Standalone altimeter

Is anyone using a standalone altimeter, rather than an ABC watch or other combined altimeter/GPS device? Looking for recommendations.

Why bother? My phone and my watch both have very good altimeters that are more accurate than my old altimeter ever was. If that's not enough, Most handheld GPS devices have excellent altimeter functions, too.

Edited original post to make it clear that I'm looking for recommendations for a standalone altimeter, not a discussion on whether a standalone altimeter is actually what I want.

Something that is only an altimeter is fairly rare... given that most use barometric pressure to calculate that, it might as well tell you that too... or if they use GPS data instead, then they will also include some standard GPS functionality or data, so that gives you position, altitude, and if it detects changes over time, heading... or it might get heading from an internal electric compass.

Its gotten so cheap to include all the functions... the only benefit to altitude and barometric pressure only... is no battery needed... but then a compass doesn't need a battery either, so they will likely toss that in... then you have an ABC device, which you think you don't want.

You have to come at this from the perspective of a manufacturer. There is no point giving you only A, if to get A it needs to get B already and estimate... and C is pretty much free to include and in most instances where someone wants A, they probably also want B and C too.

A based on B, is going to be less accurate than A based on B and GPS.

I have used the Thommen altimeter extensively, which operates off of barometric pressure. For purposes of navigation, having it read in barometric pressure would be useless, unless you are some kind of brilliant savant mathematician, or don't mind carrying an extra piece of equipment, that you don't need if it reads in elevation, which a Thommen does. A Thommen altimeter reading in elevation also is excellent for helping to forecast the weather. In some navigation situations, that could be critical, GPS based altitude readings can lack the necessary accuracy. 

I have noticed Thommen"s for sale occasionally, and for all I know they might even still be made.

GPS based altimeter would provide adequate accuracy for the vast majority of navigational needs. But I imagine the OP knows that. 

Fair points – strictly speaking, I suppose what I really mean is that I want a barometric altimeter, not one that uses GPS.

Several ? Most ? All? Garmin watches have a barometric altimeter.  My current garmin reliably picks up a 3 foot change on a walk or jog.  Previous ones did that for a year or two but the became randomly erratic, spontaneously generating non existent rises or drops of several hundred feet or more in a half hour or less.

If its pressure based altitude and always on and graphing, ie watches when not recording a GPS activity, you will get changes in elevation going into and out of buildings due to the pressure differences with the ventilation.

Some analog altimeters:
https://a.co/d/j65rNlf
https://a.co/d/ayycdky
https://suncompany.com/collections/altimeters

This is the same price point as real cheap GPS watches BTW.

I see several Thommen altimeters for sale on Ebay. 

I never noticed a change in altitude reading from entering or exiting a high mountain hut in the Canadian Rockies, or the Alps. Not even the Canadian Alpine Club Hostel in Canmore, which isn't very high. I personally wouldn't care if it happened in San Francisco or Las Vegas or any other city. I never found much mountaineering  in  those places, and never took my altimeter for a night of gaming or to the opera, just like I never wore my mountain boots while out on the town. Not even for shooting pool in a tavern. 

Thommens are quality instruments. They retailed for over $200  forty years ago. 

Not sure how a modern stand-alone altimeter might work but, just as an aside, with aircraft altimeters you have to dial in the local atmospheric pressure (e.g., 29.92) for it to be anywhere near accurate. Back in the day, I had an altimeter on my hang glider control bar (in addition to variometer) but always knew it could be way off as the local atmospheric pressure changed. So, it was just sort of a general guide. It sort of worked because I could note the altitude delta at takeoff (a known altitude) and say, well today my altimeter is reading 600 feet high, or whatever. 

Eric Craigwrote:

I have used the Thommen altimeter extensively, which operates off of barometric pressure. For purposes of navigation, having it read in barometric pressure would be useless, unless you are some kind of brilliant savant mathematician, or don't mind carrying an extra piece of equipment, that you don't need if it reads in elevation, which a Thommen does. A Thommen altimeter reading in elevation also is excellent for helping to forecast the weather. In some navigation situations, that could be critical, GPS based altitude readings can lack the necessary accuracy. 

I have noticed Thommen"s for sale occasionally, and for all I know they might even still be made.

GPS based altimeter would provide adequate accuracy for the vast majority of navigational needs. But I imagine the OP knows that. 

I have a Thommen altimeter. I used for many years for high altitude climbs. The above echos my thoughts. The biggest was checking the change in altitude overnight. Ole saying if your camp goes up, best go down. If camp goes down, time to go up.

Back in my big hiking days (before prolific GPS watches), I used an LL bean branded ABC that was the size of a credit card and I could hang from my pack strap, I'm not recommending this particular model (and I'm DEFINITELY not recommending Amazon) but it was something like this: https://www.amazon.com/SUNROAD-Multifunctional-Barometric-Thermometer-Hygrometer/dp/B077KRKMP2

I miss those days of a mechanical altimeter, a hard copy of a Topo map, and a mechanical compass. Only time I recall that being inadequate was in the fog at one of two same-elevation lakes, and not knowing which lake was in front of me. :)

Carry on

Carried this one all over the Cascades of Oregon and Washington.

Ken Tubbswrote:

Carried this one all over the Cascades of Oregon and Washington.

Carried this same one as well - though mainly in Olympic National Park. But the two lakes I mentioned were on the Ptarmigan Traverse.

Bill Lawrywrote:

Carried this same one as well - though mainly in Olympic National Park. But the two lakes I mentioned were on the Ptarmigan Traverse.

The Ptarmigan traverse! The only other place ive seen an native animal so white to match its surroundings is all the critters running around White Sands in Alamogordo. I heard Ptarmigans are rare to see. Im not sure if thats true but once I realized I had a snowball lookin at me, it sure felt special.

Thanks, all – this is very helpful! I'm well familiar with the need to recalibrate a barometric altimeter regularly; my plan would be to do so at the trailhead and any other known points I pass, as well as noting the elevation when turning in for the night and resetting in the morning. From the research I've done, this should be easily accurate enough even in the presence of changing weather conditions.

Ken, what model is this one? It'd be cool to get one with both meters and feet, but I do love the look of this...

Ken Tubbswrote:

Carried this one all over the Cascades of Oregon and Washington.

I've had a Casio Protrek ABC watch for more than ten years. The best thing about it is it's solar, so no need to worry about batteries. its other features are pretty basic.

I figured you'd be able to find one cheap on ebay but I just googled and they're not that cheap.