Altimeter Watch Opinions

Any opinions on what you like and dislike. I had one of the earlier Sunto's. Uses would be skiing, hiking, mountaineering.

I would like to connect and download information/history.

thanks

For what it's worth, I'm on my third Suunto Core right now. All have been warrantied by Suunto and apparently I just have bad luck because I have a few friends who have had no problems with theirs.

Nice featureset, but no ability to download to a computer.

I have a Core too and like it alot. I guess they had some problems with the initial one's.

I have had the Suunto Vector since ~2002. I have used it for a few mountaineering excursions but mostly use it for BC skiing (30-40 days/year).

There are several reports of them needing warranty work but I have never "needed" it for mine. Mine has developed a "leak" within the last couple years that is only noticeable if it is really wet (rain/sleet), it fogs up internally and worst case it shuts down till it dries out. I have to replace the battery about once a year.

The altimeter is quite accurate, though for best accuracy you should recalibrate it at known points every 1000' or so. It is much more accurate than typical GPS elevations. Strong winds can affect the reading, as I have watched (pun intended) the elevation jump +/- 200' with big gusts.

The compass (which I very rarely use since I carry a compass/inclinometer) constantly needs recalibration, but after doing so seem to be accurate.

The barometer is interesting if you are a weather geek, but certainly isn't very useful for predicting weather here in CO (we typically have mesoscopic weather patterns on the Front Range).

Other thoughs: the alarm isn't loud enough and the buttons are easily bumped (turning off alti-logs). It has proved very useful when navigating valleys or ridges (i.e. take a left at 13590') and also for pacing en route to the summit (i.e. 800' to go). I will replace it when it is dead (possibly with the Core?).

I also carry a GPSMAP 60Cx, and would definitely agree that it is typically off by ~50' and sometimes up to a couple hundred feet. My Geko 201 is more inaccurate. Barring high wind gusts, as I mentioned above, the watch is usually accurate to within 20'. If I don't recal the altimeter, then with a typical 4000' climb (CO 14er), it is roughly as accurate as the GPS. The elevation log profile makes the GPS inaccuracy quite noticeable. For multi-day trips, while it would be a useful tool, I estimated the battery life of the Forerunner not enough especially because of the rechargeable (can't-swap-for-fresh) battery, and of course YourMileageMayVary.

Either is usually accurate enough.

If you get a Suunto, I recommend buying it at REI, so that you can return it and get a new one on the spot when it stops working. When I worked at REI, I returned more Suunto devices than anything else we had. They had all sorts of issues and were way complicated to use.

The new Garmins are sweet. The 405 or something like that is the latest and greatest.

-Jon

Yeah I returned 2 before deciding to wait until they resovled the issues. The Garmin Forerunner sounds like what I am looking for.

Anybody use My Tracks?

cheifitj wrote:If you get a Suunto, I recommend buying it at REI, so that you can return it and get a new one on the spot when it stops working. When I worked at REI, I returned more Suunto devices than anything else we had. They had all sorts of issues and were way complicated to use. The new Garmins are sweet. The 405 or something like that is the latest and greatest. -Jon

Any of you used a High Gear altimeter?

I went through this choice last December and bought a
Suunto t6c. Calibrating it isn't a big deal to me. The bigger issue was Garmin's lack of battery life/recharge methods and ability to only store 8 hrs of data. I'd previously used a Polar s210 for years but was frustrated at having to send it off for authorized battery replacement.

Never had an issue with the suuntos I've owned. Suunto's software isn't great but will get the job done and there's some freeware available for it too that I have yet to check out. Down side is
having to buy all of the pods if you are going with the t model but it sounds like you could just get away with the gps unit.

All units have their pros and cons. Figure them out and then make the decision.

Anyone use the Garmin 110?
I am leaning towards the Garmin 305

I'm liking that Garmin 405. Anyone use it yet? Unfortunately I would have to special order it as REI is not carrying it yet?

cheifitj wrote:If you get a Suunto, I recommend buying it at REI, so that you can return it and get a new one on the spot when it stops working. When I worked at REI, I returned more Suunto devices than anything else we had. They had all sorts of issues and were way complicated to use. The new Garmins are sweet. The 405 or something like that is the latest and greatest. -Jon

WTF?

What are the current opinions of the new 2015/16 batch of navigation/altimeter watches?

Been using the Suunto Ambit 3 Peak (Nepal Edition) for a couple months now. Like it a lot. Picks up GPS quickly and is dang accurate. UX kinda sucks, but it's fine. The Nepal Editions are made from aluminum instead of steel and are lighter and $100 cheaper than the normal Peaks.

The best reviews I have found of the various GPS watches is Ray Maker, mostly for tri athletes but all the suunto and garmin's are thoroughly put through their paces.

dcrainmaker.com/product-rev…

I have an ambit 2 and a core.

I have had two high gear and one suunto.
Prefer the Suunto, the first High gear was the most accurate by quite a bit.
The second High gear I have some issues with.

Will try and post photos when I get a chance.

I had a Suunto Core and found the altimeter to not be very accurate. On my way to work my lowest point was by the Mississippi River and the elevations were off by up to 300 feet from day to day. It may have been user error, but it seemed to do that everywhere.

Gene S wrote:I had a Suunto Core and found the altimeter to not be very accurate. On my way to work my lowest point was by the Mississippi River and the elevations were off by up to 300 feet from day to day. It may have been user error, but it seemed to do that everywhere.

Here's a primer on pressure altitude and GPS altitude:

Most older altimeter watches used pressure altitude and pressure changes day to day depending on the weather (e.g. low or high pressure systems). To get an accurate reading you need to calibrate them to a known altitude at a known point(or less common to a pressure reading like at an airport). But the pressure can still change from when you started up a mountain and when you reach the top so these are really only an estimate. For example, pilots must constantly adjust their altimeters for the current pressure setting.

GPS altimeter watches use GPS, but regular GPS from only satellites doesn't give a very accurate altitude because the satellites are very high in the sky (duh) and not out to the sides so much, so when triangulating signals they give great x and y coordinates but not such great z (height) coordinates.

So ground stations were added to the GPS system which provides much better altitude readings and this is called WAAS. (It was primarily done so airplanes could use GPS for instrument approaches) So a WAAS GPS watch will be more accurate than a non-WAAS watch in regards to altitude. WAAS helps narrow down x and y coordinates a little, but really helps with altitude.

I have only used a suunto core and will agree the altimeter is pretty inconsistent(due to changes in barometric pressure I get it) and issues with waterproofness as well. I have replaced the gasket and water still gets in with minimal submersion or even just splashing.

I bought a Garmin 4 years ago at REI, but returned it when I discovered I would have to charge it up every two weeks or less (if using the altimeter a lot). My experience is that any watch with a GPS will have to be charged fairly often. I got a Suunto Core and have been pretty happy with it. It is 4 years old now and I've only changed the battery once.

The are some newer models from Garmin and Suunto that combine barometric and GPS elevation readings in a way that's more accurate than either approach in isolation. Garmin calls it "auto-calibration" and Suunto calls it "fused alti".

The basic idea is that (i) GPS elevation readings can be quite accurate when averaged over periods of several minutes, and (ii) barometric altimeters are usually very good at measuring relative elevation changes over the same timeframe, even if they haven't been calibrated properly. Here's Garmin patent if anyone's interested in the technical details: docs.google.com/viewer?url=….

Models with this feature include the Garmin Fenix 3 and the Suunto Ambit. The Fenix 3 was somewhat buggy when first released, but recent firmware upgrades have fixed most of the problems.