UKC

Just started to run a few ultras and found that my basic forerunner watch dies after about ten hours. Any recommendations for a simple and reliable gps watch that will keep going fully charged for up. 15 hours?

In reply to alastairmac: Fenix, I think.

In reply to alastairmac:

suunto ambit 2

In reply to alastairmac:

The Fenix and Ambit are both long life but they manage this by increasing the sampling increment of the GPS signal, from a few seconds to a minute between points - this can mean your tracks become less accurate - for hiking its not such a problem though.

The last ultra I did took me 16 hours, basically a quarter of the way through I swapped my dying Garmin for my wife's fully charged one at the aid station, then she went and charged mine up then we swapped back again about 4 hours later. I was able to get the whole race recorded like that and got Strava to stitch them all together for me.

Not ideal if you don't have the support/want the faff and to be honest I want a device that will do it all so I'm basically looking at getting the new Fenix2 shortly, although not doing any true ultras this summer so not essential yet. I recommend you read the DC Rainmaker reviews for the full (and I mean full) lowdown - I heard Suunto have just slashed their prices as well.

In reply to alastairmac:

Thanks for the input and advice.

In reply to alastairmac:

The Garmin 310 and 910 are designed for triathlons, and have an indicated battery life of 20 hours. This can be increased/decreased depending on what options you have switched on/off eg beep/buzzer/light every mile, 1 second or "smart" sampling, etc, etc.

But for a 15 hour race should be ok.

In reply to alastairmac:

Anybody got personal experience / feedback on the Garmin Fenix 2 which has apparently been improved for running functionality and possesses quite a long battery life ? It also appears to quite flexible in terms of outdoor activity flexibility.

In reply to alastairmac:

No personal experience, but the only place to look for GPS type reviews is DC Rainmaker http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2014/03/garmin-fenix2-multisport.html

In reply to alastairmac:
I've got the Fenix 2 and have used it in anger on a 100 mile ultra recently. I have to say I was massively impressed.

To get the full battery life of 50 hours out of it you really have to pare down what the watch is recording. I hadn't done that as I wanted ascent and avg pace as well as distance. That being said, it lasted 35hrs and was just starting to report low battery towards the end.

Accuracy? Well I had it set to 60 second recording intervals. Meaning it speaks to the mothership for a location fix every minute. Potentially could lead to big (one minute) gaps in data. On this occasion it recorded my overall distance at 103 miles which could easily have been entirely accurate. I had a good day on the course with no nav errors and to clock up an extra three miles could easily happen by taking a few long lines over the hills.

I'd massively rate this as being head and shoulders above the Ambit (used to have one, hated it quite a lot)

Hope that helps

In reply to alastairmac:

I have had a Garmin 310XT for a few years and it has just died on me. After much looking at newer devices, such as the Fenix 2, I have decided to get another 310XT, as it's much cheaper and does all I really need. I have got the 20 hours battery life out of it easily. For anything longer than that I carry a larger handheld (Dakota 20) with replaceable batteries, as I will carry loads of stuff anyway, if I am out for that long.

In reply to StefanB:

I seoond that. I reokon my 310 XT will make the 20 hrs advertised.

In reply to Wonrek:

Thanks for the attached review. It's really helpful.

In reply to Wonrek:

I'd say 3% accuracy is pretty good considering it was once every minute.. on a marathon I almost always come in at 26.4-26.6, which is about 98.5-99% accurate.. and that's with the most frequent recording.

OP: The Garmin 305 will last about 11-12 hours I've found, but its pretty poor watch, poor durability, the bezel is a pain, its signal is poor.. I really dislike it compared to the old 310..

In reply to IainRUK:




D'you mean 405, Iain? That was the one with the dodgy bezel, wasn't it? I've got a 620 now, and whilst I suspect the battery life's nowhere near, it's great as an everyday/running/occasional emergency cycling watch. I have a Fenix for skiing/ski-mountaineering as the battery life is longer and it has an altimeter.

In reply to alastairmac:

If you want a cheap one then Aldi are bringing one out on Sunday which apparently does 16 hours. It is only £64! https://www.aldi.co.uk/en/specialbuys/sunday-29th-june/product-detail/ps/p/...

In reply to andy:

405.. yeah..