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Digital Scales

Terry Simner said:
Well I've never had a double float fishing the Severn, but I did have one of 9lbs 15ozs. Now that smarted!
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well in that instance surely that comes under the PB dunnit ??
 

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Gerry Giles said:
WHY ? unless your PB IS 11.15 of course other wise surely so long as its a double it dont matter ???
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We weigh fish because we want to. Surely, the significance of various weights means different things to different people. I like to be as accurate as possible and, to me, I would rather catch a 12lb barbel to an eleven pound something barbel. I would even more like to get a 14 pounder (not managed that yet).
 
I have a set of Wychwood digital scales in my carp bag, the biggest draw back with them is that you can not preset them to zero allowing for a weigh sling, it has be done for every single fish. Once you have a fish on the bank it is just extra time you spend pi55ing around. The ability to adjust by way of an adjustment dial on dial scales is just simply put much easier. I really wanted to like digital scales, but compared to conventional scales they are just a bit of a faff in my experience.
 
David Craine said:
I had a pair of Reuben Heaton flyweights, they were sureley the worst scales I ever had for accuracy, and the buiild and materials the scales were made from were IMO cheap, but the price, was not cheap, they were a real waste of money.

I bought them as my Avons ( to 40lbs) were accurate, but a bit bulky and heavy in their leather pouch , I should have just stuck with the Avons as they are accurate to about an ounce or so, which is more than good enough for me.

I was bought a set of small digital scales as a pressie a few years ago, Salter Brecknell 22, compact and light I was very pleased with them, they do have a couple of faults though, one is that they divide a pound into 100 units, as opposed to 16 oz, so I have had to make a small conversion chart, which sits in the back of their case, the second fault is that they are switched "ON" 24/7, although they dont seem to eat batteries , the third and potentially worst fault is that compared to the Avons, they are in fact only accurate to about 4 oz.

I Have a foolproof way of testing the accuracy of the scales, I have a large lump of "Pig Iron" and also a smaller lump of lead, I fashioned a permanent hanging strap for the pig Iron, and melted the lead and set a wire loop in it, I took them both to the local Post Office and had the weight of each object checked, they both have their weight endorsed on the sides .
Occasionally I check both the Avons and the Salter Brecknells against the different weights, the Avons are always consistent, the Salters sometimes vary by a couple of ounces or more .I think the Salter scales must have been discontinued ,as I cant seem to find any anywhere on line , not suprising really.

So I am back to my old faithful Avons...... although I would be willing to go the way of Digitals, if I could find a set that were small, lightweight and reasonably accurate and weighed in Pounds and ounces instead of pounds and hundredths.

David
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That seems a very fair review David. Seems like the majority who have tried both types of scales, favour the reliability, and above all, the accuracy of dial type scales. I shouldn't really comment as I've only ever owned dial type scales. I've had 32 lb Avon's ...now 40 lb Avon's. Think the 32's went up in flames when I had my car knicked in Hull in the early 90's. I'm on my second pair of Reubons, the type you need (potentially 😀)for Chew Valley Lakes. The first set I destroyed, when like a dafty, I ran them over in my car whilst in a River Wye car park.😖😖
 
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Too many bad and frustating experiences with digitals,the extra weight carrying of my Reubon dials doesn't bother me when I totally trust them, and to me makes even more sense if fishing a barrow friendly stretch of river.
Could lead on to another Thread,Do you use a barrow or trolley when roving? A one wheeled barrow being the far easier.
 
To my mind the biggest drawback of digital scales is you never quite know when they are going to go wrong . There must always be that nagging doubt , are the batteries on the way out ? Has damp got in to them ? Avons or RH dial scales for me , they are tough , accurate and don't take up that much room . The MK2 RH flyweights are appalling , I tried x2 new ones , they were both miles out , rubbish ...
 
still using my Avons had them 20 odd years just need to catch a fish to use them😁🤣
 
Paul Whiteing said:
Managed to catch a barbel at long last, but my new RH9000s (replaced old set in Feb 2020) wouldn't switch on. I'm hoping it's a senior moment and hadn't put batteries in at beginning of season. Will look tomorrow as not got a screwdriver with me on the riverbank.
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Get yourself a leatherman Paul I’d never leave home without mine. I’ve stripped reels on the river bank with it. I’d feel naked with out my portable Multitool on the bank 😊
 
Richard Isaacs said:
Get yourself a leatherman Paul I’d never leave home without mine. I’ve stripped reels on the river bank with it. I’d feel naked with out my portable Multitool on the bank 😊
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Agreed... I have had mine for goodness knows how many years and done allsorts with it, removed hooks, sharpened the same, repaired reels, screwed a mates car one time as he lost his keys but had a spare set inside the car ( dont ask me, I cant explain it either) Cut a forked stick for a rod rest etc etc.... plus, amd this was quite a good thing, I managed to snap the scissor attachment on my leatherman some fifteen plus years after purchase, I returned it to the suplliers and was sent a brand new "Wave" without a qualm.

David.
 
David Craine said:
Agreed... I have had mine for goodness knows how many years and done allsorts with it, removed hooks, sharpened the same, repaired reels, screwed a mates car one time as he lost his keys but had a spare set inside the car ( dont ask me, I cant explain it either) Cut a forked stick for a rod rest etc etc.... plus, amd this was quite a good thing, I managed to snap the scissor attachment on my leatherman some fifteen plus years after purchase, I returned it to the suplliers and was sent a brand new "Wave" without a qualm.

David.
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The Wave is absolutely bang on!
 
Paul Whiteing said:
Managed to catch a barbel at long last, but my new RH9000s (replaced old set in Feb 2020) wouldn't switch on. I'm hoping it's a senior moment and hadn't put batteries in at beginning of season. Will look tomorrow as not got a screwdriver with me on the riverbank.
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Just checked and the batteries are dead. That's now a dilemma since I would have used new batteries and presumably mid June, and as I haven't even switched the scales on since it could be that there's leakage.

So just to be on the safe side I think I'll remove batteries after every trip, and pack a small screwdriver. Then make it one of the first jobs to do once settled in a swim at each session (yeah, I bet I'll forget too
:lol:
).

Leatherman? a bit weighty for me, I don't want to carry extra. A small electrical screwdriver will suffice.
 
Paul Whiteing said:
Just checked and the batteries are dead. That's now a dilemma since I would have used new batteries and presumably mid June, and as I haven't even switched the scales on since it could be that there's leakage.

So just to be on the safe side I think I'll remove batteries after every trip, and pack a small screwdriver. Then make it one of the first jobs to do once settled in a swim at each session (yeah, I bet I'll forget too
:lol:
).
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there will be some form of memory probably hanging on to your zero point which uses a small amount of battery a bit like a digital caliper when turned off.
since June!!! That’s obviously eating them quickly I had better get mine checked as they don’t get turned on very often either👍🏻
 
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