Not to be pedantic, but we (Canada) won every war you did, too, so that reason doesn't work.

I remember there was a big push for the metric system in the 1970s. I thought it was killed by the Reagan Admin.


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Growing up and learning both is actually not a big deal. Like learning two languages.

Plus their is nothing too challenging in jumping from 1/16", 0.625", 62.5 mils, and the ever useful 1.5875mm.

Computers now make conversion automatic and seemless.

My son is 15 and all his science books have taught and measured in metric. His math books have done both. So much time was spent over the years that he can convert between the two in his head on weight and length. Not sure if public schools spend as much time as we did but he wants to study engineering in college and then to med school so he need to know measurements backward and forward.

I think in terms of metric for small detailed stuff- millimeters. etc.
but think in feet/miles for big stuff.

I can visualize 3mm.
I can Visualize 100miles.
I have no idea how to visualize 100 km (other that converting to miles and thinking in miles).

I know if I can't find A 1/2 inch wrench- I can usually try a 13mm instead.
3/4= roughly 19mm, etc. (in the world of HF tools- it's close enough-edit- if it's a bolt on something that's not a porsche or critical- IE- A bolt on my old tractor or something)

Because we're Americans!

Yes, and the cost of converting all of America to metric, in one fell swoop as intended in the 1970 was financially impossible.

Manufacturing gained no benefit from converting to metric. Machines, tools, drawings, everything would have to have been scrapped, and replaced with new machines, tools and drawings. For no benefit to the American economy or consumer.

I think that's the real reason we are using the us system. It was not a financially responsible thing to do.


But today, 40-45 years later, we are capable of living in both worlds.

And that's ok with me.

Go buy a metric ruler and tape measure. You will just waste more brain power trying to convert the measurements. I buy allot of manufacturing equipment from Europe. I spent more time trying to convert mm to inches. I began to think metric and stopped worrying about what 500 mm was in inches. 500 mm is 500 mm.

Now, finding metric size material will be a problem.

The imperial system is designed with units that are practical to use. The metric system is easy for mathematical quantification.

I am the only guy at the company I work for that uses the metric system, it can be a little interesting when a unit # gets missed or a piece of software doesn't convert.

You start getting pretty decent at converting MM to inches or feet when you do it every time you need to communicate with anyone else at your workplace.

We still use imperial for the same reason everyone still used a qwerty typewriter.

My 1986 El Camino was assembled in Mexico. The engine and ancillary parts are SAE. The rest of the car is metric. The transmission (2004R) has a huge METRIC stamped into the pan.

The strange thing is the entire world uses tire & wheel diameters in inches.

The bolts that hold seat belts are mandated to be a certain SAE size and thread pitch.

Perhaps I am stuck in the dark ages but I prefer mpg either in imperial gallons or us gallons( a us gallon is approx. .86 of an imperial gallon). The metric way is litres per 100 kms which I am having trouble relating to.

However I have gotten used to metric and imperial measures as I have 2 sets of sockets and wrenches(spanners!) in the garage to prove it. :)

We're Metric in Aus but I still use foot pounds for torque. Newton meters works it's but not as easy as foot pounds.
I also use imperial measurements when rebuilding an engine. IMO opinion it's more precise and generally easier.

And it's very common to get tools kits here with a combination of both imperial and metric tools in the same kit.

There really isn't a "better" system.

The change happened in Aus in the early 70s. I remember a Government official demonstrating it at our school and I was only 5 or 6.

metric seems to make a heck of a lot more sense.

Since moving to Japan I have enjoyed getting used to the metric system. I always struggled with fraction conversions and it definitely slows one down. However it's interesting to note that the imperial system has made an impact over here on tool selection. Example: I recently needed a 1/2 inch 17mm deep socket to torque the wheel nuts on my GTI. At the hardware store this tool is sold as a 12.7mm ( which is the equivalent to 1/2 inch ) so at least our 1/2 and 1/4 etc. sockets have an easily available metric match.

I am still getting used to using centigrade rather than Fahrenheit. I prefer centigrade for cold temps but Fahrenheit for hot temps.

They use inches here for measuring television screen sizes. Men's pants have the waist in inches but the length in centimeters.

Go figure!

Convert once and you'll never have to convert again.
Canada adopted it in the 1970 (another nice round number) for the same reason that it adopted the current privacy laws in the 2000s. To better be able to do business with Europe. For the US, both systems are incompatible with Europe.

I remember the government TV ads here in Canada when we converted.

Water boils at 100 degrees, and freezes at 0.
30 degrees is a nice warm day.



...(Which begs the question then why do we have so many -40 days???)

I was in the generation where we were taught only the metric system in school because everyone was sure we'd be using it by the time we were adults. I had to teach myself the standard system. I'm 40 years old now... Still waiting for the metric system.

Because America, F*ck yeah!

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As noted already, being a Canadian engineering student but having worked in the manufacturing industry with close ties to the US, it's kinda like being bilingual in units. Having said that, depending on the context, I find it easier to work in one unit or the other. I know exactly what a 4-thou (") in machining looks and feels like, but the equivalent 0.1mm is harder to conceptualise.

The first question I had for instructors in the UK when I started doing masters was "do you still use the imperial system"? Thankfully, they don't, but I still see it on vintage bicycles, cars and other old things occasionally. Also thankfully, they switched over to a cent-based (but don't call them cents, it's pennies!!) currency system some time ago, although even people in early 30's seem to remember the good old days with shillings, etc.

I'm fully bilingual in standard and metric.
I spent a long time building cabinets and construction and in Canada it's still largely done in standard. A 5/8" sheet of plywood may be 15mm, but it is still a 4' X 8' sheet. With all sheet goods being standard Lw it's just easier to use the imperial system, but why we still have this in building is wholly due to our proximity to the USA.
I can build in metric but like someone said you have to think in metric.
Temperature is no brainer easier in celsius, O*C is freezing, 20 C (68*F) is almost room temp, 100*C is boiling.
Only reason I'm still bilingual in distance is because of my summer cars, but now my thought pattern is I convert KM into miles.

The biggest bad thing about the metric system I see is kids/young adults totally losing their ability to do fraction math. Kids today don't even know what you mean when you say "it's a quarter to nine".

When I started cooking as a hobby a few years I realized recipes make the US system look easy.
Ounces can be either a volume or a weight, you determine which to use based on the contex
People who write recipes pay no attention to repeatability of results. I've converted my favorite recipes to volume for liquids and weight for solids so I can repeat them if I want. I'm thinking of going to weights.

3 large tomatoes
1 medium onion
4 oz ground beef
2 oz beef broth
is basically meaningless if you want to repeat it accurately

OTOH, when I was a kid my mom took me to the doctor who gave her some powdered medicine for me. The prescription was to give me "about as much as you can pile on a dime."