Suunto Vector

RRP £170

Every outdoorsman needs a good watch, in my case I ended up with a suunto vector. The watch has a number of features which have been useful. The watch has an altimeter, a compass, a barometer, and a thermometer. The altimeter (once calibrated) is decent, and can be a useful aid to navigation. The altimeter also has a "logbook" which will tell u the height climbed, height descended, and maximum height of the day. The compass too is useful and reasonably accurate. The compass works by alligning the small bubble in the level in the centre, and the direction you poin the watch in, is displayed in degrees. The barometer is good, but a reading in millabars isn't really that useful if you don't know what the number means. More useful is the pressure trend graph which indicates whether the current pressure trend is dropping, rising or staying constant. This can help predict weather if you understand the mechanics of weather enough. The thermometer is utterly useless, it is effected by your body heat and is yet to give me an accurate reading on which I would rely.

In addition the watch is waterproof, has a stopwatch, countdown timer, alarm and various other standard watch features, and comes in a choice of yellow, black and olive green (for military types). It can be fitted with 3 different strap types; neoprene, rubber, and material.

All in all the watch is good, little steep at £170 but if you look around you can get it sub £120.

Useful video on youtube about the function of the watch may help you understand the features;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtFhVm-wyCc