Brunton ADC Ridge Mechanical Altimeter

I keep it in the vehicle when exploring back-country National Forests and 4x4 remote camping. Knowing your altitude is key to finding a nice remote camping place where it will be cool in the evenings and helps with confirming with a map and compass your location. Well worth the money and a must have item for people who like to take back-country road trips out west. The best feature is it is simple, no batteries, complicated GPS stuff, etc.-- just old fashion mechanical that works without having to take a "technology course" to use.

Works well for the casual user - seems to match the elevation signs when we are headed up to the mountains from the desert valley. Gives us an idea of the elevation of our camp site and what weather we can expect based on that.

When I went to Tibet,this altimeter was in my back pack 24/7. It was incredibly reliable and a great deal of fun to see how high, or how low, we were going. I strongly recommend it.

I needed an altimeter so I could climb some mountain passes safely after diving. When I saw this one I put it on my wish list and shopped the local hiking stores. Everything I looked at was double the price, and I didn't need a GPS so I ordered it.

Just picking this device up it feels well made with a nice heft to it, and looks much nicer than the units I saw for half the price. Also, the bezel that adjusts the altitude and air pressure is tight enough so it won't move on it's own or accidently, but feels very smooth when adjusted. And, it's very easy to read.

I wasn't able to give it a full work out, but I live in the mountains and took it for a brief ride and it worked fine. Again, a large gauge that's extremely easy to read, and it's in feet, not meters like some other altimeters.

So, if it's so nice why only 4 stars? Well, the lanyard that comes with it is about 14" long and is only adjustable for size, not length. In other words, you can put it around your neck and then tighten it up so it doesn't fall off. The lanyard is removable using a small plastic clip, which makes me wonder why it didn't come with a short belt clip or some other attachment that would enable you to easily attach it your pants or a backpack. Maybe you can find something at your local hiking shop.

Also, as with most altimeters, you can use the unit as a barometer and predict the weather with it. While I don't plan on doing this, the instructions were hard for me to figure out and I consider myself to be fairly bright.

So, this unit should serve me well, and I like it, but a belt clip would have easily earned this altimeter 5 stars.