altimeter

[balzaccom]

I have a solar powered Casio that works pretty well. You have to remember a couple of things about these watches:

1. I takes a little time for them to adjust their readings. When I drive up a road that climbs steeply, the watch will not keep up with the rate of climb. It is as if it is sampling every three minutes, and yet I am changing altitude much quicker than that...this isn't much of an issue at walking pace.

2. It makes sense to reset it every morning in case there has been a barometric change over night---something that is true of any altimeter that works on atmospheric pressure.

Now I am not going to argue that you need one of these---or any watch at all in the wilderness. But I wear a watch anyway, and I like that this one can tell me my elevation with reasonable accuracy. Yes, I've used it to "contour" line across a slope....and I've also used it to get a sense of how much further I have to hike uphill, or downhill.

IT doesn't weigh much and it's fun

[fishhunter]

I would recommend Suunto altimeter watches (around $199 with electronic compass). Very good accuracy/sensitivity. My hiking buddy has a Casio, which seems very inaccurate by comparison. Only problem I have with the Suunto is that the night glow feature is quite dim. As to others posts about why you would want an altimeter, ever try hiking in at night with no moon? Another option (more expensive and heavier) is handheld GPS.

[sparky]

There are some cheap altimeters under 100$ I think I am going to give one a try. I am on a budget so not sure if it is worth it to me for anything more than that, and while I might use it a lot, the need is few and far between. I do appreciate the comments though, thank you.