How much does that suitcase weigh?

If you've ever tried to lug a 50-pound suitcase on to a bathroom scale to see if you're over the weight limit for your airline, you know how hard it can be to accurately gauge the weight of your bag before you get to the airport and get it up on that metal platform. You also know the consequences for going over the weight limit: Go over 50 pounds and you could be slapped with an extra $125 fee (or more!) for oversized baggage.

Now I bet you're wondering just how much your bag weighs, aren't you?

Like I said, figuring that out isn't always easy. Home scales aren't made for weighing items that large, and it can be impossible to get your bag into position where you get both an accurate reading while being able to actually see the display.

Enter Balanzza.

Balanzza is an ingenious and very portable that lets you easily weigh any item with a handle. Just strap the Balanzza's built-in leash around your bag's handle, pick up the bag via the Balanzza unit, wait for the beep, and look at the LED display: You get the weight of the bag to the nearest tenth of a pound, or kilogram, if that's the way you roll.

Operation is pretty much brainless: If you can push the power button you can use the Balanzza. And accuracy is spot on, and the display goes up to 100 pounds before Balanzza croaks. The design even makes it easy to pick up your bag with two hands if it's extremely heavy (an older model is still being shown on the Balanzza website; the picture above shows what it looks like now).

All of this will run you $25 and two AAA batteries. I seriously doubt you'll find a better gift for the frequent traveler all year. If it stops you from overfilling just one bag, it pays for itself immediately, five times over.

Oh, and as for the Balanzza: The gadget itself weighs exactly half a pound... should you be considering packing the item so you can weigh your souvenir-stuffed bag again before your return flight. Maybe not a bad idea...