Super User J Francho Posted December 21, 2016 Super User Posted December 21, 2016 Enough dude. There's nothing wrong with spring scales. Cheap digital scales will let you down more often. I still have a 20 year old 5$ Rapala spring scale I use for setting drags. It's as accurate as the day I bought it. Test it when you buy it. If it's right, it will always be right. Now....those dial type scales from BPS......that's another story....
Red Bear Posted December 21, 2016 Posted December 21, 2016 16 minutes ago, the reel ess said: And I quoted him. He was referring to a backup $5 scale exactly, a BACKUP, if youve invested in a digital scale you like i dont see the point in buying an expensive backup scale. a 5 dollar back up spring scale will get you by for the day, and its not way off inaccurate as you surmise, its close enough to be satisfactory. if you want a longterm every day spring scale then i wouldve suggested a better alternative, but im talking a cheap inexpensive back up that will get you by. not everything has to cost a million dollars for it to work, sheesh 11 minutes ago, J Francho said: Enough dude. There's nothing wrong with spring scales. Cheap digital scales will let you down more often. I still have a 20 year old 5$ Rapala spring scale I use for setting drags. It's as accurate as the day I bought it. Test it when you buy it. If it's right, it will always be right. Now....those dial type scales from BPS......that's another story.... thanks, i wasnt sure if anyone would agree with me or not, but i feel the same way about scales. i work in bulk mail and use a digital postage scale all the time, its not uncommon for it to go bad out of the blue and have numbers jumping all over the place and such. some people seem to forget there was once life without all these electronics at are fingertips, yet people still got the job done with their "old fashioned" tools and methods... 1
Global Moderator 12poundbass Posted December 21, 2016 Author Global Moderator Posted December 21, 2016 1 hour ago, Red Bear said: what do you mean by fudge it exactly? just make sure it is set to zero before you weigh the fish, its not hard at all. id probably trust my spring scale more in the long run than i trust a digital. too many things could go wrong with a digital and the electronics in it. even a low battery could possibly give you wrong weights. not saying digital scales are garbage or even frequently wrong by any means, just that i would put more faith in my spring scale. just because something costs more and/or is more advanced technologically doesnt mean its better... What I meant by fudge it (with mine at least) is when I weighed a bass it would go to say 5 pounds if I moved just right it would move up or down by several ounces. This wasn't an isolated incident either. Maybe it was junk, I would like to think not considering I spent $25 on it and I didn't use it that often. As far as digital and technology goes I'm old school I don't dive in head first over technology I stick with what works. I don't care if things are the latest and greatest if what I have works I stick with it. 1
Super User the reel ess Posted December 21, 2016 Super User Posted December 21, 2016 21 minutes ago, J Francho said: Enough dude. There's nothing wrong with spring scales. Cheap digital scales will let you down more often. I still have a 20 year old 5$ Rapala spring scale I use for setting drags. It's as accurate as the day I bought it. Test it when you buy it. If it's right, it will always be right. Now....those dial type scales from BPS......that's another story.... NM Merry Christmas! 1
Super User J Francho Posted December 21, 2016 Super User Posted December 21, 2016 23 minutes ago, Red Bear said: thanks, i wasnt sure if anyone would agree with me or not, but i feel the same way about scales. i work in bulk mail and use a digital postage scale all the time, its not uncommon for it to go bad out of the blue and have numbers jumping all over the place and such. Interesting that you mention that. The club I was in had a two identical digital scales for weigh-ins. It had a large, remote display so that everyone could witness the weights coming in in real time. Those scales cost a fortune. They had to be sent in every year to be calibrated, tested, and confirmed. The warranty included a replacement scale would be overnighted should it go haywire. It's happened a couple times, and we had to use the second scale.
Super User WRB Posted December 21, 2016 Super User Posted December 21, 2016 I used a laboratory grade Chatillion spring scale for decades. Spring scales are as accurate as your ability to read it. Spring scales read in a particular increment depending on the scale, most 25 lb scales have 2 oz graduations, all have issues with parallax. Parallax is how the indicator aliens to the value from your perspective. Spring scsle accuracy is dependent on how linear it is and temperature used in. Most spring scales are accurate within 2%. Didgital scales display numbers that don't need to be interpreted. Didgital scales are dependant on linear accuracy of the force gage and voltage operating the scale, battery strength. Most Didgital scales are accurate within 1% with a new battery. Measurements using a tape are dependant on many factors; how the bass in laying, how snag the mouth is held tight, how tight the tape is pulled and where the tape is located. Length measurement vary greatly, most should be within 1/2". No panaceas for measuring, calculating or weighing bass. Tom 3
Super User J Francho Posted December 21, 2016 Super User Posted December 21, 2016 I vote for displacement as the standard!
Red Bear Posted December 21, 2016 Posted December 21, 2016 2 minutes ago, J Francho said: Interesting that you mention that. The club I was in had a two identical digital scales for weigh-ins. It had a large, remote display so that everyone could witness the weights coming in in real time. Those scales cost a fortune. They had to be sent in every year to be calibrated, tested, and confirmed. The warranty included a replacement scale would be overnighted should it go haywire. It's happened a couple times, and we had to use the second scale. seems to me the more you use them the less reliable they come, of course the same can be said about many things. i cant speak for everyone, but i dont weigh every bass i catch anyways or even a majority, just dont care to, i weigh the ones that look worthy enough to weigh. ive weighed enough bass that i can pretty much say to myself "looks to be about two pounds", toss it back and not really care if it was 1.75 or 2.5 lbs. but i do know that we've been through a few digital postage scales here at work, i also know that the old school letter hanging scales always work...
Super User Choporoz Posted December 21, 2016 Super User Posted December 21, 2016 2 minutes ago, WRB said: Spring scales are as accurate as your ability to read it. Bingo. Aliens aside, digital scales are 'easier' to read for most....for a couple/few reasons -- no parallax, digital numerals will 'fix' on most after a period of 'stillness'; while springs will continue to move as long as your hand/arm and/or the fish move...at all
Super User J Francho Posted December 21, 2016 Super User Posted December 21, 2016 What a cool, and simple device. I like it.
Global Moderator 12poundbass Posted December 21, 2016 Author Global Moderator Posted December 21, 2016 1 hour ago, Red Bear said: Lol I was thinking the same thing.
Super User J Francho Posted December 21, 2016 Super User Posted December 21, 2016 If you say so, then.
Recommended Posts