Gear guide: A simple way to measure body fat at home

Product: Sequoia Fitness Warrior Digital Body Mass Caliper and Defender Body Fat Caliper

Pros: Both calipers are an inexpensive, relatively simple way to measure body fat at home. The Warrior is very user-friendly, and it also measures lean body mass.

Cons: With both calipers, you need help from another person to do one of the measurements. Beware faulty battery doors on the Warrior, and good luck figuring out what to do with the aforementioned lean body mass number. As for the Defender, the wheel chart is a little hard to read.

Cost: $27 at Amazon.com for the Warrior; $16 at Amazon.com for the Defender.

Extra tip: For the most accurate results, make sure you’re well hydrated before you take your readings.

It’s true that calipers aren’t the most accurate way to measure body fat (getting a DEXA scan at a lab or hospital is, but it’ll set you back several hundred dollars each time you do it), mostly because the person wielding them might not be doing it exactly right. But really, unless you’re an athlete, does it truly matter if your reading is a couple of percentage points off the mark?