Rulers: different and unusual

This isn’t a review, or even just a test. I’ve come across some unusual rulers (at least in my opinion), and today I’d like to show them to you. Maybe some of you have even used rulers like these.

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The ruler is probably one of the oldest measuring tools invented by humanity. For example, the ruler in the photo below is more than 2,200 years old, and it was made by... the Chinese. Though who would be surprised? China has a very long history and was advancing science back when our ancestors were only just beginning to settle their native lands.


Rulers come in all kinds: standard, flexible, folding, round, square, plastic, wooden, metal. But in my opinion, the pinnacle of ruler evolution is the slide rule.
Yes, it looks archaic now, but calculations made with rulers like these were used to build spacecraft and send people into space (and even bring them back).
I have one too, though it’s missing its slider. People often write that the rulers we usually had here were marked in centimeters (true) and were mostly 30 cm long, but for some reason mine was 25 cm. These are the very rulers shown in the photos below.
I liked it because it was wooden, but covered with a layer of plastic, which made it nicer to the touch.


Now let’s move on to the items featured in this post.
A set square. I’ll point out the year it was made: 1962. Pretty impressive, in my opinion.


A square ruler. Essentially the same set square shown above, but with a full 360-degree circle and a grid whose purpose I can’t figure out.


An officer’s ruler. In addition to the usual markings, it can be used as a stencil.


Almost the same as the previous one, but in a naval version. Essentially, the only difference is the stencil symbols.


This ruler is also related to the military (presumably), since it’s a scale ruler that makes it easier to measure distances on a map.


Made in 1974, the same year I was born :)


The ruler can be used with map scales of:
1:1000000 (10-kilometer scale)
1:200000 (2-kilometer scale)
1:1500000 (5-kilometer scale)
1:2500000 (25-kilometer scale)
1:420000 (10-verst scale)


I’d be interested to learn more about what this ruler is for. From the top, it’s almost indistinguishable from an ordinary ruler, apart from its unusual scales.


But I can’t figure out what the diagonal lines on the bottom are for.


No, it’s not Mickey Mouse. It’s a ruler too, though more of a stencil than a ruler. I actually came across one here


It serves the same purpose, but the curves are different, and the number is one higher. The previous one was 1672701, while this one is 1672702. I suspect this was part of a whole series of different stencils, possibly even for non-civilian use.


That’s about it. There isn’t much more I can say, but I can ask: has anyone come across rulers like these? I’d be very interested to hear about it. Or perhaps someone could share photos of their own unusual examples.

Hang in there, friends. Greetings to everyone from Kharkiv.