PDA

View Full Version : hiking gadget watch



mister krabs
10-06-2009, 15:06
This Timex WS4 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002C13PVQ) looks like a cool techno-gadget watch that would be fun to take hiking. Here is a good review (http://www.dailyhiker.com/gear/review-timex-expedition-ws4/) of it. This is one part that caught my eye.
"The one mode that stood out to me apart from the rest that I think has the most potential to be something really special in the future versions of the WS4 is the Review Mode. This mode works with the Chronograph to track and store data. It’s very simple to use and all you have to do is go to the Chrono mode and press Start at the beginning of your day. The Review function of the watch from that point on will collect data automatically until you decide to stop the Chrono from running. When you go into the Review Mode, you’re going to get fourteen different categories of information collected from the Altimeter, Barometer, and Temperature sensors. Highs, lows, graphs, etc. I really liked being able to see that information at the end of the day"

I like tech gadgets, and I like big watches. I'd like to see one of these in person.

http://www.geekwatches.com/wp-content/gallery/37/medium_3247864501_9a709e201f_o.jpg

Jester2000
10-06-2009, 15:17
Man, if I ever buy a $200.00 watch, I hope one of my friends slaps me hard enough to knock some sense into me. I also hope it has an indicator to tell me what part of next week they slap me into.

DaveJohns
10-06-2009, 15:19
Ok, the tech geek in me wants this. I wonder how long it would last before the sensors all got clogged up with mud/sweat/ick and quit working?

Yea, I'd like one of those.

Buzz_Lightfoot
10-06-2009, 15:23
Sounds even nicer than the Casio Solar Pathfinder I have. I bought one of those years ago and finally replaced it early this year with the current model when the old battery would no longer hold a charge from the solar panel. The current Pathfinder sets itself to the atomic clock and that function really works!

BL

Redfish
10-06-2009, 16:49
Sadly....I have a super expensive watch the has compass, temperature, barometer, lunar, and tidal functions on it along with the usual digital watch stuff. It has not helped me fish

Jester2000
10-06-2009, 17:03
Sadly....I have a super expensive watch the has compass, temperature, barometer, lunar, and tidal functions on it along with the usual digital watch stuff. It has not helped me fish

Is it waterproof? Perhaps it would make a good lure.

plush neon monkey
10-06-2009, 17:16
Yep, I’m a gadget freak myself. Got one of these about a month ago and did not pay the $200.00 for it. Look around and you can find it cheaper on line. Mainly I got it for the big display because my eye site is not that good without reading glasses on. I also take meds every other day and the calendar was attractive to me as I can forget what day it is sometimes and what I took yesterday or not. I thought that if I could have a compass, watch and calendar I could see a thermometer that would be great. Most of the time altitude is not an issue for me but its fun to know or watch the graph of where you’ve been. Let me tell you its BIG! It’s about the size of the photo above. It wears very comfortable and I do not wear a watch every day but did not take any time to get used to it. One thing I have found and it tells you this in the instructions is that the temp displayed while on my arm is a little higher than the real temp because of body heat. The weather sign and barometer are nice to have. All the features are nice to have but mostly it’s a toy. If you have a few outdoor skills and knowledge then you can get along without it but for us gadget freaks it’s a fun toy.

Buzz_Lightfoot
10-07-2009, 13:09
Sadly....I have a super expensive watch the has compass, temperature, barometer, lunar, and tidal functions on it along with the usual digital watch stuff. It has not helped me fish

Get the one with the sol-lunar tables. Field and Stream sells it.

(Just kidding!!)

Doctari
10-07-2009, 16:23
At first look I thought "I want one" I then pictured a 1970s Calculator watch & shivered. :eek:

So, I'll pass on this "doodad" :p

The Weasel
10-07-2009, 16:38
I'm curious. Why would you want a watch (or barometer/altimeter, or the other functions) when you're hiking?

TW

Jester2000
10-07-2009, 16:45
I'm curious. Why would you want a watch (or barometer/altimeter, or the other functions) when you're hiking?

TW

Well, a watch can help you figure out what direction is north. I've found a watch handy when I've been hiking up north in the fall and it seems to get really dark really fast -- it's nice to know what time in the afternoon it is. A barometer might be handy in the Sierra with those freakish storms that seem to blow in suddenly. And I can think of one case last year where an altimeter helped us figure out that we weren't on the PCT. So there are some practical uses.

Not an absolute need, but, you know, useful for some.

Some people don't understand why I would want a kite or a Twister mat.

The Weasel
10-07-2009, 16:50
Well, a watch can help you figure out what direction is north. I've found a watch handy when I've been hiking up north in the fall and it seems to get really dark really fast -- it's nice to know what time in the afternoon it is. A barometer might be handy in the Sierra with those freakish storms that seem to blow in suddenly. And I can think of one case last year where an altimeter helped us figure out that we weren't on the PCT. So there are some practical uses.

Not an absolute need, but, you know, useful for some.

Some people don't understand why I would want a kite or a Twister mat.

Jester:

Finding 'north' with a digital watch is a bit of a chore, since you have to create your own analog face out of your dinner pot and sticks or whatever (although maybe there is some method for a digital watch that I'm not aware of, which I would love to know!). Barometers on watches are pretty marginal for weather forecasting, and storms even in the Sierra give enough warning to get a shelter set up. But OK, maybe someone needs to try.

Kite and Twister mats make perfect sense, obviously so. And aren't superfluous.

TW

Jester2000
10-07-2009, 17:07
Jester:

Finding 'north' with a digital watch is a bit of a chore, since you have to create your own analog face out of your dinner pot and sticks or whatever (although maybe there is some method for a digital watch that I'm not aware of, which I would love to know!). Barometers on watches are pretty marginal for weather forecasting, and storms even in the Sierra give enough warning to get a shelter set up. But OK, maybe someone needs to try.

Kite and Twister mats make perfect sense, obviously so. And aren't superfluous.

TW


What you can do is imagine an analog watch with hands on your watch using the digital time.

The Weasel
10-07-2009, 17:45
Sort of like imagining a kite, but it's a watch?

TW

Jester2000
10-07-2009, 18:14
Sort of like imagining a kite, but it's a watch?

TW

Yup. I take it you've seen me flying my imaginary kite. But you probably missed us doing invisible jump rope double-dutch at the PCT Kickoff.

rickb
10-07-2009, 19:05
I'm curious. Why would you want a watch (or barometer/altimeter, or the other functions) when you're hiking?

TW

I am not sure about the barometer, but the altimeter is so you can check your how high up the mountain you are, or how many feet you have to go to the top.

mister krabs
10-08-2009, 06:19
I'm curious. Why would you want a watch (or barometer/altimeter, or the other functions) when you're hiking?

TW

It's a toy.

The Old Fhart
10-08-2009, 07:30
The Weasel-..."Finding 'north' with a digital watch is a bit of a chore, since you have to create your own analog face out of your dinner pot and sticks or whatever (although maybe there is some method for a digital watch that I'm not aware of, which I would love to know!)...."I have to assume that is an attempt at humor because no one could think that way. For you technologically challenged out there, a compass on a digital watch like the current Casios gives the direction both as an analog display (e.g., an arrow) and digitally as degrees in large numbers even TW could read. The current Casios even have the ability to compensate for declination. Technically the sensor is most watches is a flux-gate sensor.

rickb-"I am not sure about the barometer, but the altimeter is so you can check your how high up the mountain you are..."The one sensor used for both is a solid-state pressure transducer. The weight of the column of air above you is represented as the common In-Hg (or other units) and this value changes with altitude. Displaying the barometric pressure as altitude and calibrating the altimeter at map reference points gives quite accurate elevation readings. So if your watch has an altimeter, it also has to have a barometer. watching the barometric trend chart on the Casio watches gives you a pretty good idea what you might expect for weather. If you have a map and are on a trail and check your altitude you generally can locate your position with those two pieces of information.

DaveJones-"I wonder how long it would last before the sensors all got clogged up with mud/sweat/ick and quit working? "Not a problem the way they are designed, and there are no moving parts. I have had various Casio altimeter watches for about 2 decades and never had a failure, although I do eventually wear them out or scratch/gouge the face to a point I replace them.

Jester2000
10-08-2009, 10:06
Phart --
Weasel was responding to my post regarding using a watch as a compass, not a watch with a compass.

yaduck9
10-08-2009, 10:38
Looks like something Dick Tracy would wear.....


Did I just date myself? :eek: