Altimeter watch

[Yoyo]

http://www.rei.com/outlet/product/776941

Does anyone know if this one is worth a try? I bought one last year from REI that I am thinking about returning–can't recall the brand right now, but it was not very reliable. Altitude fluctuated quite a bit. The manual also sucked–it wasn't clear on how to calibrate the thing.

[Ryan Krause]

I didn't have this specific model but rather another, the Alterra, and was rather unhappy with it. Within a year:

The plastic body that covered the watch was peeling off and the band cracked.

The 'N','W','S','E' lettering on the bezel are not painted but rather stickers, and they came off.

One of the buttons stopped working.

Most of the use was just casual to the office as well, so I hardly abused it and rather ridiculous for a $150 watch. Looking at reviews on backcountry.com, a bunch of people had similar problems. While my model had a mineral glass face, some of the Highgears have plastic faces that scratch relatively easy.

[Michael Davis]

David,

Suunto and Casio (Pathfinder series) make altimeter watches. I have no experience with either so I don't know what they have going for them, other than brand name recognition. They might be a place to start your research though. The Casio's are widely available on eBay at nice prices and I would guess you could find Suunto there too.

Good luck!

[Jason Brinkman]

I have tried a few alti-baro watches, including a Suunto Vector that I owned for a couple years. I was never satisfied with any of them until I got my latest – the Suunto Core. I am very happy with this one, and it is a accurate as I could ever imagine one being. At $250 retail, it's a little pricey, but well worth it in my opinion. I've had it since they came out last September, and sign of wear – it looks brand new.

[Joe Kuster]

I've got a suunto observer and it certainly works very well and is built a bit like a tank. It isn't lightweight for a watch but considering the built in tools it's a good compromise. I picked mine up on ebay new 2 years ago and have been very happy with it.

One important thing about any barometric / altimiter watch is to ensure you understand it's use, how and why you should calibrate it frequently and the limitations of each function.

I would also not suggest paying more of a digital compass. They are just too sensitive to interferance and need recalibrated too often for many people's usage.

Basically most watches use a barometer for both measurements and try to guess when you are actually changing altitude vs a weather change coming in.
This is a crummy idea.

To fix the issue some of the suunto's can "lock" into just one mode to for instance just track altitude changes and they can be very, very accurate when doing that – as long as you aren't changing altitude while a major storm front is coming in at the same time. Even then, it's pretty accurate but you have to understand this limitation to really make the most out of any altim watch. As long as I lock into altim while moving and lock into baro while still it stays very reliable.

Also, you have to understand how temperature affects readings as well. Some have built in thermometers, some don't and some do very poor jobs of adjusting for different temperatures while trying to track barometric pressure.

Also, if you ever get one, please don't be a jerk to flight attendants. Twice I've seen guys check their watch and say the captain announced the wrong altitude – get a clue – it's a pressurized cabin, therefore your watch is wrong.

[Roger Caffin]

Caution: seriously biased opinions follows!

> I would also not suggest paying more of a digital compass
More to the point, digital compasses in watches don't work. They are very sensitive to tilt, to the point of being unusable. The fault is inherent in their design.

> they use a barometer for both measurements and try to guess when you are actually changing altitude vs a weather change coming in.
Some do, some don't. My HighGear does, and this makes it almost useless for any serious work unless I keep recalibrating it. My house drifts up and down 100 m (330'). The whole idea is STOOPID.
On the other hand, my Silva Tech4o doesn't. The watch is ridiculously huge and uncomfortable on my wrist, but the altimeter is reliable! My house stays within 1 m (3') of the nominal altitude.

> built in thermometers,
A fair way of finding out the temperature of your wrist …

Cheers

[Chris Townsend]

I'll back up Roger on electronic compasses. I've used several of these on different altimeter watches plus a stand alone one and none are worth having.

I've been comparing altitude readings on GPS units and altimeter watches and the GPS is far more accurate. As Roger says altimeter watches need resetting regularly. I'm quite happy to do this as it's convenient having the altimeter on my wrist but am very careful if using it for navigation. Some days I have to reset it several times.

The thermometer is useful in camp, when I am not wearing the altimeter. It can take twenty minutes to adjust when removed from my wrist though.

I've been using altimeter watches for well over a decade now and overall I find them very useful – mostly, it must be admitted, for recording the amount of ascent and descent (which when checked with maps is reasonably accurate despite barometric changes), sometimes for calculating how long it will take to reach a high point and rarely for actual navigation.

[Roleigh Martin]

What is your opinion, Chris, or Roger, of the ADC Brunton Pro, it is not worn on the wrist, is < 2 oz. It is either on a lanyard around your neck, or jury rigged to clip to your pack shoulder strap (which is how I use it). You could carry it in your pocket too.

Has many features, for wind, weather, barometer, temp, altitude, measurement including for crude compass use too, it does 12 hour trend analysis, bar charting, plus icon weather forecasting for immediate vicinity for next 12 hours, plus data gathering, not to mention it is a pocket watch plus a very loud alarm clock with backlight for night reading.

[Chris Townsend]

Roleigh, I've had an ADC Pro for many years and use it to record wind speeds, temperatures, humidity etc. It is an excellent instrument but not as easy to use as most altimeter watches, partly because it is more complex.

[Joe Kuster]

Don't mistake my comments regarding the thermometer as saying that they are useful while on your wrist. They are utterly useless like that for reading temps.

I was under the impression though that the watch needs to take readings of the watch chassis as part of the calculations involved in the barometric readings.

Perhaps not, but it is interesting to hang it up in the tent, tarp or hammock where you can check the nighttime temps when you wake up cold. It sometimes helps me readjust my gear for other outtings where the forcast calls for temps will be similar.

[Frank Ramos]

Get yourself a Garmin Foretrex 101. Weighs 80 grams (not counting the annoying wrist-strap, which I discarded), including 2 AAA alkaline batteries. Lasts at least 12 hours on those batteries. If you take 5 altimeter/GPS readings per day, and each fix takes 2 minute, including time to compare the fix with your map (typical in my experience), then one set of AAA batteries will last 72 days. You get an accurate altimeter PLUS GPS for not much more, in terms of money or weight, than an altimeter alone.

[Roger Caffin]

Hi Joe

> I was under the impression though that the watch needs to take readings of the watch chassis as part of the calculations involved in the barometric readings.

I reckon you would be right here. I would imagine the electronics needs to compensate the pressure sensor for its temperature.

> it is interesting to hang it up in the tent,
Very true. Especially at dawn, when I can actually read it. I have to confess I don't bother at 3 in the morning!

[Russell Swanson]

I own the watch referred to in the initial post (slightly different in appearance so I'll say it's probably to '06 or '07). I will corroborate some of the information here about the quality of it. The plastic casing has begun to separate from the rest of the watch. I've worn this watch quite frequently and on many hikes but its obviously a quality issue, not a wear-and-tear issue.

I'll have to disagree with regards to opinions concerning digital compass functionality. The compass in the High Gear watch is very accurate, even with some tilt. I have tested this multiple times, in different situations, by checking the compass reading with traditional compasses. For general trail work and route finding it performs well enough. It is also easy to calibrate.

For the price (mine was bought on Steep and Cheap at close to the REI sale price), the watch has performed great.

[Yoyo]

Roger,

Looks like we have the same watch. It says "Tech4O" and "EchoMaster II" on the front of it. Is this the same as yours? Perhaps my judgment on this watch was unnecessarily harsh. How often do you recalibrate this watch? If frequent recalibration is the norm, then I really didn't have any problems with this watch. Given the comments here, I think I'll continue using the watch and pass on the High Gear.

I will say that the manual on this watch is one of the worst–it's not clear on how recalibration is supposed to be done.

[Eric Blumensaadt]

I use my old Suunto Vector's barometer/altimeter ONLY for a barometer to help with weather forecasting. As mentioned earlier recalibrating the "altimeter" requires you KNOW your altitude to recalibrate. Rather inconvenient if you need an altitude reading and didn't reset it recently.

If I need an accurate altitude reading I use my Garmin Colorado GPS and/or a topo map & compass and the triangulation of 2 known visible landmarks.

Eric

[Roger Caffin]

Hi David

Tech4o is what Silva use as a general brand for all their watches. Mine is Traileader 1. I have one on Test at the moment with BGT. I can't find EchoMaster on the http://www.silvacompass.com web site.

I have found that the altimeter is stable enough that I don't recalibrate the watch at all. Yes, the apparent altitude will go up and down with the weather, but if I leave it strictly alone and don't fiddle with it, it always returns my house to the same altitude once the front has passed.

So, what I do is to note current deviation when possible and remember that. Eg: storm coming, pressure drops, altitude reads maybe 20 m high – I memorise that correction.

Recalibration – well, there are TWO factors here. One is to correct the 'zero' on the barometer. If your watch on your wrist persistently reads +20 m when you are on the beach on a fine day, you might want to adjust that back to +1 m. Fair enough. But only do it once.

The other parameter is the relationship between barometric pressure and altitude. I THINK, but I may be wrong, that you can tweak this as well, but the manual strongly recommends you don't. I haven't even considered touching this.

HighGear: I Tested an Axis watch with BGT. You can read my reports there. The first watch the company sent could not calibrate the compass at all: it was faulty. The second one could 'calibrate', but after I did an extensive calibration test on the compass function and sent the results to Highgear, the company withdrew all the Axis watches from the market. Yeah, I'm serious! It was that bad!

The Axis was redesigned and a new version released. The displays were different, and so were the insides. The new one was better but the compass was still unusable imho. Unfortunately, the battery replacement arrangements proved to be impossible: I simply could not get a new battery into the watch such that the watch worked. Trust me, I tried!

I am currently using both the Tech4o TraiLeader and the 2nd Axis unit. I just don't even look at the compass function. The Axis is smaller and lighter than the Tech4o unit, but the bug-ridden software correction system the Axis has for variations in the weather makes the altimeter very unreliable. It isn't hard for the altitude of my house to rise over a couple of weeks by 100 m.

The problems with the Tech4o are the huge physical size of the watch and the very cumbersome strap on it. The watch is really aimed at the young psuedo-outdoors male machismo market imho. Apart from that it works very well for time and altitude.

Cheers

[Brett .]

I have a Casio Pathfinder PAG40B-2V and an '07 Suunto Vector. On a recent short hike I brought them both for comparison. I calibrated both to the trail head altitude and temperature. They both fluctuated about +/- 50 meters (sometimes in opposite directions) during the a long day hike involving about +/- 300 m altitude changes. I did not take any scientific readings, but I consider them both equally accurate. IMO, the Suunto is much easier to use, and ergonomic, and more comfortable on the wrist. The compass feature is more useful than the altimeter; for a quick sanity check at trail forks.

I always have my Garmin 301 as backup for position fixes.

[Joe Kuster]

Regarding the set it and leave it altimiter usage – I guess it works for some. My best guess is probably for those in lower altitudes (again just a guess).

But living in Colorado's Front Range (5,500 ft at the house and 8K-13K on the trail + daily storm fronts) puts regular and significant daily fluctuations that if used as a navigation aid could be potentially problematic, especially if I'm relying on it to help track down what altitude to start looking for the walk downs, switch backs etc.

All that problem goes away for the most part when I can lock it into a specific mode on my suunto. That usually keeps me + or – 2 or 3 meters. Even if I'm high tailing it back to lower elevation due to the afternoon storms coming in fast it doesn't pose a problem.

Since I'm also using the Gecko 301 I have been able to test both unit's tracking ability regarding altitude in unscientific tests. My suunto win's when just testing altimeter functions, no question. I've also found the getting altitude directly from GPS signal on the gecko is utter crap, it just isn't accurate for getting altitude and must be calibrated more often than the watch unit since it cannot lock into assuming you are moving or if the weather is changing.

[Monty Montana]

I have two altimeter watches and after reading the above posts I realized that I don't utilize the alti function that much, mostly just the barometric function to keep trac of the weather.

One is a very small and light Casio Forester ($35), the other a larger, heavier Highgear Summit ($99), which I find to be the preferred watch if only because the battery is user changeable. It galled me to no end when when I was charged $25 to have the battery changed! I think this is true of all the various Casio alti watches, so be forewarned.

[Rick Dreher]

Another vote for the Suunto Observer. It's easy to learn and use, tough, small (compared to some of the dinner plates they're selling these days) and accurate (within the parameters that affect all altimeters). And yes, you can change your own battery (although that cover isn't easy to coax off after you turn it) AND it's a very common cell.

I suspect part of the altimeter accuracy is due to more-effective temperature compensation than used by much of the competition.

I've also owned three Casios and a Timex. The Casios are reasonably rugged but very affected by temperature, and their displays aren't the best (not mine, anyway). Change the battery at your own risk (little contact springs that fly upon opening the back). The Timex had some terminal menu limitations and ate batteries like my dog eats socks.

[Yoyo]

"Recalibration – well, there are TWO factors here. One is to correct the 'zero' on the barometer. If your watch on your wrist persistently reads +20 m when you are on the beach on a fine day, you might want to adjust that back to +1 m. Fair enough. But only do it once."

Roger, how do you do this on your Tech4O? (I can't figure this out from the manual).

[Roger Caffin]

Hi David

First, sit on the beach on a fine sunny day …
OK, if that's not possible find a spot with a known altitude on a fine sunny day.

Now, open your manual to page 21 and read Section 7.2 – it's all there.

However, do not follow the instructions in Sections 8.2 or 8.3. The manual warns against these, both in these Sections and in 10.5 as well.

And do not lock the altitude as in Section 7.11: it doesn't do anything very useful and just messes you up.

Cheers
Roger

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