What are the best scales?

[NCPatrick]

Do most scales that measure to .1oz display the numbers after the decimal? I can't find good pictures of the displays on Ebay.

Now looking at this one:

Neva 36lb Digital Scales differ from its competitors, 50lb and 70lb, by being more accurate in the whole capacity range. The accuracy of this scale is 0.1 ounce or 5 grams, given that the majority of other scales in this class have the accuracy of 0.2 or 0.5 ounces. If you are not planning on weighing items that exceed 36 lbs or 16 kg, then Neva 36lb scale will provide the most precise weight measurement, which can be important when determining the weight of lightweight parcels or letters.

[Coffee]

yeah. Mine would display 1.2 oz as 1.2 .

[NCPatrick]

Ok great, thanks! I put in a bid for this one. We'll see.

[warbonnetguy]

office depot had several options when i got mine, it measures grams and 0.1 oz and wasn't more than 20$

if i had to buy another i would get one that does fractions of a gram if it wasn't too much more, at least 1/2 grams. 0.1 oz is almost 3 grams, weighing something in grams is more accurate than using the oz function even if it does register tenths of an oz, i would love to have fractions of a gram, especially for figuring out how much say a foot of gg ribbon is. whenever i have to figure what something weighs per foot, i just weigh a bunch (in grams) and divide by number of feet weighed, this will give a pretty accurate reading, but fractions of as gram would be great although whole grams alone is probably accurate enough for most small things.

when i weigh heavier finished items like a uq, tarp,hammock, i just measure in oz.

[schrochem]

Brandon,
To get down to that low you'll have to spend a little more cash... but not too bad. Also, the weight limit comes down as the accuracy goes up.
Here's one
at Fry's.
another

I work in a lab so we have plenty around.
Even ones to .0001g accuracy
good news is ours have to be accurate so when they are good enough we can't use them.....but they are accurate enough to weigh gear.
Ask a local lab if they have some out of cal (that can't be fixed)...........

[Coffee]

office depot had several options when i got mine, it measures grams and 0.1 oz and wasn't more than 20$

if i had to buy another i would get one that does fractions of a gram if it wasn't too much more, at least 1/2 grams. 0.1 oz is almost 3 grams, weighing something in grams is more accurate than using the oz function even if it does register tenths of an oz, i would love to have fractions of a gram, especially for figuring out how much say a foot of gg ribbon is. whenever i have to figure what something weighs per foot, i just weigh a bunch (in grams) and divide by number of feet weighed, this will give a pretty accurate reading, but fractions of as gram would be great although whole grams alone is probably accurate enough for most small things.

when i weigh heavier finished items like a uq, tarp,hammock, i just measure in oz.

Man I still have pounds I can drop from my pack. I have a ways before I need to be measuring in the order of grams. Maybe I need to join the heavier weight movement.

[warbonnetguy]

yeah, probably not necessary, but i wished i had it a couple times, another trick is to use something really small. for instance, the little springs that come out of my cordlocks are about 5 per gram although it's probably just easier to weigh a large quantity and then divide by the quantity. thats how i figured out the owf camo webbing weighs 6.125 g/ft, i just weighed like 20 feet.

good idea on the used lab scales, i bet csu might have some.

[ame]

I have a set of electronic kitchen scales from IKEA. Weighs up to 3kg with 1g resolution and can be switched to lb/oz if required. This is fine for the smaller items (esp. if you have more than one and can divide the total by the number you are weighing).

For heavier weights why not look at digital bathroom scales? They are fairly accurate, have a reasonably sized platform and can also be used to weigh members of the family for a healthy diet and exercise regimen.

Actually, since my hammock (Claytor Jungle) weighs a little over 1.5kg I don't need the bathroom scales. Bathroom scales are handy for weighing luggage if I ever want to fly anywhere.

A handy thing I did recently was to make a spreadsheet with the weights of various parts of the hammock. I can use this to calculate the total weight, and also to see which items are worth saving weight on.

Here is the weight of the stock hammock.

Original setup
Qty Code Description Weight(g) Total(g)
1 HAMMOCK Hammock with bug net 802 802
1 FLY Fly 476 476
4 CORDORIG 4m original tarp cord 24 96
2 STRAPORIG 4m original nylon webbing 105 210
1 PEGBAG Peg bag 5 5
1 STUFFSACK Stuff sack 27 27
2 PEG SnowPeak tent peg 12 24

Total 1640

(Sorry about the formatting). The total weight when I bought it was 1616g. The two tent pegs make the total 1640g.

Now I have bought the parts to make the adjustable ring system as described by JustJeff and I have added my collapsible spreader bars. The total is now 1766g. However, I have welded steel rings, and if I can get some SMC rings I can save 32g. I also have found some lighter guy line for the fly which will save another 54g.

It's worth doing a spreadsheet because it allows you to fiddle with the numbers and see how it affects things. For example, the SMC rings are 11g, and the welded steel ones I have are 19g. It's only a saving of 8g, but I have 4 rings, so that's 32g and might be worth it. The carabiners I have weigh 29g, but I have only two of them, so I would need a significant weight saving to even consider replacing them.

It was also very worthwhile weighing the hammock as supplied. I know it works as supplied, so I can now see if I am better or worse (in terms of weight) than before. i.e. if I add or change something I can see if it increases the weight and I can then decide if I can justify the extra weight for the convenience gained by the change. And if the modification saves weight I can prove it.

The spreadsheet has two pages. Page one is a list of items with a code (I made up), a description and a weight. Page two is the list of components that make up the hammock (as shown above). I can alter the weight of any component on page one and it affects all lists that use it, or I can add a new component and then add it to a new list on page two.

A

[Brian]

I've been using my Royal ex3 (e x cubed) and it works great! Accurate the gram/.1 oz, and goes up to three pounds, which is all I ever need it for. Can be gotten on eBay for $10 or so used, no reason to buy new.

Brian

[FanaticFringer]

Got mine from e-bay. They have a ton of scales at low prices.