 Does anyone have a watch with an altimeter that they'd recommend? Preferably as cheap as possible so long as it still registers altitude OK! I think Silva used to do one but I can't find it on their website at the moment and the likes of Suunto seem to make uber-expensive stuff for people who want loads of different functions - and have lots of spare cash! Any ideas?
I've always been a primitive map and compass kind of person, and altitude's been all about the contour lines up until now:-)
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 Casio make some good ones. Fairly cheap too if you look on E-bay. Theyre all very bulky though.
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 I had a Casio Pro Trek, really good bit of kit, im just to lazy to replace the batteries, fairly accurate from what i can remember too
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 Me and a buddy both wear Tech Trail Summits.
We've found that they're really accurate to each other and the actual height when we're out on the same trip.
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 I bought a Pro Trek off Ebay from a Korean dealer..very good deal.No customs either !!!As accurate as anything when calibrating regularly.
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 I got a Suunto Vector, but can't figure out how to work it. The pdf download of the instructions are in my mapcase so I can set it up when I'm on the hill. :(
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I'll say that for the Protrek,I have found it so easy to calibrate ,just like changing the time on any digital watch,and its as accurate as reasonably expected,especially with regular adjustment at known height and position.One of the studs holding the faceplate has come out but even after endless hours in the kayak,its still waterproof.I wont be attempting to change the battery myself though,as my trusty old G shock leaked like a sieve when I attempted it myself.
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 Just keep in mind with the Casios they don't do 'instant' readings. They only calibrate every 20 minutes I think it is, and you can climb or drop a lot in 20 mins.
The screen readings are very small too.
I've got an old Avocet Alpine Pro, which is meant to be a skiing watch, but it does continual readings, which has been useful on more than one occasion. Nice large numerals.
Can't comment on the Suunto, but they do look like decent sized digits to read in the rain, but not sure if they make one neat enough for the female wrist.
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Hmm, 20 minutes sounds like quite a long time between updates. As you say, you can change height significantly in that time. How quickly does the Tech Trail Summit update, I wonder?
The watch isn't for me so it doesn't necessarily have to fit my mini female wrists!
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 Avocets are pretty good - can you still get them?
I've seen some pretty bad results with a Suunto - I'm not convinced they work well in the UK - at least not in very cold weather.
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I've had a look at their website and they keep talking about height gain in feet. I hope they understand the metric system too?! I'm not old enough to know what a foot is:-)
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 Why an altimeter, the height given by GPS's is reasonably accurate, changes frequently and does not need calibrating, it also provides a range of other info. A recent thread on OM was saying the Garmin Geko 201's were on sale for about £80.
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 I've had two suunto watches (the first one was still going strong when I sold it because I'd bought a newer one) and been very pleased with them. I know you said that they're out of your price range, but is it worth trying to pick up a second hand one maybe?
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I see an ebay session coming on ... :-)
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| Edited: 11/07/07 14:58 |
Any watch that isn't waterresistant up to 100m atleast is no good for outdoor stuff in my opinion.
(for some strange reason the official ratings mean that 30m is only splash proof, 100m is swimproof, and for diving atleast 200m waterresitant is needed...)
cheers, Gregor
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 Susan - are you doing the OMM by any chance?
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No, I'm not doing the OMM I'm afraid. I was actually thinking of getting an altimeter watch as a present for someone (hope he's not been looking at the OM forum recently!) but, erm, they're all a bit expensive :-(
I'm a primitive kind of person myself - I have my map and my compass and my ML training, and if you gave me a GPS I'd have to spend the first few minutes hunting around for the 'on' switch:-)
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