Agreed. A dial caliper is a fine alternative to most.
If you use metric measurements, you should make sure you buy a dial caliper with 0.1mm scale. Many have 0.2mm scale (one full rotation is 2mm) which is kind of annoying to read and (for me) unnecessarily increases the risk of a mistake. Also making comparative measurements is a little more annoying since you have to 1) loosen the screw 2) rotate the bezel to zero 3) tighten the screw again. Instead of pushing a button.
