Advertised vs. Actual weight

out of curisosity I have started to weigh my gear. to this point i have simply taken the manufacturers advertised weight as fact.

what i am finding so far is that generally the actual weight is heavier than what is advertised. -oddly never lighter.

ex: my WM versalite is advertised at 2-lbs. but the scale reads like 2-lb. 4-oz.

now believe me, i could care less about counting every ounce, but the retail price of a few ounces is a VERY competitive and profitable market. everyone knows that a few ounces can cost a hundred bucks.

just a thought.

Yeah, this is a topic that has been discussed at length on earlier threads.

A fairly high proportion of gear manufacturers list weights lower than actual in their advertisements; probably in an effort to capture some of the light weight gear market. Some fudge a little and claim that it is just manufacturing variation; others fudge a lot and don't claim much at all. I bought a pack from a major maker that weighed a pound more than advertised. The response from the manufacturer was basically "sorry about that" .

Some manufacturers that are pretty accurate, in my experience, are: Marmot, Tarptent, Six Moons, Big Agnes, GoLite and MontBell. I'm sure that others on this forum can add to the above list. For the rest, take your scales with you when you go to the store.

...and be sure to calibrate your scales.

For me, anything within 10% of the published weight is acceptable for a mass-produced piece of gear.

FB

One suggestion here is ---whether or not you choose to buy from them --- to check prolitegear.com, as they have a fairly good selection of gear and they weigh each item themselves and list the weight in both oz and grams. I've had the experience where their listed weight is actually higher than what I measure --- my golite poncho is an example I can think of off-hand.

Another place that independently weighs gear is backpackinglight.com. If just looking for a more accurate weight, I'd check prolitegear first as I believe they have a wider selection.

If there are any other places that independently weigh (and their weights are found to be reliable ...), I'd appreciate hearing about them. For example, I've not checked to see whether the spec weights given by the likes of REI or MEC or whatever are accurate or if (as I would guess) they're just passing on what the manufacturers claim.