The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

An old thread I know but I use a Salter spring balance up to 8lbs in ounce increments, I picked it up for a few quid and it cleaned up lovely.

I've found that they are very accurate too...



I also have a Hardy spring balance (no doubt Salter but with the Hardy stamp and which cost me ten times the amount for the privilege) which weigh up to 22lb in four ounce increments...



I don't weigh many fish at all but often use them for scale in pictures if I catch a particularly nice looking fish...





It's amazing how little you can pick up the Salter branded scales for and I shudder to think what British craftsmanship, using those materials, would cost at today's rates.

I've owned the plastic cased dial type scales in the past and they seemed positively soulless by comparison.

I use Avon Dial scales when fishing for something over a few pounds.I was not convinced of their being accurate. I have a small cast iron "ingot " and decided to check how accurate the Avon scales really are . I weighed the "ingot " on a local post office parcel scales, which are tested regularly.. the ingot was 6lb 8 oz, put in a plastic bag and suspended it on the zeroed Avon scales the scales read 6lb 8 oz.... I was really pleased with that one.

For smaller species I use a really nice brass tubular spring balance which weighs up to 3lb, very traditional ( as above) and was a snip at £1.00 along with other odds and sods from the Bay of E. No other bidders, I was also pleased with that one as well.

OMR

I have three Salter brass tubular balances.
One to 8lbs, one to 20lbs and one to 40lbs. All are very accurate.
I also have some old Salter letter balances. one to 4oz and one to 8oz. In case I catch a monster minnow or gudgeon.

I've got traditional Avons as well as the lightweight scales shown earlier in this thread but now I tend to just pop the little digital ones in my pack in case I ever want to weigh a fish, which is rarely. I much prefer to get them back in the water, or not take them out in the first place. I paid a couple of quid for these digital ones on eBay and out of interest 'calibrated' them against the scales in the local post office and they are very, very accurate. I had to laugh when I saw exactly the same digital scales in a tackle catalogue for about ten times the amount I paid for them.

I remember buying my Avons when they were still widely available and of course they look the part.

Snape wrote:I have three Salter brass tubular balances.
One to 8lbs, one to 20lbs and one to 40lbs. All are very accurate.
I also have some old Salter letter balances. one to 4oz and one to 8oz. In case I catch a monster minnow or gudgeon.

Have you been raiding your science store cupboards at Hogwarts?

I've asked at my school if they have any hidden away somewhere but the technician is a bit of a dragon so I won't hold my breath...

Scott wrote:

Snape wrote:I have three Salter brass tubular balances.
One to 8lbs, one to 20lbs and one to 40lbs. All are very accurate.
I also have some old Salter letter balances. one to 4oz and one to 8oz. In case I catch a monster minnow or gudgeon.

Have you been raiding your science store cupboards at Hogwarts?

I've asked at my school if they have any hidden away somewhere but the technician is a bit of a dragon so I won't hold my breath...

No, any old balances etc are long gone.
I got them all from Ebay...

I use these for all roach that measure more than 14 inches:



For all others just the usual and more portable Avons.

I am very pedantic about roach being weighed properly; almost to a fault. When I was a club bailiff I used to insist on weighing the many claimed two's for members....very often shattering illusions, as most of the big roach fell way short of the mark.

However, I stopped doing this as it became hard to live with the disappointment I caused, even though they were wrong. So leave it up to respective individual conscience now

It still makes me laugh, often out loud, at some of the roach weights claimed by the great and the good in the comics, especially by those who really should know better

Oh well.

As ever,.......

Moley

I do like the old fashioned Salter spring/pocket balance type scales, especially the tubular type when nicely polished. My favourite set are stamped S. Allcock, Redditch to the rear instead of the more normally seen Hardy type. It goes without saying that having them stamped Made In 'England' is a real treat.

I have two pairs of electronic scales, both about the size of a matchbox and both in zip-loc bags. Less weight and space than anything else and I sold my Avon scales for a bargain price (for the buyer) and made a profit overall. Having said that, I hardly ever use them anyway.