La Crosse 705-109 Waterfall Rain Gauge

I had a 3 year old competitor's which developed a hairline crack after a freeze/thaw in this early Maryland winter. The same competitor product doubled in price, but while I was searching, this La Crosse 705-109 showed up in the "similar products" sidebar. The La Crosse was the same price as the competitor's was three years ago, so I took a chance. Perfect. Exact same footprint on the deck's lip. I could have just dropped the clear plastic into the previous product's slot but figured I'd use the new holder.

This is our 2nd La Cross rain gauge. Our first one lasted years, although its downfall was me forgetting to empty it before a night of below freezing temperature - my bad! I found some epoxy cement and repaired and it last a few more years. It's such a great gauge; easy to read, nice big numerals and 1/10th increments. My neighbors often call me to find out what it reads. I placed it on the handrail of our deck, and we can see it clearly from inside the house. I would recommend this gauge to anyone who wants and accurate measure that can be easily seen from a distance!

I bought one of these in 2022. It functioned well for 3 years then cracked when I failed to empty it during a freezing rain. The only reason I'm not giving it 5 stars is because it isn't crack resistant (like nearly all rain gauges). It is, however VERY handy, easy to read, and easy to empty. It doesn't break easily like the glass one. I'm purchasing again.

This is worth the extra few dollars over the other rain gauges. Easy to read and empty. Our first one lasted over 19 years, until the recent freeze when I left the water in it.

GREAT rain gauge!! I don't even have to put on my glasses or go outside to read it. Wonderful value for such a good quality. It's very durable and easy to install.

We've gone through a number of rain gauges over our lifetime...most of them the skinny upright tube types. As far as the durability of those tubes, it never seemed to matter how much we spent on it. Whether it was a plastic tube in a plastic holder or a glass tube in a metal holder...if we forgot to bring the tube in before a freeze, there would be just enough of a crack in the bottom that the tube would no longer hold water. I originally bought this waterfall rain gauge at our local Lowes a few years ago. With the larger-sized container and huge numbers, we were able to attach the holder to an inconspicuous spot of our furthest deck railing and still be able to read the gauge from inside the house. And it worked great for many years until this winter when it finally developed a tiny crack. I ordered a new one from Amazon. It's the exact same design as it was years ago; so I was able to just put the new measuring container into our existing holder. The only small issue that we've had with it is the floating red plastic guide. The rectangular piece continually floats on the water within and more easily allows you to read (from a distance) where the water level is. Only problem is that 2-3 times a year we get major pounding rain storms which exceed the 6" capacity. Sometimes I go running out to empty it as it fills; but most times I choose to stay dry in the house. In these instances, we've occasionally had to go looking for the small red strip because the torrential rain washes it out of the container once it reaches the top. Not a regular occurrence, thankfully; but it can happen...and has :)

My last one was smashed by softball-size hail at the end of September (see photo) so I replaced it with the same thing. I checked that the rail on the deck was level -- it was -- before I installed the replacement, but putting a thin sliver of wood or plastic under one edge would have worked to level it if needed. It works well and is easy to read even if you don't use the red floating plastic (see photo). I like the graduated scale which makes it very easy to read when there is only a little rainfall. (Some people are confused by the graduated scale, but if they can't understand that part, they are probably at a loss to understand a rain gauge anyway.) For the last couple of years, I have removed the rain gauge from the holder from late December until late February so I would have to worry about it freezing and cracking (after all it IS plastic!), but it didn't survive the huge Oklahoma hailstorm. If it happens again, I will gladly buy the same thing again!

Great design, but quality needs to be improved. The red floating measurement guide fades in the sun in a matter of a few weeks, if not days, making it much less visible and more difficult to read from more than a few feet away. If the red plastic guide was more UV resistant and fade proof, I would have given it another star, or maybe even five stars. Secondly, do not allow water to freeze in the gauge during the winter or it will crack. I probably should have taken it down in the winter, but even in the winter I like to measure the rainfall amounts. I had never had that problem with cylinder shaped plastic rain gauges, so I did not expect having that problem with this one either. Again, if higher quality, stronger plastic was used it might be one of the best rain gauges on the market. The bottom line is that this gauge is not very weather resistant, but to be able to use it at all of course you must place it outside in the elements. For the price, it was a reasonable purchase, but I would not buy it again unless I knew the manufacturer had improved the durability of the materials.

Prompt service and quality product.

Parece funcionar bien, el mercado rojo se desvaneció con el sol hace una semana. Es fácil de leer desde la distancia.

This is the best rain gauge we have had so far. Easy to install, easy to read and love that red plastic marker. You do have to be careful not to lose it when you empty the container. Would definitely recommend.

Present for my father in law, he was made up to have a new gauge with nice big numbersz

Nice easy to install