1TO10REVIEWS

On a scale of 1 to 10, this watch is orange.     And it’s bitchin’.

I bought a Suunto Core watch, in orange.  I like climbing, and being in the mountains, so a watch with an altimeter makes at least some sense, which helps me justify the purchase of this rather expensive watch wristop computer.

Suunto is probably best known for their dive computers, both wristop computers, and the kind that attach to a SCUBA diver’s regulator.  However, they also make several lines of outdoor / mountain oriented wristop computers.  And they have a long history of excellence in manufacturing compasses.

An outdoor, mountain-oriented watch / wristop computer should include a couple of important features:

1. It should tell time
2. Effective alarm(s)
3. Luminescence (push button, generally) for night time use
4. Altimeter (this tells your elevation)
5. Barometer (for monitoring changes in air pressure, a good signal of impending stormy weather)
6. Compass
7. And a bunch of other things like difference measurements, logbooks, “start from zero,” depth measurements (for when you go under water), rotating bezel, button lock, etc.

There’s a cool video that shows a bunch of the neater features. Check it out.

Truthfully, what initially caught my eye was the look and style of this watch.  Many would call it garish.  I call it me.  I love the color orange, and I think the palette and style of the face itself is magnificent.  My affection for the rubbery orange band ebbs and flows, but that’s easy to change.  There’s a high-quality double hinge on both the top and bottom bands, which is an incredibly strong mechanism, and a good sign of quality.

If you’re not as into orange as I am, Suunto sells this watch in a number of different guises, both plainer and more grandiose than my selection.  (See choices to the left.)

Aside from the aesthetics, this watch packs a lot of impressive features into a small package.  Aside from telling time, my favorite feature is the altimeter.  It’s necessary to calibrate it correctly; this can be accomplished either by knowing your current elevation and setting it accordingly, or by a trickier method involving the calibration of the barometer function (which is also very cool.)  Truthfully, the manual on this sucker is extensive, and I have not quite waded through all of it yet.  However, the watch, alarm, calendar, stopwatch, light, button lock, and basic altimeter have all fallen before my wily charms.  I also had some help from my wife who is usually cleverer than me when it comes to gadgets, buttons, sequences, and other things requiring both patience and logic.  Those are not my strong suits.

It’s fairly large compared to an average wrist watch, though not excessively so.  It’s very comfortable, and not overly heavy in spite of its bulk.  Sometimes if it slides forward and when I bend my wrist it gets in the way.  Also, if I’m resting my hands on the edge of my laptop to type, the band can interfere with my personal ergonomics.  Small price to pay  for fortune and glory, but it’s an issue nonetheless.  It’s also waterproof to 30 meters, which is not diving depth, but certainly has you covered for showers, swimming, or even most snorkeling.  For more extensive water activities (like SCUBA) you might look at some of their other products.

This device is not cheap.  The retail on the orange model is around $350.  The least expensive Core model is $250 (in black and yellow.) You can purchase it through any number of online retailers, including Backountry.com.  If you want to see one in person, REI carries them, and many high-end, well stocked outdoor retailers will also probably carry them.

If you’re looking for a distinctive looking and expensive wrist watch, or for an extremely feature-rich, mountain-focused wristop computer, this is an outstanding purchase.  I highly reccomend, and if I were forced to give it a numeric rating I’d call it an 8 out of 10.  I will update this review after my next big outdoor trip.

Here’s a video review of the Suunto Core in twelve seconds:

Suunto Core Wristop Computer on 12seconds.tv

This review is also posted on LIVEdigitally.

My Review: 8

The Otterbox 1000 is a simple, straightforward offering from the boys and girls who make waterproof cool.  Otterbox is a company that specializes in waterproof cases.  They have everything from simple generic boxes to waterproof iPhone cases.

The subject of this review is my new Otterbox 1000.  It is as straightforward as you get; it’s a black plastic box that keeps things dry.  The exterior is rigid and strong.  The latch mechanism is a snap-lock that clicks firmly into place – it does require a firm hand to close all the way.

The dimensions (in inches) are as follows:
Exterior: 4.873” x 3.682” x 1.652”
Interior: 3.700” x 2.350” x 1.000”

The box is waterproof, crushproof and airtight.  It’s large enough to hold keys, money and credit cards, a small cell phone, and other small, precious items. To test mine I filled the bathroom sink with water, immersed the box for a while by holding I tunder water, and then left it floating for a few minutes.  To spice things up I put my iPhone in it for the test.

Ha.  Right.  Actually I put some dry tissues in the box – just in case.  But I’m happy to say that the test went great, and everything inside stayed dry as can be.

Overall I’m impressed with the thing.  I do think the latch is a little tough to close.  I want it to be tight, but the plastic is so hard that it almost feels brittle to me.  I’m concerned whether it will last through repeated openings and closings. But, thus far, I’ve had no problems and I am pleased with the box.  It retails for $11.49, and you can buy it from Otterbox directly or through any number of retail outlets.

I give the Otterbox 1000 an 8.

My Review: 4

At last, the long awaited follow up to the earth shattering first post about the big blue. The Pacific Ocean. The largest body of water on earth.

This post is going to focus on a couple of the less savory aspects of the Pacific Ocean - subjectively speaking.

One thing I don’t love is swimming out in the ocean. Or rather, I do love swimming in the ocean, but sometimes it creeps me out. Especially if I don’t have a snorkel and mask, and I am solely swimming on the surface. That is kind of scary. I always think there’s some creature underneath me, either patrolling for a snack, or just waiting to “slime” me. It’s creepy.

The other thing that is less than wonderful about the Pacific Ocean is… well, the smell. Especially at low tide. The smell when you’re out on the open ocean is great. But at a beach, at low tide, with dead creatures and seaweed drying in the sun the smell can be unpleasant.

Now, all of my negative commentary is eminently debatable, and all of it comes with qualifications. Please do not look at today’s rating or these negative aspects as the sum of my outlook on the Pacific Ocean. They are merely a snapshot, one small slice of the big blue pie, and really are more reflective of my current mood than of the ocean as a whole.

Does this call into question my ratings? Does this mean that my ratings are not objective and based partly on mood, feeling and instinct? Totally. That is exactly what it means.

Thanks for reading, and for your continued support.

The big salty blue gets a rating of 4 today.