount of time ensuring that that the hooks and support bar were as light as possible, and the Fat Max style tapes can easily support the weight. We do check the tapes every so often for wrinkles/breaks, but after multiple successful climbs, have yet to see any issues.

Also, our robot does exactly what you suggested at the end of your post; we keep constant forward pressure on the wall and then extend.