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While on the road you don't have your handy scales at home, and without making an appointment to see a doctor, where else could you find some scales to determine your on-the-road weight? This is useful if say, your travel medicine is weight-related...

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  • you mean your own body weight, right? I first thought you were talking about your luggage
    – Niels
    Aug 6, 2011 at 9:21
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    Will update, yes :)
    – Mark Mayo
    Aug 6, 2011 at 9:23
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    I cannot imagine any medication that would require a dosage change after the gain or loss of 2 or 5 pounds. I expect you would need to change your weight by 20 pounds or more to see any such consequence. Therefore take a tape measure and measure your waist (or some other consistent dimension) - as long as it stays stable, no doubt your weight is also. If it changes a lot (an inch?), seek out a place to be weighed. Aug 10, 2011 at 16:51
  • About 2 inches :) But hey, this new hostel has a set of scales, victory!
    – Mark Mayo
    Aug 12, 2011 at 0:18

5 Answers 5

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Ask at your hotel or hostel. I work in a hostel and we have about four sets of scales so guests can make sure their luggage won't be over the weight limit for their flight.

I'm sure we're not unique in this regard.

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    Well that was easier than thought, my hostel in Ulaanbaatar had just such a scale :)
    – Mark Mayo
    Aug 23, 2011 at 9:24
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When you are at the airport you could step onto the conveyer belt of a checkin desk that is not in use. The scales normally still show the weight.

If you happen to find a shop that sells stones (for stone carving) they usually have scales to measure the weight of the stone to calculate the price. Those scales should be able to hold you.

You could try to befriend someone local and ask to borrow his or her scale. You could also use the couchsurfing website to contact people and ask them just to borrow their scale.

Or you could try to find a store that sells scales and just use it in the store without buying it.

Sometimes you can find a scale inside a gym or swimming pool (maybe more common in Scandinavia?)

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    Yep, at least in Finland nearly all gyms and public swimming pools have a scale, in the dressing rooms or elsewhere. (Come to think of it, for me gym is the only place where usually I weight myself, as I don't own a scale...)
    – Jonik
    Nov 20, 2011 at 9:43
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In many countries you actually have people standing around on street corners with their scales which you can use for a small fee.

The problem may be that you may use your home scale naked, while you are dressed to various degrees when on the street (depending on the weather). Also some of the scales look pretty old, and may not be super correct. But at least is it gives you some idea.

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    Do you have any examples of countries/cities where this is the case? I have never noticed this (although in fairness I haven't exactly been looking).
    – user82
    Feb 26, 2012 at 22:28
  • These guys are pretty common in Central Asia.
    – JonathanReez
    Dec 25, 2014 at 11:24
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In the UK pharmacies sometimes have scales that require a coin to be activated.

If your hotel room has a bath, measure the dimensions, fill it up completely with water, climb in and measure how much water is displaced. Don't blame me if the hotel complains about water damage :)

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    love the scientific approach to measuring it :)
    – Mark Mayo
    Aug 6, 2011 at 12:09
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    That will only tell you your volume. It may work well enough if you happen to already know your average weight per cubic centimetre (-: Aug 6, 2011 at 13:56
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    Not true, it will tell you your weight if you are floating.
    – victoriah
    Aug 6, 2011 at 13:59
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    So find a really big bath.
    – victoriah
    Aug 6, 2011 at 13:59
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    "The weight of an object or substance can be measured by floating a sufficiently buoyant receptacle in the cylinder and noting the water level. After placing the object or substance in the receptacle, the difference in weight of the water level volumes will equal the weight of the object." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Displacement_(fluid)
    – victoriah
    Aug 6, 2011 at 14:02
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For completeness sake, pharmacies in Italy often have both scales and sphygmomanometers to measure blood pressure. Both are available to the customers, and are either free or coin-activated.

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