My son says he can cut a plastic ruler with his circular saw, and he suggests I use a larger container, suspects a 3" diameter container is the absolute minimum and probably won't be accurate if the rain is blown sideways. So now I gotta find a bigger container with absolutely straight sides and a flat bottom.

Have you looked at your local "dollar stores"? They sometimes have rain gauges.

You could just paint the inch marks on with some dimensional paint at the craft store.
{{gwi:72257}}
Paint on the outside so you can see it better.

I'd also use a clear plastic container so I could see it from a distance or from inside the house. You can easily find them at local thrift stores. Even a take-out container would work.

Most house holds have a hacksaw, they would easily cut a plastic ruler, or even a little ol coping saw probably would.

I enjoy {{gwi:49299}} but more importantly, it tells me how much rain that I got at my house. Often the TV weather reports are not accurate about how much rain "they think" I got, but I can go look at tha rain guage and know for sure. I appreciate being able to do that. (I also have a remote reporting station to a unit in the kitchen, but it is not in this price range)":^)

These do not cost all that much at Northern Tool
Bill P.

violet

Yes, I've looked at the local dollar store, but their garden stuff never included rain gauges.

bill p.

Yes, the reason I got interested in a rain gauge is because I keep tabs on most growing conditions in my local area through a very detailed daily website that even includes local soil temps, windspeed, and high/low ambient temps, as well as daily and aggregated rainfall. The station is about ten miles away, and it never reflects our local rainfall accurately. We had about a quarter-inch today, I believe, but I'll see what the report tomorrow says. Other days when we've had rain, the station has reported none. This has been a pretty dry spring here, though I know other places have been deluged! The entire state is under water restrictions.

Mark the outside of a can in whatever increments you want. At each increment take a hammer and nail (with blunted end) and make an indent with the nail. Mark the inch (or cm, or whatever) with 1 indent, 2 indents, etc. You will need a piece of wood to put inside the can to keep you from going through the can (and it's easier to hit with the hammer). I have made them before this way (I think as a Cub Scout(talk about a long time ago)) but many times you can find them cheap or free at garden shows.

I just use a clear glass bottle that used to have green olives in it, I just set in the loose dirt and twist it in the ground so it won't get knocked over and when it rains, if it ever will again, I just pick up my little glass jar and eye ball how much rain water is in there, don't need to make markings! Betsy

Even within one town rain can vary. I got back from a weekend trip and found four inches in my rain gauge but a lady I work with swears that the didn't get anymore than a few sprinkles because she ended up having to water her garden manually!

Here is a link that might be useful: My Garden Blog

I got mine at a church rumage sale for $1.00

I see a lot of gardening stuff at garage sales and church sales.

Val

I should send you a rain gauge but might cost me some $. I was rain gauge poor for about a month. I now have three. I know a couple of seed saleman for fertilizer companies and asked them for one they normall give a few away for free. I started asking my bro-in-law took me going to his house and getting one. Then I was joking with another friend about the brand of seed corn company on the gauge and how it wasn't "our normal brand" and he gave me one that he thought would be more reliable. Salesman can be fun to bargin with. I also got one from my wifes grandmother when she found out I never had one which I am pretty sure she got for free. I now have three gauge and FYI all of them have registed the same.

ccromwell

LOL! I guess it never rains but pours rain gauges upon some people! I need to find a seed salesman...

Thanks all for the suggestions. I'll work something out.

I just bought a rain gauge at amazon for $3. A timex, magnified. Comes with screws to mount but I just pushed it into the soil near my garden. I also didn't want to spend $15 !

Here is a link that might be useful: rain gauge at amazon

Probably be a waste of space, but in my little ol home town, a group lifelong friends and neighbors used to meet at a local restaurant every morning for coffee, breakfast and chat. One of them named George was a stutterer and consequently pretty sensitive because of it, but otherwise just one of the regular guys, loved and respected by all.

His yard backed up to another one of the group's yard and his rain guage was on the back fence. For some reason, the idea for a practical joke occurred to them and Ed, the neighbor in on the prank would sometimes go out and put a little bit of water in George's guage. When they were together, George would ask "Any of you guys get any rain last night? I got about an eighth of an inch", but no one else got any and would join in with stuff like "C'mon now Grorge, it did not rain last night, at least within a hundred miles of here anyway". Some times when they did get a good rain, Ed would go out before daylight and pour most of it it out of George's guage, then they would compare rain amounts over breakfast. It soon became evident that George never got the same amount that everyone else got. He bought a couple of new guages, but made the mistake of putting them on the back fence, never suspecting that Ed was messing with them. It eventually got to where they would just dismiss anything that George had to say about how much rain he got and make it obvious that he could not read a guage right or just did not know what was really happing. He got pretty frustrated. He finally caught Ed adding water to his guage and was furious. It took him a few months and many apologies to ever get over what was at first just a funny practical joke, that they carried too far.

The moral of the story, I guess, is to put your rain guage where you know what goes into it. ":^)
Bill P.

Whats wrong with a five gallon paint pail or any container with straight sides whose mouth is the same diameter as the rest of the container. Just stick your ruler in it and measure it. Translucent plastic would be better than metal because you could set the rain gauge on the patio or dirt outside your window and see about how much rain fell by just observing the water level without going outside. After the storm you go out and measure it.

I like californian's idea. The 5 gallon buck is easy to find and handy around the house and garden.

My rain guages didn't come cheap, but I have plenty. I had a kid! Consequently I have dozens of makeshift rain guages scattered all over my yard. Here's a picture of{{gwi:72256}}

While I'm kinda kidding, it does illustrate that it does not need to be fancy. In the sun, the water will evaporate out of the guage, so you can't keep an accurate running total with one. You must check and dump fairly regular no matter what type it is if you want to be accurate.

5 gallon buckets are a liability, as a kid can go head first into one and not get out. A child small enough to do that is also one young enough to not know any better.

Walmart has a simple one, with base, for less than $2.00. It holds either 5 or 6 inches. But I can understand if you want to make your own; I just made a notepaper holder that, if you would count my labor at minimum wage, would probably cost $100. But I'm retired, so my labor is free.

Anney,
Did you ever get a rain guage? I picked up another one at the county fair. You might be able to track one down at your local fair.

CC

I don't think we have county fairs! Who'd you get it from, what company?

Right now I have a translucent rather large container on a table on the deck. I estimate rainfall by sticking my finger in it, haven't gotten a plastic ruler to put in it yet. Since the weekend we've had maybe a half-inch. It was VERY welcome since Georgia's still in drought conditions.

Don't have county fairs? Unless you are in a major urban area I would think you would have a county fair. I have a Wyffles, Dekalb and Crow's hybrids and one from CIBA. I figured you could have found a free one by now. I wish you the best of luck. You also could get one of those fancy weather rocks.

I use a tuna fish can, except for the mercury it won't harm children or pets.

I have 2 both were under $5 each. One measures up to 5" but does not do small amounts well. The other only measures up to 2" but will accuratly catch .05". I got mine at a bonified garden center, not a "discount" marketer. Check your local garden centers or hardware stores. Or Amazon.

Lowe's has them for less than $2.00. Come on, you are worth it. Splurg a little.