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Scales

Avon Scales....I 'tested' mine by leaving them on the banks of the WA for a week during which time the river broke its banks and flooded the surrounding area. Found them by removing the mud in the peg I had been in with the toe of my welliesšŸ˜€. Sent them for a service and they were fine after this episode. I doubt you could say the same of 'digitals'.
Regards,
G.T.
 
Old avons for me, got some old small barrel brass scales for roaming smaller rivers when I don't want to take the kitchen sink with me .
 
I can't find my Avons. My nephew has been using my kit while I've taken a slight sabbatical and they seem to have disappeared.

I need a new set of something for when I catch the next Bristol Avon record in the coming weeks...

What did you go for in the end @Dave Quinn ??
 
Andy Frances said:
I can't find my Avons. My nephew has been using my kit while I've taken a slight sabbatical and they seem to have disappeared.

I need a new set of something for when I catch the next Bristol Avon record in the coming weeks...

What did you go for in the end @Dave Quinn ??
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School holidays have got in the way of fishing so I havenā€™t bought any yet. I nearly bought a set of Korum digitals this week but they only had the display set so I left it. Iā€™ll probably go for Avons if I can find some in very good condition
 
I absolutely love my old set of Avon scales. Theyā€™ve been brilliant for most of my whole fishing life. Every year they get various known weights hung off them and every year they read spot on. Iā€™d quite happily witness a special fish hanging under them knowing they are true to the oz.
however Iā€™d not recommend people to buy a second hand set nowadays because they will be old and you never know how theyā€™ve been treated and you canā€™t get replacement parts.
I would say a set of Reubens is about as good as it gets from todayā€™s offerings.
I hope the old Avonā€™s carry on performing as they have as I personally Couldnā€™t think of a new set Iā€™d rather replace them with.
 
A good set of scales is incredibly important imho. Research and buy the absolute best you can afford. Iā€™d never buy a second hand set. check/zero them accurately and frequently. Fishing in general is one of very few sports/hobbyā€™s where ANYONE is capable of being a record holder. You donā€™t want your one and only chance to be let down by a set of scales that reads out. Im not about to hit the snooker tables and beat Ronnie Oā€™Sullivanā€™s speed time of a clear up but if my bait is in the water Iā€™ve every chance of becoming a record fish holder. My 9 year old daughter holds one of the carp records for a local commercial carp lake we fish during closed season. They average 8-12lb in there and sheā€™s still sitting on the top spot as far as Iā€™m concerned with a 22lb 4oz mirror.
Some of the long term members donā€™t like it and claim theyā€™ve caught bigger but Iā€™m yet to see evidence of that and my scales donā€™t lie. Jammy little thing it was her 3rd time on the lake with me. Boy she likes to let me know about it too, if she catches a Barbel Iā€™m simply refusing to weigh it (kidding)
 
Luke Agacy said:
Any suggestions on a decent set?
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Honestly, due to having my Avon london set for the best part of 20 years Iā€™m probably out of touch on them. Iā€™ve simply not needed to research this myself.
However we all know the Reuben name as being one of if not the best name in the business. I canā€™t recommend them from a personal point of view as Iā€™ve never owned a set but given the reputation theyā€™ve earned over many decades Iā€™d say it was an excellent place to start.
Get yourself a nice case for them. Look after them and they will last you a life time. Good scales donā€™t go bad with age they go bad with miss use. There isnā€™t a lot to them but the moment you do something like get the internals wet or give them a good banging around, over load them etc then they will suffer on the read out. Check out how to service them and keep them clean.
 
I share some folks mistrust of digital scales. However, I absolutely hate the RH Flyweights. I found them to be total junk. Not wishing to spend good money on antique Avons, and having no desire to lug about RH Specimen dial scales, I went for some RH9000s. After a couple of years of trouble free use, I bought a second set for another fishing set up. The only alternative I've considered were the Salter Electro Samsons. However, they are bulkier and more expensive.
 
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Richard Isaacs said:
What was wrong with them out of interest.
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Mine weighed over a pound light comparing them against 2 digital scales and my old Avons. The Avonā€™s, circa 1969!! and the digitals were within 1oz of each other. The lightweights also would not zero properly....put them in the plastic recycling!!
 
Chris Jones said:
Mine changed zero every time they were used. They were also inaccurate through every part of their range that actually mattered to me. Judging by the number of folk that rate them, they can't all be bad, but mine were junk. I couldn't even give them away in good conscience.
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I only realized I used to own a set when I saw them in the shop the other day. I didnā€™t like them at all and wouldnā€™t buy them again, they didnā€™t zero properly and werenā€™t accurate. Iā€™ve got a set of their cheaper scales called Sportster or somesuchlike that I got as part of a job lot of fishing gear. Theyā€™re in my bag as backup to my cheap digitals but I have no faith in their accuracy

Edit - I remember now I bought the flyweights new and never liked them
 
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Richard Isaacs said:
A good set of scales is incredibly important imho. Research and buy the absolute best you can afford. Iā€™d never buy a second hand set. check/zero them accurately and frequently. Fishing in general is one of very few sports/hobbyā€™s where ANYONE is capable of being a record holder. You donā€™t want your one and only chance to be let down by a set of scales that reads out. Im not about to hit the snooker tables and beat Ronnie Oā€™Sullivanā€™s speed time of a clear up but if my bait is in the water Iā€™ve every chance of becoming a record fish holder. My 9 year old daughter holds one of the carp records for a local commercial carp lake we fish during closed season. They average 8-12lb in there and sheā€™s still sitting on the top spot as far as Iā€™m concerned with a 22lb 4oz mirror.
Some of the long term members donā€™t like it and claim theyā€™ve caught bigger but Iā€™m yet to see evidence of that and my scales donā€™t lie. Jammy little thing it was her 3rd time on the lake with me. Boy she likes to let me know about it too, if she catches a Barbel Iā€™m simply refusing to weigh it (kidding)
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I know what you mean - Iā€™m looking at fishing a water with the possibility of some very large specimens in it and I wouldnā€™t want to weigh something huge on inaccurate scales which is whatā€™s led me here. But Iā€™m not that driven by very accurate weights and I donā€™t want to spend sixty quid on large dial scales that need to take up a lot of space in my bag
 
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Richard Isaacs said:
A good set of scales is incredibly important imho. Research and buy the absolute best you can afford. Iā€™d never buy a second hand set. check/zero them accurately and frequently. Fishing in general is one of very few sports/hobbyā€™s where ANYONE is capable of being a record holder. You donā€™t want your one and only chance to be let down by a set of scales that reads out. Im not about to hit the snooker tables and beat Ronnie Oā€™Sullivanā€™s speed time of a clear up but if my bait is in the water Iā€™ve every chance of becoming a record fish holder. My 9 year old daughter holds one of the carp records for a local commercial carp lake we fish during closed season. They average 8-12lb in there and sheā€™s still sitting on the top spot as far as Iā€™m concerned with a 22lb 4oz mirror.
Some of the long term members donā€™t like it and claim theyā€™ve caught bigger but Iā€™m yet to see evidence of that and my scales donā€™t lie. Jammy little thing it was her 3rd time on the lake with me. Boy she likes to let me know about it too, if she catches a Barbel Iā€™m simply refusing to weigh it (kidding)
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Great post
I agree completely !......and I would never dream of buying a secondhand set of Avon scales that NOW can not be serviced or repaired ?

why would you chance buying something like that ?
unless it was for nostalgic reasons and you dont give a monkeys about how accurate the weight is but if thats the case why bother weighing at all ??

surely if you can be interested enough to weigh it you would want to know the proper weight ?...and with plenty of cheap scales around that are bang on the money ?
 
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