Greg Marshall, founder of The Baggage Scale, became so frustrated at the discrepancy between the travel scales reading taken before leaving home and the dreaded airport check-in counter that he decided to take matters into his own hands and design one himself. "I'm a Chartered Engineer and frequent air traveller but gradually airport check-in became less of worrying about whether I'd forgotten my tickets and passport, and more about fretting if I'd be embarrassingly emptying the contents of my case in front of an audience. It was then that I started using luggage scales to weigh my case before leaving the house and slowly I realised that this was a minefield in itself - each one I tried, mechanical or digital, gave me a different reading with some of them being pretty expensive and then having flat batteries just when I needed them."

The Baggage Scale is the result of Greg's determination to make a better product and after four years of design and development the pilot product released in Australia, is now available to buy in the UK. It's claimed to be stylish, lightweight, compact and the most environmentally friendly non digital scale available, is kind to your back and fingers, and weighing just 106 grams, fits in the palm of your hand with no sharp, metal hooks, is easy to read with a magnifying viewer, it gives an instant readout and can weigh luggage up to 32kg/70lbs. It doesn't require batteries or a printed circuit board meaning it'll never go flat.

Until May, The Baggage Scale is available direct from the official website at a special introductory price of £7.99 (including free packing and postage within the UK) using promotional code MAG312.