Do you think that this scale would fit the deal?
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Mainstays-Slimline-Digital-Scale/35854314
Any other inexpensive suggestions?
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Looking for a scale to weigh my things.
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Don't see why that won't work. I can't see where it give the capacity or resolution, but as long as it'll handle, say 10 lb and measure at maybe 0.1-oz resolution, looks fine. I got something similar from Office Depot.
Yes, I should probably see what the smallest measure is.
.01 oz would be beneficial I bet.
You may find one that'll read out at 0.01-oz precision, but for $15 I wouldn't bet on accuracy of 0.01-oz.
If you want grams as well, I've had reasonable results with http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FJFJDGS/ref=wms_ohs_product?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I use this from walmart http://www.walmart.com/ip/American-Weigh-Thin-Digital-Kitchen-Scale-Silver/24955370
Up to 11 bs and 0.1 oz resolution, displays in grams as well. The reviews on the website are horrible, haven’t had problems with mine. It was much cheaper and better accuracy than anything I could find at office supply stores.
For about twice the cost of that unit you can buy the park TS-2
Measures in ounces or grams
Measures up to 3000gms (a little over pounds)
Very accurate
Tare feature
Incredible battery life (runs for ages on one 2032 button battery.)
Very reliable – bike shops use these daily for years. Mine is over 7 years old, was used for 4 years in a shop and still works great.
More expensive, but not outrageous and you won't have to buy another one!
James,
What is the name of that scale? the TS-2? Note quite sure what to google.
http://www.amazon.com/Park-Tool-Tabletop-Digital-Scale/dp/B001VRIO3G
DS-2 not TS..
I have this one cheap and simple.
http://www.amazon.com/American-Weigh-Scales-Digital-BL-1KG-BLK/dp/B0012N1NAA
goes to 2.2lb and covers most stuff that I can fit on it. Some stuff like jackets, shirts, i put in a small pail, tare it, then measure.
Some of the ones mentioned above top out at 2.2 lb or 6 lb. I wouldn't want one that low if only because I like to weigh my food bag, which busts those limits quite often. Just another consideration.
If you can wait a week, instead of having Walmart import a scale from China, you can let someone in Shanghai or Hong Kong do it for you:
5kg/1gram, $5.30, including shipping:
You can't get it today, like the one from Walmart, but it is half the price and you save the time and gas of driving to and from Walmart.
If you also want your scale to be UL:
15KG/5G, $2.82, free shipping:
I'll often use a hanging scale like that (actually this one 40kg/10g for $2.58 which is a little more substantial):
at home to double-check luggage weight if I'm getting close to 50 pounds (airport lines would go faster if everyone did this). Occasionally, I'll bring one on a trip, if I'm hauling a lot of max-weight bags home (e.g. caribou hunting in the Aleutian Islands).
>"Some of the ones mentioned above top out at 2.2 lb or 6 lb. I wouldn't want one that low if only because I like to weigh my food bag"
True. Three solutions:
1) Spend less than $3 on one of the luggage scales that have 33 to 88 pound capacity +/- 5-10 grams.
2) Split your food bag into thirds and weigh each third.
3) On all of these, say 5kg/1 gram scales I've tried, I can put 10 pounds on it, tare it (which re-zeros it), remove the 10 pounds, record the weight ("-10.13 pounds"), and add that amount to the reading when I weigh the actual object (e.g. a 17.20-pound object would show as 7.07 lbs = first reading of 10.13 + second reading of 7.07 = 17.20).
Oops, here's another solution:
4) Set up two scales with a 1×4 between them or 3 or 4 scales with some plywood or even stiff cardboard between them. Record or tare-away the board's weight. Place the object on the board so as to not max-out any one scale. Simply add up the readings. This is a common doctor's office cheat for the 500-pound patient – you have them one foot on each of two 300-pound scales and add the results. I've weighed motorcycles on bathroom scales doing this.
And, another one:
5) These scales only $3 – $5 each. Just get a whole set: 200g / 0.01g, 2kg / 0.1, 10kg / 2g, 40kg/10g for less than $20. Now, like me, you're all set to fine-tune the weight of your toothpick (or sell cocaine) and also weigh trad backpacks (or a moose front quarter) at the trailhead to shame other hikers.
Oh, and the ever-present 6th of 3 options:
6) Place one end of a board on a chair. Place the other end of the board on the scale on another chair. Hang your load at a 4:1 spacing (80 cm from the scale, 20 cm from the scale-less chair). Multiple your reading by 5 = (80+20)/20. If you need to double check your math or if you want to do this with no length scale, hang a pound of a butter or a 5 pound bag of flour or 8.4 pounds for one gallon of milk. Scale your reading to your result for the known weight. If you plane to use this method a lot, strap a meter-stick to a 1×3, glue a little nub of a dowel on each end, drill holes at easy ratios, double check them with a known weight and write the multiplier on the meter stick.
Bonus pro-tips: For large or dangly objects, tare the scale with a large, light bowl (like a SS mixing bowl) so the scale is zeroed. Now toss the object to be weighed in the bowl. For weighing weird objects from a hanging scale, a plastic grocery bag weighs about nothing (and you can tare that weight away). A stuff sack makes a very sturdy sack to weigh awkward objects from a hanging scale.
0.1oz accuracy is more than good enough. For the record, I use an AWS PS-25KG that goes to 55lbs, but you don't need all that capacity.
Having a little larger platform and AA batteries vs 9 volt is handy. You want a "tare" button and some kind of hold button so you can sneak you hand under to freeze the reading when you can't see the readout. I want one that reads in straight ounces rather than pounds+ounces. Of course just going metric would take care of that! A remote readout would be very cool.
If you have tiny items that you want to fuss over splitting grams, a small jewelry style scale will do the trick. I have an Equinox EX-300 that will weigh paper clips.
Any scale is better than none if you want get your base weight under control. If the platform is too small, I stuff things in a grocery sack or use rubber bands to corral it. I've been know to use a cookie sheet.
I use a cheapo standard kitchen scale with a big metal bowl on it (I use the Tare function) to measure anything up to sleeping bag size, for an empty or loaded pack I use digital luggage scale.
The kitchen scales is Soehnle, the luggage one is Delta branded.
Oh, I always measure in grams.
My apologies Erica it is the { Park DS-2 } you are looking for. Many local bike shops either carry them or can get them quickly. You can also get them from Amazon.
Jim
I know I'm a little late with this but:
My first scale was a WeighMax Shipping Postal Scale. It weighs up to 35 pounds. It has a sensitivity of 0.2 oz.
I still have it and use it for bulky items that just won't fit on smaller / more precise scales. Mainly balancing problems and problems with reading the covered readout.
I then purchased a Mainstays name brand kitchen scale from Walmart for the smaller items. It had a supposed accuracy of 0.1 oz. It only lasted 2 trips. My home has forced air heat. The scale which cost about $20 was extremely sensitive to changes in temperature and humidity. The readings swung wildly in the slightest changes in my homes climate. Now, any scale will be affected as such to some degree, but it was the worst I've seen anywhere. After 2 trips of use, it stopped being reliable even in the middle of summer, when the temps and humidity stayed constant. I wound up throwing it away.
I researched the crap out of scales at that point, and concluded that you get what you pay for, and "Reviews, reviews, reviews", reviews are extremely important even for small scales. As a result, I purchased a Us Balance 2000 gram scale with 0.1 gram accuracy. It gives readouts in ounce and gram measurements and has a tare feature. It also comes with weights for calibrating it. I've personally found these calibration weights absolutely necessary for the reasons stated above. It's a very accurate and reliable scale. An other great point is the removable bowl which doubles as a lid. I can put fairly bulky items in the bowl, and the display isn't obscured. It also comes with a 10 year warrantee.
If I were going to suggest only one scale to any backpacker, this one would be it. They also make one that has a 3000 gram capacity.
If you shop around, you'll find several different prices for it. I purchased mine from a Scientific Supply Store, because I've done business with them for years and, so, trust their business practices.
Even if you've already purchased an other scale, you might want to keep the link to this post for future reference. I'm truly that happy with this scale. I can't possibly say enough good things about it.
amazon.com or ebay have cheap scales from China, e.g. http://www.amazon.com/American-Weigh-Scales-Digital-BL-1KG-BLK/dp/B0012N1NAA/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1409925228&sr=8-9&keywords=scale for $10
0.1 oz is fine for weighing stuff to engineer pack weight
0.01 oz is good for weighing down to put in each baffle
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