For a couple of reasons, we realize how unprepared we were for the hike. Because we dilly-dallied, we should have known we would be getting back to the cars after dark, and more of us should have brought our headlamps...even as a relative novice, I have two of these devices, and they've served me well on the Half Dome and Old Rag, but I failed to bring either of them on Duncan Knob!
Also, both Chris and Andy had altimeter watches with them - and since I am interested in getting one I wanted to see how they work. So as we prepared to start out on the summit spur of the trail I asked for an altitude check. Chris turned on his Suunto and Andy his Casio Pathfinder...
Well, it turns out there is a little chore called calibration that had been neglected in the preparation - you have to peg a current altitude on local barometric pressure (or you can get your actual altitude from Google Earth) so this function will be accurate. Even so, some variation is going to be typical in the instruments, for all sorts of reasons.
Chris had warned me about this, I guess even he, a true gear nerd, found it somewhat challenging. So this morning I did a quick check of Amazon reviews on Suunto and Casio Pathfinder altimeter watches and found that it's a common frustration. In fact, reviewers there often knock the watches down a peg because of the difficulties. There is an even more challenging calibration requirement for the compass features.
I also checked the product web sites...there is extensive information on how to calibrate there. So, I conclude that this is something you've got to get the hang of - set into the pre-hike preparation routine.
Although we don't have the best track record on this yet, it's something we're going to work on.
Here are Amazon product pages for Suunto and Casio watch examples.
Suunto Vector Wrist-Top Computer Watch with Altimeter, Barometer, Compass, and Thermometer
Casio Men's Pathfinder Solar Altimeter/Barometer/ Digital Compass Triple Sensor Watch #PAG50-1V
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