I just purchased a Golite Gamut jacket and a Mountain Hardware Drifter pack, both are very nice pieces of gear, but I was surprised that their listed weights were off. They were 12-15% higher than the listed weights, which to me was not worthy of too much complaint, but a little frustrating when I had expected them to be lower. I want to make sure my scale is accurate in the near future, but it's fairly new and measures down to single grams. Thinking back, I think all my items were slightly higher than listed weights, but these were the most off I've had. Is that just normal? Should I contact the companies and let them know I was a little dissapointed?

I suggest an easy and "precise enough" calibration test for a scale that weighs to the individual gram (i.e., an inexpensive type electronic scale). Find some coins that look quite new & shiny and not in any way visually worn or nicked. The weights of U.S. coins can vary to some degree, but there are specs and --- you should get a sense for whether your scale is at fault or (as is unfortunately too often the case) the manufacturers err on the optimistic side in their given weights.

A U.S. dime should be 2.268 grams; get a bunch of 'em and see what your scale says. A quarter is supposed to be 5.67 grams. A nickel is exactly 5 grams.
http://www.usmint.gov/faqs/circulating_coins/index.cfm?flash=yes&action=faq_circulating_coin

If it's the manufacturer's being overly optimistic --- that might make a good thread here (which one's stretch the truth the most, and the most consistently?). It certainly can't hurt for all of us to directly express our dissapointment --- while reiterating that at the same time that we *do* want weights given. So long as they're not too far off, I'd rather somewhat optimistic weights than no weights given at all ...


Brian Lewis

Yes, it is a let down. I recently bought a daypack that weighed in at 1087g but advertised as 900g which is a 20% difference. I'm very happy with the pack but 900g was the upper limit of the weight scale for me. I've only been able to cut off about 50g of straps etc.

Thanks! I tried it with quarters and the weight of 100 quarters came to 567.1 grams, so I guess my scale is pretty accurate.

Ian, same happened with my pack. It was 4 ounces over the listed weight, but I took off about 12oz so it's ok now.

Edited by geekguyandy on 04/05/2007 20:04:00 MDT.