11 Things That Are 17 Inches Long

This article will show you some common items that you can use to reference the size of 17 inches.

It can be difficult to find something that is exactly 17 inches long but combining items together make it much easier to visualize.

17 inches is also equal to 43.18 centimeters or 431.8 millimeters. Also knowing that 12 inches equals 1 foot, you can add 5 inches to a foot to equal 17 inches. 

Here is a list of 11 items that are 17 inches in length.

6 iPhone 13’s

If you are an Apple iPhone user, you will know that not all iPhones are the same size. They can vary from model to model.

The latest Apple iPhone 13 was released in September 2021. This model will have some significant upgrades including an advanced dual-camera system.

The screen size of the iPhone 13 is 6.1 inches and the overall dimensions of the phone are 5.78 inches tall x 2.82 inches wide. 

If you were to place 6 iPhone 13’s side by side, they would equal close to 17 inches in length. 

2 Women’s shoes – size 5

A size 5 women’s shoe is small in size but makes a great reference to use for length. Depending on your location, your numerical shoe size number can be different. 

The number that you see on the shoe box is not the length of the actual shoe. For example, if your shoe size is 5, this doesn’t mean that the shoe is 5 inches long. 

In the USA, a women’s size 5 shoe measures 8.5 inches long. The numbers are based on the length of your foot and not the length of the shoe.

Knowing that a size 5 shoe is 8.5 inches long, placing 2 of them together would equal exactly 17 inches long. 

5 Men’s wallets

Many people are familiar with a wallet and they are a great tool to use as a reference for measuring. 

Although not all wallets are the same size, most men’s wallets have the dimensions of 3.5 inches wide and 4.5 inches long. 

If you placed 5 men’s wallets together side by side, they would equal just over 17 inches long.  

1.5 rolls of paper towels

Rolls of paper towels are easy to find and most people are familiar with the size. Although rolls of paper towels can vary from brand to brand, the average roll of paper towels will be 11 inches long. 

If you can visualize 1 and a half rolls of paper towels placed together, they would measure close to 17 inches long. 

5 Bars of soap

A bar of soap is commonly used for washing in the tub or shower. Depending on the soap being used, the actual size of the bar can vary. If you are traveling and staying in a hotel, you will notice that the bars of soap are very small. 

Other bars of soap like ones used for laundry or washing an animal can be quite large. 

The average-sized bar of soap that most people will find at a pharmacy or grocery store, will have the dimensions of 3.5 inches long x 2.5 inches wide.

Therefore placing 5 bars of soap together will measure just over 17 inches in length.

17 2D Nails

If you work in carpentry or have built anything using nails, you know that nails come in a variety of sizes. There are different types of nails used for certain projects and they all vary in size.

Luckily, nails are given an abbreviated code that allows us to know the size of the nail. 

Common nail sizes are shown as 2D,3D,4D,5D,6D,8D,10D, etc. There are many more but this is an example. 

If you had a common 2D size nail, it would be 1 inch long. It can be very easy to measure the size of 17 inches by lining up 17 of these nails in a row. 

11 K – cups

K-cups are commonly known as a cup that holds coffee, hot chocolate, tea, and other drinks. The cups are normally made of plastic with a filter inside to hold the coffee in the cup during brewing. 

K-cups are designed to be placed in a brewer that will make individual amounts of brew at a time. Many people are familiar with the Keurig brand of brewing machines. They are available in various styles and sizes. 

The K-cup itself measures 1.5 inches tall. If you have a box of K-cups that generally come in a pack of 12, take out 11 of the cups and place them in a row. Together they will measure 16.5 inches long which is just short of 17 inches. 

2 Drinking Straws

There are so many different types of drinking straws on the market today. But they all serve the same purpose. Move liquid from a glass to your mouth. 

Drinking straws are also available in a variety of sizes and shapes, and made out of different materials. Environmentally safe straws are becoming more popular and in some places, plastic straws are banned from use. 

Metal straws and even edible are also quite common.

The standard straw that you would commonly see at a restaurant or bar will be 8.5 inches long. With 2 straws placed together, you can easily see how long 17 inches is. 

1 – 17 Inch monitor

Computer monitors of various sizes are used all around the world. When considering the size of a particular monitor, the size of the monitor refers to the size of the screen and not the actual monitor itself. The screen size is measured diagonally. 

For example, a 17-inch computer monitor will have a screen size of 17 inches, but the monitor itself will have the dimensions of 15 inches wide and 8 inches tall. 

Therefore, if you need to know how long 17 inches is, reference a 17-inch monitor screen to be exact. 

5 Playing cards

Playing cards can be one of the most convenient and easiest tools to use as a measurement reference. Most people have either played and own cards, or have seen them used at one point. 

You should know that not all cards are the same size. For example, cards used for playing poker have different dimensions than regular playing cards. 

The common deck of playing cards will have 52 cards all being the same size. They are 3.5 inches long x 2.25 inches wide.

If you place 5 playing cards together in a row, they would equal 17.5 inches long. This is only 0.5 inches longer than 17 inches. 

23 Quarters

Coins are also very convenient and an easy-to-use tool for measuring the size of something. A single USA quarter coin has a diameter of 0.75 inches. The diameter is the distance measured from one edge of the coin to the other crossing through the center of the coin. 

If you place 23 quarters together in a row, they would equal 17.25 inches long which is very close to 17 inches.