In 2003 season, we were playing around with a stablizing system for the stacked bins our robot carried using tape measure. We canablized a tape measure for the metal tape inside. Just a reminder: tape measure WANTS to unravel when its not in the plastic case. So we took it out and had it in quick-clamps. Someone gave it to me to hold it a while, because just setting it down is just asking for some to accidently nudge it just a bit for the tape measure to unravel.
Anyone who knows me knows the likely ending to this story
So I, a sophomore at the time (ie. i didn't know anything), went into the storage closet to look for something and set the tape measure down on a tool box. I started looking, turned around, bumped into the tape measure and... imagine 50 ft of tape measure unravelling in about 5 seconds and making the loudest sound possible. Anyone outside the closet didin't even need to come inside to know what just happened.
I got tons more of these stories, tune in next time