A hand-held, mechanical instrument intended to measure the hardness of a material (e.g., skin, elastomers, natural rubbers, neoprenes, casting resins). It typically consists of a needle gauge (indentor) at the distal end, which is intended to be pressed onto the surface of the specimen, and an analogue display. Hardness may be measured on a number of durometer scales, depending on intended use of the material; this device is typically designed to provide a measurement on a specific durometer scale. This is a reusable device.