Suunto Core

From 4LPH41337.com

Reviewing the Suunto Core Wristop Computer

Features

The new Suunto Core wristops feature the latest (and maybe the coolest) combination of wristop features. Suunto has leveraged their expertise in dive computers to create a wristop that will show your altitude in the air, or if you take a plunge, your depth in the water. The 30 foot maximum depth gauge is great for free dives or snorkeling. And the Core series of wristop computer watches also feature a barometer, digital compass, thermometer, and a storm alarm. Currently we stock 3 different Suunto Core models. This model features a yellow aluminum bezel with a black plastic body and band.

Altimeter

Accurate to 30,000 feet, the Suunto Core altimeter is a valuable tool for mountaineering, backcountry skiing and wilderness travel. It displays your current elevation, shows how much you’ve climbed or descended, and records your entire session for later analysis. Resolution: 3ft / 1M

Barometer

A veritable weather station on your wrist, the Suunto Core barometer measures and records air pressure to help you predict changing conditions, from sunny skies to hair-bending electrical storms. Resolution: 0,05 inHg/1 mbar

Auto Alti/Baro Mode

If you leave your watch in altimeter mode while hanging out at camp, an incoming low-pressure front will read as a gain in altitude. Thus, it’s important to choose the right mode for your activity: altimeter for climbing, and barometer for hanging out at camp. The Suunto Core makes it easy to manually choose the proper mode for your activity. The Suunto Core features an automatic Alti/Baro mode that senses movement or lack thereof, switching between altimeter and barometer accordingly. When you’re climbing, it records changes in elevation. And when you stop to rest, it records changes in barometric pressure. A drop in air pressure while you’re sleeping under the stars will be recorded for what it really is: a change in barometric pressure, not altitude.

Weather Trend Indicator

What’s the forecast? Check your wrist. The Weather Trend Indicator shows the barometric history for the last three and six hours, helping you predict the weather with amazing accuracy. What’s more, it’s not a regional forecast posted earlier in the day, but rather, the most current information about the weather directly overhead, whether you’re hiking, biking or enjoying a cup of Joe with the morning paper.

Storm Alarm

Setting up your tent in a downpour? Heading farther from shore as a storm gathers? Starting up a climb with thunderheads in the distance? The Suunto Storm Alarm can help you avoid these situations. Activated by a rapid drop in air pressure over a three-hour period, the Storm Alarm sounds and flashes, letting you know that something unpleasant is fast approaching.

Compass

The digital compass on the Suunto Core is a great tool for keeping track of direction while skiing, hiking or exploring a new city. You can set and follow a bearing with a traditional rotating bezel, or simply point the top of the watch toward your intended destination and lock it in. And of course the wristop computer that does everything else also features adjustable declination.

Sunrise/Sunset Schedule

Maximize your daylight hours and never miss another alpenglow photo with daily sunrise and sunset times on the Suunto Core. Just set your continent, region and city, and you’ll always know how much daylight remains for safe climbing, skiing and off-trail travel.

Depth Meter

Head into the surf, and the Suunto Core shifts from air to water pressure, providing accurate depth readings to 10 meters / 30 feet.

Temperature

Your Core does display the current temperature with one degree resolution, but remember that the ambient temperature right next to your skin is not the same as the temperature you’re walking through. For more accurate temperature readings you will need to take the Core off your wrist for at least 5 minutes.

Storage Temperature: -22°F - +140°F
Operational Temperature: 5°F - +140°F
Water Resistance: 30m/100ft with uw buttons
Backlight: Electro-luminescent Display
Overall Weight: 63g

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Josh's Take

I have been using this altimeter for a half a year now and I just wanted to take a moment to reflect on my experiences with it in the realm of adventure racing.

First off, this is not just an altimeter. It is a wristop computer, which is an important distinction to make--some high-tech features that make the Suunto Core cool for adventure racing are:

altimeter
digital compass
sunrise/sunset
logbook
temperature

Of course the altimeter is the main tool of adventure racing, and the Suunto delivers. In altimeter/barometer mode, the Suunto Core automatically determines which mode is needed to correctly determine altitude relative to sea level. Adventure racing is stop and go, so it is ideal to have both at your disposal. The altimeter is spot on.

After losing my compass at the 2007 Overmountain Extreme and it almost wrecking my first day race, having one embedded on my wrist from now on is a huge relief. To calibrate the compass, you spin around 3 times while keeping the compass level to the ground (provided you are not on a hillside or otherwise uneven ground). Voila. The compass is accurate enough to follow a bearing, which means the backup compass-slash-whistle-slash-thermometer-slash-whatever whose needle points to the closest metal object can STAY AT HOME. Rest assured, if you lose or break your compass, you will have a second compass on your wrist in the Suunto Core.

For time management, knowing when the sun will rise and fall is beneficial in adventure racing. It can be advantageous to push hard to reach an additional check point during daylight hours and then back off the pace as the darkness falls. Knowing when the sun will rise is knowing when the team will rally, and planning for it can have tactical advantages. It is not an exact science, as mountainous terrain will push the times out, but that can be factored in.

The last two features are more novelty than necessity. The logbook, which records altitude over time, allows for showing an altitude profile of the course traveled from start to stop, as well as cool stats like total altitude gain/loss. The temperature feature, which records wrist temperature (Note: not environmental temperature), is an approximation of the all-too-often miserable conditions in which adventure racers compete. But some "Kentucky Wind" can be applied--a few degrees more or less depending on whether the ambient temperature is colder or hotter than your body temperature.

Summary:

The Suunto Core is a versatile outdoor instrument. It provides a host of electronic aids to outdoors[wo]men and can serve as a technological advantage to adventure racers.

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Laura's Take

This wrist-top computer has everything an adventure racer will need. The altimeter is easy to calibrate and doesn't take very long. Additionally, the visual display provides many options so there will be one that is suitable for your liking. There is a stopwatch type function, but there is not a lap feature. I have gotten lots of compliments on the look of the watch when I have worn it outside of adventure racing. It's a great tool and accessory!