Altimeter – favorites?

Find a used thommen on ebay. They are bulletproof.

I know you asked for a no-watch, but the only one I've used is on my Suunto Observor, and I love it!

It is affected by weather changes, but in a pretty predictable way. So long as you reset it ever so often at points of known elevation it is very accurate, and has made orienteering in adventure races and navigating off trail in white outs and thick forest much easier than it would have been otherwise. The average vertical gain/loss per minute display and the cumulative gain/loss trip logs are also functions I use all the time.

It seemed ridiculously expensive when I got it four years ago, but has proven to be worth every penny.

I have an analog altimeter (no batteries needed) that I'm going to sell, when I get a bit more time. First I need to figure out what kind it is (hopefully you altimeter experts can help me). I believe it is a "Gischard". I know it was made in Germany (that much I can read). It weighs 2.4 ounces and works well. I just don't do much off trail stuff anymore (I'm planning on going through my basement during the rainy season and getting rid of a lot of stuff I don't use).

Ross, that sounds vaguely like one that I purchased around 1979. It worked well until I took it to Nepal in 1983 and it got "pegged" when I took it above 17,000 feet.

It was good until that time. Back then, the purely electronic altimeters were terribly expensive and had lots of problems. The good thing about a purely analog barometric altimeter is that they don't need batteries.

–B.G.–

I like having an altimeter as part of a watch because that gets all my electronics (except for the headlamp) in one device. The watch is my watch, alarm, compass, altimeter, barometer etc. Before I was carrying a watch, compass and altimeter which is a lot more devices to lose.

I've ordered a Casio PAW1300 altimeter watch to replace the cheap $10 altimeter I bought on eBay which hasn't performed well. What I like about this Casio is that it's solar powered so there's no worries about batteries and it also sets itself daily off of the atomic clock in New York so you always know your time is accurate….not that that matters too much in the woods.

The PAW1300 is the 'slim' design in Casio's top end altimeter series so it's lighter and less bulky than the others. The PAW2000 is the same thing but with a nicer but more expensive screen.

I have used a Thommen for many years, and find it to be one of the best pieces of equipment I own. It is easy to set, very rugged, easy to read, and accurate.
Jim

I also know you would not prefer a watch, but I LOVE my Suunto Core. Once you calibrate it, read the manual and understand how it works it is very accurate.

Bob: Sounds about right. It has a dial which loops around at 13,000 feet and seems to max at 16,000. I could see how taking it to 17,000 would "peg" it. Like you said, the nice thing is that it will work without batteries (and pretty light at 2.4 ounces).