Why You Should Invest in a Good Hiking Watch

When hiking, you’ll need a compass or a GPS to know your way. But when a GPS signal is not available, a barometric altimeter is more helpful in identifying your location. An altimeter is a common feature among watches for hiking. Apart from that, different models feature apps for measuring the calories you have burned, your speed, heart rate, estimated time of arrival and many other useful details. Normal watches don’t have all these features. With a watch designed for hiking, you don’t have to carry with you a lot of small devices for different purposes. A compact watch for hiking may already have all the features that can be useful for your hiking trip.

How to Choose a Watch for Hiking

• Don’t skimp on display quality

Display quality is very important as it will affect your overall experience in using the watch.  Watches with higher resolution allow you to clearly and easily read tighter data, numbers and graphs. This in turn help you understand their correct meaning. Since you are reading on a very small screen, a good resolution makes a big difference

• Get a watch tested for durability

When hiking, your watch will be exposed to changing weather conditions and rough use. That is why it is good to get a watch that is both durable and tough. When checking product durability and toughness, you can find clues in the following product descriptions: heat resistance, water resistance, shock resistance and scratch proof.

• Check the features that are useful to you

The best hiking watches have robust features that may useful to you. Checking these features beforehand can help you narrow down your options. Among the basic features that you can find in watches are GPS, altimeter, barometer and compass which are all vital for navigational purposes.

Many of the watches also include other applications for measuring your heart rate, calories burned and your speed. These features are great especially if you are on an organized workout plan.

Additionally, you may also want to get a watch with features like storm graph or storm alarm which are useful in predicting adverse weather conditions.

Even more advanced watches have social integration which mean that you can sync them with your smartphone. This is an important feature if you are looking for a watch that lets you receive notifications, messages or email from your smartphone.

As more features could increase the overall cost of the watch, if you are on a tight budget, you can just choose a watch with features that are really necessary to you.

• Check for a user-friendly interface

Everybody wants a watch that shows the information they want in a way they want it shown. This is what user-friendly interface means, and it is relative to users. The easier you can navigate through the menus, the faster you can access the data you want. It can be frustrating when you know that your watch has that particular feature but you can’t find it in the menu. This is something you would want to avoid. Some of the best hiking watches allow you to customize your home screen, which is great because this will allow you to quickly access features that you frequently use.

• Check how the watch is powered

Hiking watches can be battery or solar-powered. With solar powered, you can ensure continuous hours or days of use without worrying that your watch may stop powering anytime. With batteries, it would be good to choose one with a long battery life.

• Check the overall design

Do you prefer a classic-looking or advanced-looking watch? Whatever design you prefer, you can easily find a match when you shop for a hiking watch. Some watch designs are more suitable to either gender, while mostly are unisex.

Rubber Strap Versus Metal Strap Versus Leather Strap

Watches for hiking can have a rubber, leather or metal strap. The option among these materials is significant in terms of comfort, durability and cost.

Metal straps are more durable, does not sweat or stink, and are easy to clean. However, they have a heavy feel which can cause discomfort when hiking. Leather straps, on the other hand, are lightweight, comfortable to wear and durable. But these types of straps are not ideal during hot weather, which is unavoidable when you are hiking. Leather also tends to become smelly when soaked in sweat. It also easily deteriorates when exposed to water or perspiration. As for rubber straps, they are ideal for an active lifestyle like doing workouts, biking and hiking. Rubbers are also waterproof, durable, lightweight and generally cheaper. There are also a variety of colors you can choose from, but the downside with rubber is that they cause the wrist to sweat.

Different types of straps have their pros and cons. The decision on which kind of strap to choose ultimately depends on your personal style and comfort. Moreover, some of the hiking watches allow you to change the strap or band, depending on your intended purpose.