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[pct-l] Lightest slimest altimeter watch? (NOT the Helix)
- Subject: [pct-l] Lightest slimest altimeter watch? (NOT the Helix)
- From: david at dalbey.org (David)
- Date: Mon Dec 27 00:30:08 2004
- In-reply-to: <410-220041212745659625@earthlink.net>
My experience with this watch on the JMT this summer was calibrate often! I
actually like it for the price. I think I paid about $59 for it. My
experience concurs with the previous post that it might be off as much as
50-100' but I still found it informative in that if I have 1200' to climb if
I'm off 70' it's not bad considering it's a $60 watch that's also providing
time and an alarm if needed and lets me know how cold it got in the tent
that night. If I reach the pass 70' early I feel like superman. If I
thought I should have been to the top 70' earlier, well, at least I can see
the top!
Would I pay $130 for it? Hell no! I'd probably spend the extra $70 and get
the Suunto Vector (I think it's called).
My biggest gripe is that it doesn't read below 0 ft. and can't seem to be
adjusted until it reads 0 or above again...Although that wasn't really a
concern in the Sierra's
My .02 is for a $60 watch it's just fine. You get what you pay for!
David
David@dalbey.org
:-----Original Message-----
:From: pct-l-bounces@mailman.backcountry.net [mailto:pct-l-
:bounces@mailman.backcountry.net] On Behalf Of Monty Tam
:Sent: Sunday, December 26, 2004 8:57 PM
:To: pct-l
:Subject: Re: [pct-l] Lightest slimest altimeter watch? (NOT the Helix)
:
:
:This is perfect. Advise I heard earlier today is recalibrate often
:especially with barometric changes. The Data Book is full of altitudes
:of
:landmarks etc..
:This entry has even more info along the same lines.
:Thank You Redwood
:
:Warner Springs Monty
:
:
:> [Original Message]
:> From: Randy Forsland <randy_forsland@hotmail.com>
:> To: pct-l <pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net>
:> Date: 12/26/2004 5:08:33 PM
:> Subject: Re: [pct-l] Lightest slimest altimeter watch? (NOT the Helix)
:>
:> One thing to think about is that most wristwatch/altimeters rely on the
:> barometric pressure reading to calculate elevation. The only way to get
:true
:> altitude is with a GPS system which is immune to barometric
:fluctuations.
:> That being said, you will find that all of the wristwatch altimeters
:will
:> tend to drift throughout the day. Barometric readings are a measure of
:the
:> air density and cold air is denser than warm. So I found that if I
:waited
:> until the sun has been up for at leat four hours before calibrating the
:> altimeter, it would stay calibrated and reflect more accurately the
:> elevations than if I tried calibrating it early in the am or later in
:the
:> evening.
:>
:> I had on a couple of occassions, noticed that a column of very dense
:air
:> would sometimes be present on the southern sides of the passes and
:would
:> cause large fluctuations in the altitude reading as we climbed,
:sometimes
:> dropping 1000 ft or so. I saw this same affect with 3 different
:altimeter
:> watches including the Helix.
:>
:> The altimeter watch is still a great navigational tool. Yogi's PCT
:Handbook
:> has a writeup that I submitted in the "Favorite piece of Gear" section.
:It
:> saved my butt on a couple of occassions. You don't need to be spot
:on...plus
:> or minus a couple hundred feet is fine when trying to locate your
:position
:> on the topo maps...
:>
:> The 3 altimeters that were present in the group that I huked with were
:the
:> Helix, Casio and the Highgear (which I thought was the best looking)..I
:had
:> no problem waking up to the Helix alarm...but I usually sleep pretty
:light
:> on the trail.
:>
:> here is a link for the highgear watch
:>
:> http://www.freshtracksmaps.com/altimeters.htm
:>
:> Redwood
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