17 feet is 5.18 meters or 5.66 yards
But that’s more theoretical than it is practical and will be of little help when you want to understand how long that length is.
Thankfully, that’s where items that equal or are about 17 feet long come in. Using these items, you only need your eyes and some practical skills to understand how long that length is by visualizing.
This post explores 8 items that equal or are about 17 feet long, so you can use them for reference anytime you want to visualize a length of 17 feet. Some might be unfamiliar to you, but you’ll find at least one you can relate to.
8 Common Things That are About 17 Feet Long
1. Average Canoe
A canoe is a small, narrow, lightweight boat with both ends pointed and is propelled by one or two people using single-bladed paddles. They are popular in the coastal regions as they’re used for various activities, including white water, touring, fishing, and racing.
Canoes come in different lengths, including 14-foot medium canoes and large ones measuring more than 18 feet long. That said, the most popular canoes are about 17 feet long. You can consider that a long canoe, but they’re ideal for casual canoers and hence most common.
2. Three Loveseats
A loveseat is a typical sofa, only that it’s relatively small (imagine a two-seater), and is often used by one or two individuals when they want to sit back and relax.
And while loveseats are usually small in themselves, they come in different sizes. The smallest are 52 inches long, while the largest are 64 inches long. That means if you arrange or imagine three full-sized loveseats arm to arm, they add up to 192 inches, or 16 feet, which is pretty close to our mark.
What’s more, you can visualize that length plus the size of a human arm from the tip of the small finger to the tip of the shoulder to get roughly 17 feet.
3. Three Average-sized Men
Interestingly, you can use your height for referencing lengths. That’s so if you make the average height.
A person’s average height is influenced by many factors, including genes and diet, especially during childhood. And according to World Data, the height of the average person who is at least 20 years old is roughly 176 centimeters which translates to 5.77 feet.
So if you want to understand how long 17 feet is, you can never go wrong by imagining three average people standing on top of each other. Their total height is 17.32 feet, or 17 feet when you round off the figure.
4. Male Giraffe
If your curiosity as an animal lover has propelled you to visit the Maasai Mara and Serengeti National Parks, you must have seen the giraffes. They’re the world’s tallest creatures and offer strange but fascinating experiences, especially when drinking water with their legs spread out awkwardly.
According to PBS, male giraffes are taller than their female counterparts, usually about 17 feet, although some rare individuals can be as tall as 18 feet. If you’ve seen a male giraffe, try visualizing its length from the hooves up to the small head to get a sense of how long 17 feet is.
5. Two and a Half Queen-size Mattresses
Queen-size mattresses are the most popular in the market and homes because they have enough space for two individuals to sleep comfortably and still leave room for a toddler.
Chances are there’s one such mattress waiting for you in your bedroom. But have you ever wondered how long it is?
Well, all queen-size mattresses have a standard length of 80 inches (feel free to confirm through the sticker hanging on the side). That means visualizing two and a half will give you exactly 200 inches. Your calculator will tell you 200 is 16.67, roughly the length we’re trying to measure.
Alternatively, you picture three such mattresses and imagine cutting one in half to realize the same length.
6. Seven Tennis Racquets
With about 87 million players or 1.17 percent of the world’s population, tennis is one of the most popular sports.
And if you’ve been to a tennis game or have watched it on TV, you must have seen a small piece of equipment with a network of strings and a long handle attached to a frame that players use to strike the tennis ball, right? It’s known as a tennis racquet, and you can use it to visualize short lengths.
While there’s no standard length of tennis racquets, they usually range from 26 inches to 29 inches, whether they’re used in high school or other professional competitions. So to know how long 17 feet is, imagine arranging seven tennis racquets end to end as they add up to something close to the desired mark.
7. Full-size SUV Cars
An SUV is a special utility vehicle. For context, picture a typical road-going passenger car with some features of off-road vehicles, including sitting high off the ground, being four-wheel, and having rugged styling.
You must have seen SUVs as they’re the most sold cars, alongside pickups, in the USA and other countries because they’re suitable for families due to their enormous cargo space. Some examples of full-size SUVs you might have seen on the road include Nissan Pathfinder SL 4WD, Infiniti QX60 Pure AWD, and Ford Expedition Limited 4×4.
According to Cars From Japan, the length of all these cars ranges between 16.5-17.5 feet, so you can picture any of them to understand how long 17 feet is.
8. 17 US License Plates
Sticking to vehicles, are you struggling to visualize how long an SUV is? Then try the license plates. They are even better alternative, as they’ll give you exactly 17 feet!
According to California License Plates, all license plates for automobiles, trailers, and commercial vehicles must measure 12 inches long.
What if you imagine arranging 17 of them end to end in a straight line? They total 204 inches or exactly 17 feet. So next time you want to visualize how long 17 feet is, think of how long 17 license plates would be when arranged according to their lengths.
