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Post by dspeabody on Aug 19, 2019 16:18:46 GMT -8
I've decided I need to upgrade to a more functional hiking/mountaineering type watch.
I'd like GPS, Altimeter, Compass, and barometer.
My early research has led me to the Suunto Traverse.
Anybody have experience with this watch? Pro's or Cons?
Any other suggestions or recommendations based on personal use?
Thanks
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ErnieW
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Post by ErnieW on Aug 19, 2019 20:19:18 GMT -8
For years I hiked with a Suunto Vector but just recently upgraded to a Suunto Core. It adds Compass and modern sensors over the Vector. No GPS but for that I get a watch that runs for more than a year.
I like it a lot. I figure I most likely will be carrying a phone with GPS. I don't need a second GPS on my wrist. But I am old school and tend to trail hike. So with a paper map, a general idea where I am, I can fix my position along a trail by knowing my altitude and finding the contour line that crosses the trail on the map.
I can offer that the Suunto Core seems well made and straight forward to use.
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texasbb
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Post by texasbb on Aug 19, 2019 20:42:34 GMT -8
I used a Suunto Core for many years, and now have a cheap Casio. Both work well. I liked the Suunto's "auto" mode for intuiting whether pressure changes are due to elevation change or weather change. I like the Casio's battery use--it's been going for five years now, not sure when it'll die; the Suunto required replacement annually. The Suunto didn't like being on a sweaty arm, would get wildly erratic readings until I stopped and let it sit for a minute. I'd strap it to my hipbelt in an easy-to-see place and all was fine. Neither has/had GPS. All in all, the cheap Casio is just as useful if not more, and a LOT less expensive ($45 vs $300ish).
The compass on any of these is at most one notch above useless. I'd guess the GPS will eat batteries faster than you can finish a good backpacking trip.
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Post by dspeabody on Aug 20, 2019 4:23:01 GMT -8
I have a Garmin Vivo HR currently and yes on a recent 3 day trip with no opportunity to recharge the battery died in the middle of day 2 while running GPS.
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Post by dspeabody on Aug 20, 2019 4:23:36 GMT -8
The Garmin Instinct looks interesting. I need to research that one a little more as well.
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ErnieW
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Post by ErnieW on Aug 20, 2019 6:19:23 GMT -8
All in all, the cheap Casio is just as useful if not more, and a LOT less expensive ($45 vs $300ish). The compass on any of these is at most one notch above useless. I'd guess the GPS will eat batteries faster than you can finish a good backpacking trip. I think there is a new generation of the Core. I got the all black version from Amazon for $127. The compass was not working correctly when I first started it. I didn't initialize it right. I was opening it as a gift and just turned it on without knowing about the calibration. I looked up on the internet about the issue and there is a way to reset the Core. Once I did that and calibrated it correctly the compass is spot on. The altimeter in it has been amazingly accurate but I have been a fair weather hiker recently (stable high front hiker).
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texasbb
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Post by texasbb on Aug 20, 2019 6:55:26 GMT -8
The compass on any of these is at most one notch above useless. Once I did that and calibrated it correctly the compass is spot on. I wasn't referring to the calibration thing--yes, you have to do that--but to the (lack of) precision. If you only need to be within +- 10 degrees, it's fine. That's going to be true of any digital watch compass.
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ErnieW
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Post by ErnieW on Aug 20, 2019 7:26:31 GMT -8
I wasn't referring to the calibration thing--yes, you have to do that--but to the (lack of) precision. If you only need to be within +- 10 degrees, it's fine. That's going to be true of any digital watch compass. Actually this version is rated at +-5 degrees. My use to to have easy access to something to keep me on a rough bearing line or orientate the paper map roughly. Even if it was more accurate I find the ergonomics of the watch on my arm a limiting factor in pointing it. I also would say that +-5deg is within what a conventional compass without any sighting ability would be about capable of.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 20, 2019 7:27:21 GMT -8
I wasn't referring to the calibration thing--yes, you have to do that--but to the (lack of) precision. If you only need to be within +- 10 degrees, it's fine. That's going to be true of any digital watch compass. Being an electronics hobbyist, I have several projects that are using the same types of magnetometers that are used in the SPI and I2C buss configurations. I can, following the calibration procedure, get 2 degree accuracy, as long as I do not move the magnetometer from the calibrated position. As soon as the magnetometer is moved, as per spec sheets of the magnetometers, off calibration position, expect up to 30% error. There is a way, which I tried and it works, to have the magnetometers be self-calibrating and remain in the <= 2 degree accuracy range. Such a feature as a self calibrating magnetometer would be on the higher end of offered models.
I like the idea of a GPS watch but when I compared features:cost-of-item to an actual GPS unit, GPS units won hands down.
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ErnieW
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Post by ErnieW on Aug 20, 2019 8:42:13 GMT -8
I like the idea of a GPS watch but when I compared features:cost-of-item to an actual GPS unit, GPS units won hands down. I know someone who does ultra-marathons. She has a Garmin Fenix for that. Under those circumstances I can see having a wrist GPS programmed with the course making sense. Controlling a wrist GPS on the fly with a small screen and limited buttons seems to be a hard ask for normal on the trail use. Maybe some of the more dedicated off trail blazers can comment on what they expect in terms of compass accuracy and even with that accuracy what can practically be achieved?
I believe there are basically two modes for compass use. Keeping a bearing line and then sighting landmarks to determine position. The latter is now done by the GPS in my phone. I am more interested in the bearing line use.
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daveg
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Post by daveg on Aug 20, 2019 19:57:16 GMT -8
Around last Christmas I was looking at GPS ABC watches and concluded the Suunto Ambit3 Peak was the best deal for me. What I especially liked about it was that the ping rate could be set at 60s which extends the rated battery life to 200 hours in GPS mode. That's twice the rated battery life of the Traverse.
But, ultimately, I decided not to get it because even 200 hours is not that long and it would require carrying a power bank to recharge the watch. I figured my Casio Pathfinder Solar was still good enough for my purposes -- an ABC watch that would never run out of power. Also, I wasn't convinced that the GPS information provided by a GPS watch was worth that much. I have several GPS devices of different capabilities and I can take the one that fits my needs, if I feel the need to take one at all. Some of the top-of-the-line (and expensive) GPS watches like the Garmin Fenix 5 can display maps. Don't have any experience with them so can't say whether that's a worthwhile difference.
I have a couple of old Garmin Forerunner GPS watches -- the 305 and 310XT. Rated battery life of those is 10 hours and 20 hours respectively. That's still the range for all but the more expensive GPS watches that allow the user to set the ping rate. I'm sure the newer GPS watches are more accurate and offer some additional information. And while I find some of that info somewhat valuable, I've never considered it essential. If I really need GPS info, I prefer my handheld unit.
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Post by johntpenca on Aug 21, 2019 17:14:55 GMT -8
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Post by dspeabody on Aug 29, 2019 17:21:55 GMT -8
Thanks!!
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Post by BorderCollieMike on Apr 10, 2020 10:34:41 GMT -8
For years I hiked with a Suunto Vector but just recently upgraded to a Suunto Core. Based on this thread and others, I took the leap, replacing my 15 y.o. Vector. I like my new Core, but one feature the Vector had that I can't find on my new Core is a "rate of ascent/descent". On the Vector, the Altimeter had a "+/- xx ft" at the bottom that would tell me how fast I was climbing (or giving up altitude :( ). I could see that I wasn't really out of shape, huffing & puffing when the rate climbed much above 15 feet per minute. Does anyone else use this feature? According to the literature, the Core has this. After a month, I still can't figure out how to display it.
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ErnieW
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Post by ErnieW on Apr 10, 2020 11:13:45 GMT -8
I like my new Core, but one feature the Vector had that I can't find on my new Core is a "rate of ascent/descent" I have the same issue. My workaround is using the laps feature of the altitude logging. You can see you did so many feet in some much time from a certain start point of your setting. Kind of manual but an average over a little more terrain might be more accurate than the near instantaneous rate the Vector gave. I have a PDF version of the manual (also in my phone for trail reference) and this is on page 17.
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