How to Buy an Altimeter

An altimeter is great to have along in the outdoors: It can help you monitor your vertical progress as well as aid you in locating yourself should you get lost.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Altimeters
• Compasses

1. Check the altimeter's maximum altitude: The better ones are effective to 40,000 feet, higher than you'll ever get on this planet.
2. Check how fine-grained the elevation readings are: A good altimeter is accurate to within 10 vertical feet.
3. Look for the following features: total elevation gained/lost, current rate of gain/loss, overall rate of gain/loss, maximum rate of gain/loss, current barometric pressure.
4. Look for basic watch features, such as time and date. A good altimeter will also have a stopwatch (with multiple splits), an alarm and a countdown timer.
5. Play around with the altimeter to test for ease of use: Are the features logically organized or a chaotic mess?
6. Check if the altimeter is waterproof. If it isn't at least "water-resistant," it won't survive the rain.

Tips & Warnings

• Altimeters are expensive - almost certainly over $100 - but add a great deal to the outdoor experience. You'll be glad you got one.