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but weight and volume (for water at least) also have a neat ratio in non metric measurements--
"a pint's a pound, the whole world round" -- so gallons * 8 (8 pints to a gallon) and have the weight in pounds.
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a pint's a pound, the whole world round
Great! But can you measure your hot tub in inches and tell me how many gallons it holds?
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no-- but when i bought my bathtub-- i did buy it by volume-- 20 some odd gallons-- i wanted a larger one.. but i did the math--and it would have strained my 30 gallon hot water heater..
Most tubs are sold with there capacity at stated.. as are kitchen sinks.. and lots of other things that hold water.
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a pint's a pound, the whole world round
Wait, this is about the weight of a pint, not the price? I've been robbed!
But anyway - what I was getting at was what Seņor Faldaje meant - metrically, you can take linear measurements of a body of water (and water's a pretty good approximation of density if you're working with most other liquids) and come up with the weight of the water. I think this is so cool, when it first dawned on me, I was struck dumb. And those nearby were struck with gratitude.
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After reading about the hot tubs, I must use the bathroom, think less of relaxing and more of work, and get 8.34 #/gallon out of my head. Thanks a lot!
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My "measure" is my open hand . I know that it is 20 centimeters, and I often measure everything around me in this way - tables, furniture, public bathrooms...
That's great! I do something similar (my pace is 2-paces-equals-five-feet) that works for measuring a room or something bigger, but is of no use for smaller things. I like your idea.
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But metric measurements are based on an estimate of the world's circumference made in the 1790s! What sort of basis is that, I ask you!
Metric's units may be arbitrary, but they're far easier to use. In my field (real estate), can you imagine the difficulty of calculating with these units: 1 acre = 43,560 sq.ft. = 1/640 of a square mile?
The old system of rods and chains was easier (10 sq. chains = 10 acres), but I've never seen in used in documents later than about 1910.
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If I extend my right arm to the side, the distance between my left shoulder and the tip of my right-hand fingers is a metre, give or take a couple of centimetres. This is a quickie way of measuring fabric, for instance, and a handy reminder when mentally visualising smaller measures. Imperial measures may be more "human" (though basing your system or the size of someone's foot, leg span or walking speed, be they who they may, seems a bit dodgy to me  ), but they are not as easy to work with as metric. As Hyla says, the correspondence between weight and linear measures is incredibly helpful. 
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Another handy built-in measuring device that came free with your body (Plus, if you're born in the next twenty minutes...) is the fact that your "wingspan" (the distance from tip of middle finger to tip of ther middle finger with arms outstretched is (in most people) almost exactly equal to your height. This provides another convenient way to measure rooms, furniture, etc. without having to lie down (and for six-footers like myself the math is easy, too!).
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"a pint's a pound, the whole world round" -- so gallons * 8 (8 pints to a gallon) and have the weight in pounds.
I've heard the pint's a pound phrase before, but with completely different meaning. it's used to remember how many ounces in a cup of liquid or in a pound of weight. there are 16 oz in a pound and 16 oz in a pint (or 8 oz in a cup).
have you tested the pint/pound method of measuring the weight of a liquid? is it accurate? have to be careful about that. water's pretty dense. it most likely wouldn't work for cooking oil or alcohol even if it did work for water.
EDIT
i checked the math, and a galon of water does weigh 8 pounds. that also means that one oz of water weighs one oz. that's very useful information to have. Thanks Helen!
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