Suunto  Core

I struggled w. the decision to buy this watch as I was preparing to do a week of hiking via the Yosemite HSCs. The price was just high enough to put this into a category of maybe I can live without it. But living near the coast in southern California, I was concerned about getting in shape and then being able to complete the 50+ mile HSC loop at altitude. So I really wanted to get in some training with significant elevation changes before heading off to the trip this summer. To keep track I wanted some sort of altimeter and was debating the barometric versions like this watch, versus a GPS model. I was also looking for a tool for the actual trip that would help me determine my progress on the trail each day. I really wanted to be able to know, for example, that if I was at 8900' that I had an additional 500' to go to the next camp. I thought a GPS watch would be the best answer to that until I learned that battery life was really an issue with those models. Not to mention that they can get even more expensive. I also was hesitant to commit to strapping a bulky contraption on my wrist as I am pretty heat sensitive (I have MS) and normally don't wear a watch. But after doing a bunch of research and reading other reviews of tons of competing products I picked the Suunto - and could not be happier that I did. Several points are key to my really high level of satisfaction. 1. The watch has a learning curve - because it has so many functions - and I took the time to experiment and use it for dozens of training hikes before heading off to Yosemite. At first I was picking up new features haphazardly - like finding out how to use the logs, reviewing the results of a hike's elevation gained and lost against a time scale - in a graphical display. Pretty cool. and turns out easy to use. 2. Calibration of the altimeter to a reference altitude - is of course the major step required to get accurate results from this watch. And it is really easy. And after using the watch for multiple hikes it has become natural. On the week long Yosemite trip I would calibrate the Core every morning before taking off on the trail - at the same time starting a new log for that day to record the elevation gained and lost. At the end of the hike that day I simply "stopped" the log and would then have a record of that days total elevation gained, lost, Net elevation gained, lost, as well as the chrono record of the times corresponding to those intervals. 3. Having a topo map handy on the trail really complemented the watch for me. You might wonder why did I need the altimeter if I had a topo map - but for me it is simply that without knowing exactly where I was along a stretch of trail, the map was not precise enough to pinpoint my location. With the altimeter and the topo map I could pretty much pin down my location to within a few hundred feet. That was really helpful to me as I needed to find a way to pace myself ('cause of MS) to complete each leg of the loop. As for the watch design, the strap and case is large but I found it to be very comfortable and unobtrusive. It is also rugged. On a training hike I did some scrambling thru heavy brush that was striking the watch and I had though I was going to end up scratching the crystal. When I got through I found that what I thought was a scratch was just debris that wipe off without leaving a trace. Today after using it for a couple of hundred miles over the past 6 months, the watch still looks brand new. Amazing. All in all I could not be happier that I chose this watch. The only minor things that I could possibly think of to improve would be really minor but are, A) the backlight feature works great if you are in a very dark environment, like in your sleeping bag. Then the watch reads clear as day using the backlight. In less dark settings I needed a flashlight to read it - but I think that has something to do with my wearing glasses, and needing more light to make out the dial without them. B) The alarm tone is in a frequency range that is hard for my 56 old ears to hear. Once someone had to point out that my alarm was beeping. I couldn't hear it. But those are both really minor and again - I loved the fact that at the end of the week I was able to relive each day's hike via the logs on the watch. Great for capturing

Just returned my second Core to my local REI store due to software failure. Bought the first and the display froze in first week. REI immediately replaced it with a new one with no hassle. The second Core went almost to the 2 year warranty coverage and the software again malfunctioned (the time display would suddenly revert to 12:00, necessitating resetting several times daily). I removed and replaced the battery, hoping the software might "reboot" but to no avail. The local REI store offered to replace it with yet another new one, but I took the refund as I have little faith in the product reliability. However, I give REI high marks for customer satisfaction!