Try this:

DECLARE @val CHAR(20), @v2 CHAR(40)

select LEN(@val), LEN(@v2)

SET @val = ' SSC is cool '

SET @v2 = @val + @val

select LEN(@val), LEN(@v2)

And this, for a different, non-intuitive result:

DECLARE @val nvarchar(20), @v2 nvarchar(40)

select LEN(@val), LEN(@v2)

SET @val = ' SSC is cool '

SET @v2 = @val + @val

select LEN(@val), LEN(@v2)

Regards, BobM