| By :
Roger Brown
If you spend any time at all looking at watches with altimeters you will find that there are a huge variety of options available for people who like a lot of information on their wrist. You can get watches that will tell you your heart rate and watches that will predict the weather for you. You can also get a timepiece that will integrate with the GPS signal. All of these have been specifically marketed to appeal to outdoorsmen of different kinds - skiers, hikers, mountain climbers, scuba divers, and skydivers. While the marketing is fairly tailored, the actual watches are pretty much the same. There are only so many functions that one can have. One differentiator may be tidal charts but by and large the features are about identical. As far as the compass function on these watches go, they're not the best. The electronic sensor inside the watch that is trying to find Magnetic North. You must be alert though because whatever your last setting was will be where your watch tells you are located. (As an aside, if you going to be in the woods for a period of time you need carry a spare set of batteries or make sure your watch has a solar battery charger - the compass can drain the battery fast.) If you are spending time at all on the words, then watches with altimeters will be worth their weight in gold. Just like the compass, the altimeter has to be calibrated quite often. It is driven by the barometric pressure sensor and changes every time the temperature or moisture content of the atmosphere changes. That means that all the functions on the watch are fairly tied into the weather. Another interesting development is the compass function combined with GPS sensors. This is probably the way this technology will eventually all end up. As all of this equipment continues to miniaturize, GPS will probably replace barometric pressures as the primary sensor for altimeter watches. By having an altimeter watch like this on your next trek into the woods, you will be enhancing your safety factor greatly. By having access to all this information you will be in a lot better position to cut your trip short if the weather is looking increasingly inclement in the near future. Without a watch like this you may be left to trusting your bunion for your weather forecast. Among watches with altimeters, there are none that are small per se. All are relatively hefty because of the sensor mechanisms that are inside, but it is worth carrying something this size because of all the information they can bring you.
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