Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board altimeter

there are many altimeters out there which I have never bought one but would like to get one.Don't want to spend $300.00 on one but don't want a cheap one either, can you tell me what type you have and it can be wrist or pocket type. thanks mark

Mark, over the years I've used four different altimeters on Mt. Whitney. My favorite, and I believe the best, for an aneroid barometer, is my Thommen altimeter, which is Swiss made. For general hiking, my Suunto watch's altimeter works good, reading out in 10-foot increments and giving constant readouts on how many feet you are ascending or descending per minute--a neat feature. I also used a Girchaud(?) altimeter in 100-ft. increments, which had questionable accuracy, and my GPS. The least accurate, in my opinion, has been my Garmin GPS. However, Garmin now makes GPS units that seem to be more accurate, as I have seen many times now from Rick Kent's reports. All this being said, Thommen's is by far my favorite, as I never have to worry about batteries going out or losing satellite receptivity, which is a serious problem in the deep canyons of the Sierras, and it gives readings to within 10 feet (as does the Suunto watch's digital readouts), as long as you keep it adjusted by known elevations.

By the way, the first time I used my Suunto watch on the Mountaineer's Route, it went crazy above 13,000 feet. For some reason, it would zoom up hundreds of feet while I was standing still, then zoom down hundreds of feet. Pretty weird. However, it's never malfunctioned like that since that one time, and it's been up Whitney a couple times since.

Pretty similar to Wayne's experience. Had my Thommen for 25 years now. A great product. However, I use my Suunto Vector most of the time now. Overall it's a good product but I have out raced it as has Wayne in rapid ascents or descents. A friend with one of the Avocet altimeter watches has had slightly more steady readings from her watch based altimeter. We often compare and hers is generally more accurate than my Suunto. If using the Suunto set the sampling rate to a more frequent interval if you are using the logbook function.

The Suunto Vector's altimeter is also affected by the day's barometric pressure -- meaning, the altitude reading at, say, the Portal on one day (when the barometric pressure is low, like during a storm) will display a certain altitude, but a day or two later when the barometric pressure is high (clear weather, or high pressure in effect), the same location will have a different reading. Usually the two don't vary more than a couple hundred feet.

<A HREF=http://www.summitpost.org/show/gear_reviews/category.pl?category=Altimeters>Here</A> are a bunch of descriptions and reviews of altimeters by people who have used them. I personally use the Timex Helix, so far it has been good and accurate for me.

The most accurate altimeter I've ever used on any trail is a good old USGS topo map. They only need to be calibrated every 50 years or so, don't need batteries, and only cost $5.95.

I've had both the timex and Nike, and both failed due to water infiltration.

My Suunto seems to be holding up well.

I use the Casio Pathfinder, which has barometer, thermometer, altimeter(increments of 20 feet), and digital compass. I bought mine at Costco for around $170. As long as I calibrate it at the trailhead, I haven't seen huge discrepancies in altitude and know locations afterwards. As with other watches, it calibrates elevations according to stable barometric pressure. This isn't a bad feature, because you know if you're elevations start moving around you should prepare for a change in weather! Hope that helps.
Gusto

I have used a cheap Casio (less then half what Gusto paid for his) for years now. It has tolerated the extremely wet conditions of canyoneering, and held up well. The accuracy seams no worst then the expensive altimeters, all barometric pressure altimeters seam have their good days and bad days depending on the weather.

I find it extremely valuable for staying on plan/goal setting (1000' per hour generally) and knowing your approximate altitude is also a great aid to navigation. It's definitely part of my outdoors/backcountry essentials list.

BJ,
Where do you go canyoneering? I've been doing it for almost a year now in the San Gabriels.
Gusto

Gusto,

Mostly the San Gabriels too, but I have done a little in AZ and UT. We have a group that goes out pretty regularly if you'd like to join us. I did Great Fall of the Fox, Fall Creek and Tujunga Narrows last weekend at the 2005 San Gabriel Rendezvous. Check-out the ACA's site www.canyoneering.net
bj