Posts Tagged ‘apparel’

Altimeter Watch Guide: GPS And Barometer Altimeter Watches

These days (and probably forever going forward) altimeter watches either use GPS or barometric pressure to figure out your altitude.

The original altimeters (discovered by French physicist Louis Paul Cailletet) used barometric pressure to calculate altitude. While the methods for gathering barometric pressure have changed with technological advances, the calculation itself has remained constant. Most altimeter watches apply a simple formula to the barometric pressure to determine elevation above sea level. In the last few years, the invention of GPS watches has introduced a new alternative to the traditional altimeter watch. As the name implies, GPS altimeter watches us longitude and latitude to communicate position to a satellite, which in turn returns various map datum, including altitude.

If your altimeter watch is GPS enabled, the way it calculates altitude is by sending your latitude and longitude to a satellite, which likely communicates with the manufacturer and returns your altitude, among a number of other data points. Because of this GPS altimeter watches are considered to be more accurate that their barometric watch counterparts. Not having to recalibrate is one of the obvious benefits to owning a GPS enabled altimeter watch. However, one of the downsides is your position and altitude is often subject to terrain - on flat, open terrain you will have near perfect communication with the satellite. However, in mountainous terrain, particularly in a canyon or gorge, you will often have poor satellite signal, resulting in inaccurate latitude and longitude positioning. Obviously, this results in somewhat questionable accuracy of your elevation. Examples of GPS enable altimeter watches are the Forerunner 305 or the Suunto X10.

Most altimeter watches using barometric pressure have a built in software component that uses the watch barometer to calculate altitude. While the exact function that the watch uses to determine altitude is beyond the scope of this article, it is important to remember that barometric pressure changes rapidly as weather changes. Because of this, during outdoor activity it is important to use known positions to calculate altitude and recalibrate your watch if necessary. While there are literally hundreds of watches out there using barometric pressure to calculate altitude, some of the more popular brands are HighGear, St.Moritz, and Suunto.

The entry price point for GPS enabled altimeter watches is around $250. While a bit more expensive than the barometric pressure altimeter watch (lowest price of around $100) often GPS altimeter watches come with many features, such as trip distance, not in their barometric counterparts. When looking for a watch compare carefully the individual watch feature set that best matches your needs.

Learn more about the types of Altimeter Watches. Stop by Anthony Edward’s site where you can find out all about the best altimeter watch for your needs.

Brief Overview Of The Altimeter Watch

There seems to be a lot of confusion and misunderstanding about what an altimeter watch is. There are a significant number of manufacturers and outdoor retailers selling them, and marketing them by other names such as GPS watch, digital compass, etc. The simplest description is that an altimeter watch is a watch that allows the wearer to measure how high you are compared to sea level (your altitude).

Over the last decade, the altimeter watch has become a regular piece of gear for outdoor enthusiasts. While the old models were clunky and bulky, the newer models are of high quality and generally more reliable. While there are many altimeter watch makers, Suunto and High Gear make the highest quality, most reliable watches. Don’t expect your altimeter watch to be cheap (you get what you pay for)/ you should expect to pay from $75 to $350 USD.

Most people want to know how an altimeter watch works. After all, what use is it if you get to the top of the peak or are skiing down your run and your information is inaccurate. In essence, an altimeter watch is just a miniature, digital barometer. Altitude is calculated by applying a simple formula against the barometric pressure to give altitude. Because barometric pressure is used it is important to re-calibrate altitude from known positions when in changing weather.

There are many uses and times when having an altimeter watch can be beneficial or critical. A hiker in the back country or a skier wanting to evaluate rate of descent are two examples. Skydivers wanting to know when to deploy a parachute is another. Take the time to evaluate your needs when choosing which altimeter watch to purchase.

In summary, an altimeter watch just is a watch that measures your altitude - a very useful piece of information as you get outside. Hopefully this article will gave you some things to think about when buying your next watch.

Looking to find the best deal on Altimeter Watches, then visit www.altimeterwatc.net to find the best advice on your next Altiemter Watch.

Why Wear Snake Proof Boots?

Snake boots are great pieces of hunting or hiking gear that protects the wearer from the worst case scenario of a bite from a venomous snake. While turkey hunters in the swamps of the South are probably already familiar with this footwear, many others are not. In fact, it’s not out of line to suggest that the average person doesn’t even know that there is footwear specifically designed to protect your feet and lower legs from venomous reptiles.

While snake boots might not be all that common yet, they are growing in popularity. Not only reduced to hunters, many hikers in the desert areas or mountainous forests find them to be a great precaution against worst case scenario.

There are many great reasons for individual consumers to consider buying a pair of snake proof boots. While this article could go over many more, this will concentrate on three great reasons to wear snake boots.

Out of all the reasons to get snake boots, the first one should be obvious. This footwear protects you from snake bites - whether they are rattlers, cottonmouths, coral snakes, or copperheads. If you live in an area with even a few of these slithery little guys, then you might want something extra to keep them away from your ingredient.

A second reason to consider snake boots might be surprising at first glance. The financial savings that this footwear can bring you is incredible. Consider that an ER visit to treat a venomous snake bite in the U.S. will cost you up to twenty grand. That’s right, twenty grand. And that’s only assuming that there are no complications, which in over half of the cases there are. Wearing a good pair of snake proof boots could prevent that type of traumatic physical and financial trauma.

A third reasons for wearing snake boots is for the peace of mind. There are literally millions of people who have an outright phobia of snakes, but it’s much easier to deal with tall weeds by the river when you know nothing can strike out and hit you. The lower leg protection offers that peace of mind which is worth just as much as the actual protection for many people.

Hopefully this article has pointed out several good reasons for looking at snake boots. These points span a wide range of topics that include the physical, mental, and even the seemingly unlikely financial. When all these arguments are combined, it’s pretty obvious that there is a very good case for the viability of wearing snake proof boots for the protection that they provide.

Whether or not you ever decide to use snake proof boots is completely up to you. However, it’s important to know that these are an option for protection available to anyone.

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