I Need A New Scale!

[Senko lover]

This statement is inaccurate. I work for a company that manufactures scales used in grocery stores. I bought a Chatillion scale 25 years ago and tested it using weights certified by Weights and Measures. It is as accurate as any digital scale. It's only drawback compared to a digital is that you can only read it to an eighth of a pound (2 oz).  They also cost double what a Rapala scale sells for.

 

Clarification: I meant cheap mechanical scales. Although, they do give you an edge. "I caught an 9 pounder on a incredibly inaccurate scale!!  So that gives me enough leeway to join the DD club! 

[Catch and Grease]

The more significant digits a scale can provide, the more accurate the scale is. Digital scales provide more significant digits than certain mechanical scales, therefore, digital scales are more accurate than certain mechanical scales.

You are very very wrong, a scale that reads to the grams would be more precise than a scale that reads in the ounces not necessarily more accurate. Look up the definition of precise and accurate and reevaluate what you just said.

[gardnerjigman]

Best "cheap" scale I have is the berkley boga style digital. About $50 at academy.

[Dwight Hottle]

The more significant digits a scale can provide, the more accurate the scale is. Digital scales provide more significant digits than certain mechanical scales, therefore,digital scales are more accurate than certain mechanical scales.

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I have talked with the people at IGFA in Dania Beach headquarters of IGFA . I was told they certify spring scales more readily per scale tested for IGFA certification than they do digital scales. I was told that the scales that receive the highest rate of certification per scale tested by them are Boga spring scales. I was told that the most frequent digital scale approved was the Salter Brecknell digital scale. My reason for asking was to be able to carry a scale with me that had the most reasonable opportunity to be certified for a world record line class record. I personally carry a 15 lb Boga spring scale & a Salter Brecknell digital scale which weighs to the nearest 1/2 ounce for accuracy. If you want to get a scale certified by IGFA for a one year period for trips or other purposes the aforementioned scales are the easiest to get certified the first time through. I was told that some scales make take numerous entries before they can find one scale to certify.

[Weld's Largemouth]

What? Just because your digital scale reads out to three decimal places doesn't mean it is anywhere close to accurate when I plop a fish on it. If it has no bias and has been certified/calibrated against known weights then it would likely be so versus a mechanical scale, but that is an assumption until proven otherwise. For example, If your digital scale with 3 places after the decimal point always reads a quarter pound light/heavy (for whatever reason), then my certified mechanical scale, accurate to just single ounces, will always be more accurate. Reword to "potentially more accurate" and I'll buy that statement. Don't confuse accuracy with precision.

-T9

My digital scale measures ounces, dont assume that just because its a digital scale that it only measures pounds to 3 decimals

And who is not to say that the mechnical scales precision will be altered over time as the spring becomes stretched after x many fish

[Weld's Largemouth]

You are very very wrong, a scale that reads to the grams would be more precise than a scale that reads in the ounces not necessarily more accurate. Look up the definition of precise and accurate and reevaluate what you just said.

Which scale are you saying reads in grams and which are you saying reads in ounces? You are being vague, either of those two could be a digital or mechnical scale

[Weld's Largemouth]

You are very very wrong, a scale that reads to the grams would be more precise than a scale that reads in the ounces not necessarily more accurate. Look up the definition of precise and accurate and reevaluate what you just said.

You are correct, it should be precision.

Accuracy is subject to environmental and physical conditions

Two scales, one digital, one mechnical, under the same conditions may experience the same inaccuracies, yet their precision will be based on how finely each scale measures the weight that may be altered by their inaccuracies

[tomustang]

If you go digital, at least put fresh batteries in often, when the charge goes low the weight outputs get funny.

[Basswhippa]

After a most prominent poster(WRB) recommended it, I got the Ultra sport for Christmas. I may have not needed to

calibrate it but I did. I used water as weight. On my first try it weighed a gallon of water (8.35 pounds) at 8.34 pounds. I then weighed a half gallon of water and got 4.18 pounds. Technically it should have been 4.175 so it rounded. My son and I were stunned and you could have picked our jaws off the floor. Incredible accuracy for $30.00.

[Scott F]

How do you know you had EXACTLY, one gallon of water?

[Basswhippa]

Scott, we tore through grandma's kitchen and found a half gallon tea container that was marked. We doubled it as carefully as we could and put it in any almost weightless Wal Mart bag. The trick was to calibrate you had to do it at 20 KG or 44.09 pounds. We went slow. We weighed it in a trash bag. We accounted for the trash bag which weighed 1.25 ounces.... When we were done it went 44.14 pounds. I was stunned at the instrument and even more stunned at our accomplishment. We first started with weight lifter weights but we discovered discrepancies between multiple 2.5, 5 and 7.5 weights. Each was different, some more than others so we selected water. Again, there was a line on the container and I tried to level it and full it accurately. I still am stunned. 1/100 of a pound on a common troohy bass threshhold.....8.35 pounds. Sheesh. Good enough for me. Thanks for the most excellent recommendation WRB

[RoLo]

I've owned an "UltraSport 30" scale and frankly, it was the worst fish scale I ever owned.

Mine was so erratic that I finally chucked it in the dumpster (my digital Berkley was much better).

 

I've fished many years in saltwater, and came to respect “Chatillon” scales, a very trusted name.

Those I own are still working well, but their max capacity it too high for freshwater (too big & clunky).

 

Although it isn't cheap, my favorite freshwater scale is the "Brecknell Digital Handheld Scale"

It's made by ElectroSamson, has 22-lb capacity, 1/4 oz precision (0.02 lb) and is recognized by IGFA.

The Brecknell Digital Scale is also available in 55 lb cap (1/2 oz precision) & 99 lb cap (1 oz precision).

 

Roger

[Basswhippa]

PS, listen to the dude who's caught 19 pound bass. He is legit. I am grateful. My memory says it can even be certified. Amazing.

[Basswhippa]

Good feedback Roger. Maybe I got the second good one or you got a bad one. You do realize it has a 20 year warranty? And you just trashed it? Lol. In my view it is a solid product, or it seems to be.

[RoLo]

Good feedback Roger. Maybe I got the second good one or you got a bad one. You do realize it has a 20 year warranty? And you just trashed it? Lol. In my view it is a solid product, or it seems to be.

 

You're probably right BW, I might've gotten a bad one (but that quashed my desire for a replacement).

I've owned many scale brands over the years, but that one was by far the worst.

I bought the Brecknell a few years ago, and at that time it was one of the only IGFA certifiable digital scales.

 

Roger

[WRB]

You can certify your scale that is accurate with your local weights and measures , the phone number is on any gasoline station pump.

Some folks are devils advocates on every topic.

Tom

[Senko guru 1]

If you're on the budget of budgets like I am, you'll automatically drift toward a mechanical scale, but don't. They are incredibly inaccurate. Both Rapala and Berkley have lower-end digital scales that should do well. But when you catch that fish of a lifetime, you don't want to be stuck with a junky scale. I need to bite the bullet and just get a nice one.

wat are some good high end acurate scales

[Senko lover]

wat are some good high end acurate scales

 

Boga grips are pretty good, I hear.

[Thornback]

One post reminded me of a bass fisherman who is always telling me how many he has caught and the weights of the largest. But he won't allow three things in his boat -- a camera, a scale, and a banana

[ColdSVT]

I just like a scale to keep track of what i have in the livewell for tourny days...i dont use it a lot as i have a culling beam but i like to have a good idea of where i am during the day

[EmersonFish]

My only advice, no matter what kind of digital scale you have, is to find a place on your boat for a decent mechanical scale as a backup if the digital scale fails, or to confirm what your digital scale is telling you if the weight on the digital scale doesn't seem right. Trust me; a 15 lb. (in most parts of the country) spring scale tucked in the corner will eventually be worth the investment if you are a bass fisherman.

[Team9nine]

My digital scale measures ounces, dont assume that just because its a digital scale that it only measures pounds to 3 decimals

And who is not to say that the mechnical scales precision will be altered over time as the spring becomes stretched after x many fish

 

Doesn't matter what units your scale weighs in. You're the one who brought up significant digits, stating the more SD's the more accurate.

 

 

The more significant digits a scale can provide, the more accurate the scale is. Digital scales provide more significant digits than certain mechanical scales, therefore, digital scales are more accurate than certain mechanical scales.

 

 My point, which was only an example, not an assumption, was that it didn't matter how many significant digits your scale has, that in no way means it is accurate when you actually weigh something on it. And yes, things can go out of calibration with mechanical scales at times, which is why you should check and recalibrate your scale as needed. However, there are a lot more things that can go wrong with a digital scale when compared to a quality mechanical spring scale. I've got 7 years worth of use with my Chatillon (spring scale) so far, and it's still reading at a very acceptable level of accuracy. My Rapala digital is starting to drift after less than two seasons.

 

-T9

[Patrick Morrow]

I recently saw some rapala 50lb digital scale in amazon. Price was good and it had really big handle. I thought if I would ever lost my current scale then I buy that one.

[crankbank]

Acu Cull is my favorite scale that i've had

+1, no complaints for $35~.

[Swampghost]

To clarify this just a bit....ability to read to smaller units means it offers more precision.

 

Accuracy is defined as repeatability.