High Gear Summit watch

[Jkrew81]

Has anyone here used either a Suunto or High Gear watch before? I am looking at the High Gear Summit that has the altimeter and compass. I am not looking to use it for extreme navigation, but chances have it that I broke my old watch and if I am going to get a new one, I might as well have one that tells me how close to the top of the mountain I am and what general direction I am looking in. Not to mention I heard that the barometer functions on these things work pretty well.

Does anyone have any feedback?

 

[KMartman]

Has anyone here used either a Suunto or High Gear watch before? I am looking at the High Gear Summit that has the altimeter and compass. I am not looking to use it for extreme navigation, but chances have it that I broke my old watch and if I am going to get a new one, I might as well have one that tells me how close to the top of the mountain I am and what general direction I am looking in. Not to mention I heard that the barometer functions on these things work pretty well.

Does anyone have any feedback?

I have a Suunto Vector...love it..wouldnt 100% rely on the compass or temp guage, but the alitimeter seems to be pretty accurate though some here would differ in opinion..

I think you'll find some other who have experience with the suunto products as well..

Good luck.

M

 

[JNewell]

Not exactly the product cited, but we have a pair of the Gen 1 High Gear Altitech altimeter/compasses. They have been extremely reliable over the past 3 years. If the other products are similar, you should be happy.

 

[John S]

I have the Suunto and the altimeter works fine. I’ve hiked with people using Timex Helix and High Gear and we were usually very close. The compass works if you remember to re-calibrate periodically but it’s too easy to just use a regular compass. The thermometer is useless because it picks up your body heat.

I think High Gear has a carabiner model you can hang from a pack harness which makes it handier than a watch when bundled up with rain gear and gloves.

 

[coldmountain]

I own a High Gear "Axis" watch. It has an altimeter, compass, barometer, temp gauge, chrono and an alarm. I love it.

The altitude reading is certainly affected by barometric changes but is usually only off by 50-100'. And its easy to recalibrate once I get to a "known" altitide.

 

[Guinness]

Over the years I have a couple observations.

1) You can not reach your climbing watch when you have cinched sleeves, gloves or over mitts on.

2) A watch does drift in winter due to its proximity to your body (under sleeves, etc). The watch becomes warmer and does not reflect the correct altitude.

3) I do always have one on.

I use the Avocet which I feel are better watches than the more popular models by Suunto or High Gear. I have been using mine since 1998 and it has worked flawless.

To compensate for sleeves and temperatures, I also carry a Highgear Altitech (early model) because it offer easy access hanging on your pack.

Some negative points on Highgear include a temperature range between -4°f - 140°f. Since I do a lot of deep winter climbing, I've never felt good about the temperature range. However, I have noticed it is still close when I stand on the summit.

 

[Lawn Sale]

I have the Suunto Vector and love it. The altimiter is quite accurate if you calibrate it before you head out, and I find the thermometer works fine if you leave it off your body for around 10 minutes. I think this is also mentioned in the manual that comes with it. Haven't used the compass yet as my hiking poles have them at the top (Komperdell C3's), but it seems accurate when I've checked it.

 

[Warren]

I have the Sunnto Vector. It's OK, I have the stopwatch/lanyard attachment for it and tend to where it on a pack strap where my body temp doesnt interfere as much with it. I picked up a Kestrel handheld weather/wind/altitude thingy a while back and I like it much more than the sunnto, though it doesn't hang from the pack strap as well. Much easier to use.

 

[Jay H]

REI Outlet has an '03 Suunto X6 on sale... Just a heads up.

Seems like it has a PC interface too, being that it's like $350 on sale for $194 a little less

Jay