High Sierra Topix

Years ago I had a very small high/low thermometer that was cheap and extremely light. I am pretty sure REI sold them. It did not last long, though, which is most likely a problem with very small but delicate gear you take backpacking. It was one of those mercury or alcohol filled thermometers which floated a marker up and down to mark the day's extremes.

Now I find myself wishing I had a thermometer to take backpacking. I see all kinds of digital thermometers, some not too expensive, but they all seem much too big, like this one:
https://www.amazon.com/Govee-Temperatur ... 82&sr=8-23

What thermometers do you take to the wilderness? I love to be able to know accurately how cold the night got, how warm it was during the day, etc. But I'm not willing to carry something that weighs more than a couple of ounces.

I use this one:
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01 ... UTF8&psc=1
Thinking about this one:
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00 ... X0DER&th=1
Keywords: humidity thermometer, hygrometer

I bought a cheap light one for my home at Walmart (about $6). I do not know what the temperature range is. It has a magnetic back to stick on a refrigerator. It weighs 1 oz. Acu Rite is the name. I suppose it is not too much of an investment if it does not work outdoors. Worth a try.

CAMERONM wrote: ↑Mon Apr 12, 2021 8:55 pm I use this one:
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01 ... UTF8&psc=1
Thinking about this one:
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00 ... X0DER&th=1
Keywords: humidity thermometer, hygrometer

I have the Acurite one and it's okay. You can pop the suction cup out and put a carabiner in there if you want. It runs on a 24 hour cycle to reset the readings, so it works best if you power it on (by closing the battery compartment) in the middle of the day so it won't reset before you can see what the overnight low was.

I judge how cold it was at night by how thick the ice is in my water bottle :-).
-Phil

I have this one also. https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01 ... UTF8&psc=1
It's light and works fine. I rarely take it these days...

My wife also likes to know the temperatures and we also had one of the REI ones that also died after a couple of seasons. We never believed it was particularly accurate so when it died, we never got another one. Like Phil, my current gauge on temperatures is if the water bottle freezes in the tent, it got really cold. And if I’m comfortable in only a t-shirt, it’s really warm.

CAMERONM wrote: ↑Mon Apr 12, 2021 8:55 pm I use this one:
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01 ... UTF8&psc=1
Thinking about this one:
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00 ... X0DER&th=1
Keywords: humidity thermometer, hygrometer

Thanks Cameronm, that is quite helpful. Why are you thinking of switching? Is the Acurite lighter than the other?

kpeter wrote: ↑Tue Apr 13, 2021 8:40 pm

CAMERONM wrote: ↑Mon Apr 12, 2021 8:55 pm I use this one:
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01 ... UTF8&psc=1
Thinking about this one:
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00 ... X0DER&th=1
Keywords: humidity thermometer, hygrometer

Thanks Cameronm, that is quite helpful. Why are you thinking of switching? Is the Acurite lighter than the other?

Just weighed my AcuRite. 1.2 ounces with the suction cup removed.

If you're carrying a smartphone, https://www.amazon.com/Govee-Thermomete ... B07R586J37 is around an ounce, and you can see a historical graph of temp and humidity. I mostly got it to have more of a feel for hard freezes on my sawyer as well as curiousity.

It'd be interesting to bring a couple, one in the tent, one just outside it, one outside up or down 20 feet of gain to see how much heat is retained in tent and how much is gained by camping above meadows/lakeshores etc. Not sure I'd bother, but it'd be interesting.