The $9 luggage scale that saved my back on a 3am flight out of O'Hare

I used to be the person hauling a 40 pound carry-on through the terminal hoping nobody weighed it. Then last month I got flagged at the gate and had to repack my whole bag on the floor, holding up a line of like 15 people. The agent just looked at me and said "you have 2 minutes." I bought one of those little hook scales for 9 bucks at a Walmart in Schiller Park and now I weigh everything before I leave the house. It's saved me twice already, once for a 49.6 pound bag and once for a camera bag that somehow hit 28. Has anyone else had a near miss that finally made them buy a boring but solid tool?

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miab164d ago

Did you see that thing from the TSA blog about how many people get stuck at the gate every day with overweight bags? It's way more than you'd think. I had a similar moment when my duffel hit 51 pounds at check in and I had to pull out my dirty laundry to make weight. The hook scale is a real game changer, I just wish I'd bought one before my trip to Europe when I ended up wearing three layers of clothes on the plane just to avoid the fee.