UKC

Hi everyone,

wondering if anyone has good suggestions for smart watches for hiking/climbing/mountaineering? I want something to wear all the time and record/get the usual information (gps track, altitude, etc) but there are so many other there that its pretty bewildering. So if anyone has any experience and can suggest some models ideally with:

- optical HR monitor (i.e. dont need an additional hr strap on your chest)
- Waterproof (20+ meters)
- more than one day's battery!
- doesn't break the bank

Cheers

In reply to chicken88:

Can't help with specific model but two features I would want are grid reference readout (for UK) and decent altimeter

In reply to chicken88:

More than one day's battery with GPS on all the time? And waterproof to 20m +? And not too expensive? Hmmmm.....

In reply to chicken88:

I have used a Garmin Fenix 3 for all my sport for the last couple of years - daily running, plus road and mountain biking, odd bit of swimming and long walks & climbs in the hills.

Easily navigate by plotting a route on something like http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php then transfer the gps track to the watch and follow the 'breadcrumb' trail. Has worked perfectly in white out conditions navigating the Cairngorm edges and also on long road bike rides strapped to the handlebar. No need for a basemap. Of course OS carried as backup and it gives you full UK grid ref if required to help with that.

Battery will last 20 hours+ WHILE recording GPS in real world use. Battery lasts all week + before charge of wearing constantly as watch, plus hour ish of gps recording per day.

Syncs automatically by bluetooth to your iPhone or smartwatch if you are bothered about uploading to Garmin / Strava etc. No faffing about plugging into PC's.

Good deals on F3 now as Fenix 5 (there is no F4) just announced with prices - which looks a great watch with one of the new options including base maps. Has built in optical HR too whereas I use a HR strap when running or biking.

You can still get orginal F3 without HR for about £360 which is a bargain. HR model about £400 and the new F5 starts at £499.

https://buy.garmin.com/en-GB/GB/p/552982/pn/010-01688-00

Also for everything you never needed you needed to know https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2017/01/hands-on-garmins-new-fenix-5-multisport...

I sound like I work for them - I don't, I run my own Accountancy practice - I just think it's a great bit of kit!

In reply to chicken88:

I use a suunto ambit (1 & 2) GPS, long battery if sensible (eg i have GPS record position every 60s not every second), turn it off when finished or when stopped/camped, HR (I use a wrist band that works well), Barometric altimeter, OS grid ref etc. Waterproof to 50m. They are not upto the modern GPS tracks of Fenix 3+/ Ambit 3+ but have a simple facility

https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2012/04/suunto-ambit-in-depth-review.html
is a detailed report and the place to look for reviews of watches

The newer ones (ambit 3) are pricey i got mine 2nd hand. Am selling the Ambit 1 if interested....

In reply to chicken88:
Garmin Vivoactive HR is a lot cheaper than a Fenix, better battery. Love mine.
Optical HR, GPS, notifications etc. Weather. Geeky graphs. Strava. Custom watch faces.
Screen is like a Kindle not an iPad, but once you get used to that, it's excellent.
Doesn't have a native "climbing" app, but you can trace as "other" and update afterwards.
There probably a way to define custom activities but I haven't bothered.

Edit : think mine was £150. Wiggle do £10 off first order, there are other offers around.

In reply to lithos:

Yeah I had a look at the Ambit 3 and whilst it isn't insanely expensive it doesnt have an optical HR monitor which is kind of a pain. May be a HR monitor isn't massively important, but its a nice feature to have and I dont really want to have to wear a strap and connect them to have it

In reply to RedFive:

Thanks, I will take a look at those. £400 seems a lot of money, but having never owned one its kind of hard to judge its worth (or not!)

In reply to SiGregory:

One question - can you set the frequency of GPS connection? or is it fixed? would be great to be able to play with it for multi day alpine adventures as the advertised 13h time span on GPS is pretty limited.

In reply to chicken88:

Don't think so. It charges up pretty quickly. A 13hr day seems long enough to me.
You're unlikely to find a watch which will trace GPS for a week on a single charge.

In reply to SiGregory:

No barmometric altimeter? Can you get an OS Grid reference of it?

In reply to chicken88:

I have a Fenix 3 with and HR strap. Does most of what you want, though won't track GPS for multiple days without a charge. You van vary the frequency of GPS signal chasing to improve battery life but I've never bothered. I'm happy with the strap as only want my HR when putting in effort and i like the fact I can still get HR is my watch is worn over my jacket sleeve (i.e. in winter) or is strapped to my rucksack. Also, wrist based HR is meant to be less accurate, thought I don't know is that is true/whether it actually matters.

I got mine form the continent about 12 months ago for less than £250 but I imagine the pound/euro rate has stuffed that option.

Regards,

Nick

In reply to galpinos:

I got a fenix 3 (non heart rate as I already have a chest strap, but never use it) from Amazon last week for £280 and it is still at this price. It is an incredible bit of kit. It can give you a huge amount of info about your exercise, running, swimming, cycling, hill walking, golf (sorry). You can set up training runs/ rides and the navigation features look great, but I haven't fully explored them yet.
I got it to replace a forerunner which was a good running watch, but the fenix does everything I can imagine ever wanting.
The only drawback is that it is noticeably bigger and nearly twice a heavy as my old watch. Still I am using it as an everyday watch and to me it doesn't look out of place on your wrist in the pub.
As others have said DC rainmaker is the best website to go to for reviews and and comparisons.

In reply to chicken88:


It's a smart watch- think Apple? I've used the Fenix2 (not quite so smart) for years and run with it 5-6 times a week and use it as an all day watch - so I think I can justify it on a usage basis. I'm anxiously waiting for the Fenix5 and planning to upgrage as soon as I'm satisfied with a good enough cross section of reviews.

Early reports look good but we'll see.

UltraTrac is a way of reducing GPS sampling to save battery (think 50 odd hours) but gives less accurate data but in hiking this is less of an issue because you are moving much more slowly. Garmin have announced an internal gyroscope in the Fenix5 that will 'fill in the gaps' with other kinetic data so we will see how well this works (I think they're suggesting it can go up to 75 hours).

My Fenix 2 can just about get through a 50 mile ultra (16-17 hours) but I want something that can realistically last for a 100 miler without too much compromise in accuracy.

Also, the size of the unit seems to have been redesigned to maximise screen space and minimize bulk.

In reply to chicken88:

I have an Ambit3 Vertical

Notes:
It doesn't do on the wrist HR tracking.
It is waterproof to 100m
The battery won't last long if you put it in GPS mode - you can vary the sampling rate
Barimetric and GPS altitude... but no storm warning
Mono screen, not colour.

Suunto claim:

Best: ~1 sec fix interval, highest power consumption - 20hours
Good: ~5 sec fix interval, moderate power consumption 
- 30hours
OK: ~60 sec fix interval, lowest power consumption 
- 200hours

For hiking I would be happy with OK, but distances would be out. You can tell the difference if you are running between best and good VERY easily.

Will continue to work if just charging from USB using battery pack, from reports.

It will do OSGB or LatLong and many others. It will give you a position! Many of the cheaper ones will not do this. They will tell you how far, but won't give lat long / OSGB at the time, only afterward when connected to phone.



Comes with HR strap, but doesn't have on wrist HR. For walking I don't care about HR - miles are more important. I use HR for running, cycling and surf-ski. Optical HR is OK for running, but seems to have problems still with cycling according to reports. (My wife has TomTom OHR and is very happy - its meant to be one of the best). HR strap about the best out there in terms of comfort and size, but still a strap.




***Probably not as good as the Fenix... but I'm semi-sworn off Garmin products after far too many have failed on me and my friends. ****


£219 on wiggle. Original version came with poor strap, replacement has been redesigned to stay on wrist properly!!!

I fit a Brotect screen protector to help keep the screen readable after knocks.

In reply to galpinos:

Vivoactive HR has a barometric altimeter.
https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2016/05/garmin-vivoactivehr-review.html

There are a few map apps, I think you can get some lat/long details but I forget which.
It's possible to hook up to a map app but I don't think it's suited to this use, and uninstalled it.

In reply to SiGregory:

There's an installable widget for most Garmins which gives UK grid ref, or lat/long outside the uk.

Have a browse on their website. There are loads of addons with compatibility.
In Garminspeak the widgets are used by flicking up the watch face onto the next function.
The "apps" are dedicated logging criteria tailored to a specific sport e.g. Run / wall / swim / cycle / etc.

I feel like I'm evangelising. It's good for the price. With unlimited budget I'd get a Fenix 3 Sapphire. Or the F5 equivalent.