Hand held bow scales ???

[joe vt]

I am looking for opinions on hand held bow scales. Do they work good? Have one you want to recommend?  thx, ~ joe

[Rob DiStefano]

i tried a few and found the analog spring scales are just not accurate.  

the digital ones are best and the best for me is the easton digital scale - not cheap, but well worth the dollars as it's accurate and durable, and therefore the better value.  

had two other digital scales that crapped out in short order, while the easton has worked perfectly for over a year.

[T Folts]

x2 NOT ACCURATE

[BobCo 1965]

Never worked very accurately for me.

[Whip]

It depends on what you are looking for out of a scale.  It probably varies from one scale to another somewhat as well. Some units might be off quite a bit, but I have a hand held spring scale that is within a pound of my very accurate digital wall mounted scale.  It will give the exact same reading consistently each time it is drawn, but will read about a pound lighter than my digital scale.

If you are just looking to be able to compare one bow to another the hand held might meet your needs.  To get as accurate and consistent as possible, make up a measuring arrow and mark off the length(s) you want to measure the weight at.  Use a spring clip on the arrow to make sure you are drawing the bow to the exact measurement you want.

[joe vt]

good input guys thanks.

i should have included my intentions/use of the scale.

whip mentioned my intentions; i want to compare one bow to another and so on. im not going to use it to 'challange' what is marked on a given bow.

[Steve Clandinin]

Joe,I'm same as whip.I've had one for close to 15 years and it seams to work fine and seams quite accurate as to my bows weights.It is real handy and I use mine the same as your intentions.

[Stinger]

I have found that most of the spring scales, such as the one Cabelas sells indicate 3# light. I don't know why, they just all ready 3# light.  Just measure the bow with a good scale at an archery shop and then try the hand held scale.  Note the difference and then you can add or subtract the weight.

Also, I do what Whip said and us the same marked arrow every time.  It's funny because it is an old Herters farbenglass arrow that I stripped the fletching off of so I know that is the one to use.

[Zradix]

I use a rapela's digital fish scale.
Works for me