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AND THE WINNER
IS...
Suunto X6HR $429
The world's most advanced wrist computer doubles as a portal to a world of fitness geeks.
Why It's Cool: Like a physiological dashboard, the X6HR records heart rate, altitude, and split times as well as weather conditions. That's a lot to absorb when you're pounding out the last mile, but Finnish manufacturer Suunto has crafted each screen to give you clear workout data when you need it most. >> Post-event, you can view performance graphs on the watch or on your PC via Suunto's sophisticated software. I quickly became addicted to graphing—and obsessing over—the relationship between my heart rate and altitude. >> The X6HR admits you to a worldwide athletic club at Suuntosports.com, where you can compare notes with similarly equipped boarders, divers, and the like. I swapped workout logs with coaches from California and Colorado as well as a tundra hiker from Lapland named Wiik.
Hmmm... If you have more than one workout saved, the X6HR may run out of memory, scratching your best efforts. >> There's no Mac version of the software.
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(1) A byproduct of Oceanic's recent U.S. Navy research, the VT Pro ($899) scuba wrist-top receives information from a radio link attached to your regulator. The unit calculates remaining air time based on depth, tank pressure, and current breathing rate.
(2) Ready for your century ride? Strap on Oregon Scientific's Altimeter Weather Watch ($199). The unit records heart rate, altitude, wheel speed, cadence, and trip distance, all beamed from an optional wireless sensor ($100). Everything graphs out on a PC when you're done.
(3) Thanks to Timex's Bodylink System ($300), available in June, your heart rate and exact running speed can be correlated, analyzed, and agonized over. The device brings together the company's heart-rate products and its Speed + Distance System—an armband-mounted GPS receiver that broadcasts minute-per-mile pace statistics to your wrist.
(4) Abacus's Wrist PDA ($199) runs many of the usual Palm OS applications, including Address and Date Book. Update it using the infrared port or USB cable, or by entering phone numbers and other data directly on the wee touch screen. |
(1) If you're looking for a titanium watch in a clean package, check out St. Moritz's Himalaya ($299). It employs the tough, light material in a 200-meter water-resistant timepiece, adding a nylon band and luminous hands for serious mountaineering duty.
(2) A replica of the World War II U.S. field-issue watch, Hamilton's Khaki ($275) is a sound argument for going retro. The perpetual movement keeps it wound with the motion of your arm.
(3) More control tower than casual accessory, Citizen's titanium Blue Angels Skyhawk ($550) tracks three alarms in 22 time zones, clocks events as long as 24 hours, and offers a rotating slide-rule bezel to time fuel consumption.
(4) Call Breitling's snazzy Emergency Mission ($3,975) an insurance policy for pilots. Extend the hidden antenna and it will broadcast a distress signal that will be received in a 100-mile radius for two days.
(5) True to its name, Swiss Army's Dive Master 300 ($395) is rated to 300 meters (good thing—the world-record plunge is 309). Above the waterline, the tough steel bracelet and safety clasp prevent it from turning into sunken treasure.
(6) The backlight on Timex 's Expedition Chronograph ($80) is bright enough to illuminate a tent vestibule. And world wanderers, take note: The hour hand moves independently of the minute for easy time-zone changes.
(7) Wenger's G-3 Navigator Compass ($200) may be an analog throwback, but there's no better complement to a topo map and grease pencil. The stainless-steel case opens like a clamshell to reveal an orienteering compass with rotating bezel. |
(1) Nike perfected the racing chronograph with its Triax Stamina ($129). It's the world's first curved-LCD watch, and no other timepiece will hug your wrist quite so well. The oversize display telegraphs your triumph during the bell lap.
(2) Roger Moore fans will appreciate this aluminum The Spy Who Loved Me ($95) dive watch from Swatch. As stylish as a Lotus submarine, the timepiece offers serious features such as 200-meter water resistance and a rotating bezel.
(3) Nixon's doublewide polyurethane strap gives the Delta Pu ($200) a tough-guy exterior. While the inky-black LCD is like reading fortunes on a Magic 8-Ball, the actual information—storm warnings, temperature readings, base elevations—is worth the squint.
(4) Tag Heuer's simple, stripped-down F1 Micrograph ($2,195) dispenses with fiddly analog hands, leaving a simple 99-lap chronograph with 1/100th-second accuracy. The synthetic polyurethane band and curved, anti-reflective sapphire-crystal face—a tribute to the company's Monaco watch—mix modern and classic.
(5) Whether you're heading out for dinner with her parents or surfing sets at Pipeline, the Crush 2.0 ($275) makes a bold statement. Oakley's wave-inspired analog comes with a stainless-steel housing, luminescent hands, and anti-reflective face.
(6) Freestyle's brawny Combine ($75) has one hand in the old school and one hand in the new. The digital readout acts as a stopwatch (and alarm, to make sure you don't miss your morning ride). The salt-water-resistant nylon strap and stainless-steel case keep it safe in heavy chop.
(7) To switch between thermometer, compass, and software-tuned altimeter on Tissot's T-Touch ($550) activate the touch screen. Whir! The hands swing to "point" to each function. It's a cool effect, and likely the future of wrist hardware.
(8) Talk about low-maintenance. The face of Casio's Tough Solar G-Shock ($99) is rimmed with photovoltaics, which juice it up without a battery. There's also an automatic backlight function; to activate, just tilt your wrist. |
(1)
More rugged than a laptop and requiring no boot-up time,
the two-pound Dana by
Alphasmart ($399) runs
on the Palm OS and includes software for syncing with
Microsoft Office documents on Macs or PCs. The device
boasts a ten-line backlit screen and runs for over a week
on three AA's; we favor it as a notebook on remote forays.
(2) Sony's CLIÉ PEG-NZ90 PDA ($800) incorporates a full keyboard, two-megapixel camera, camcorder, and MP3 music player. A wireless chip inside lets you instantly trade trail maps with any other CLIÉ or Bluetooth-compatible PC. With a WiFi card ($150), you can extend the wireless clout to free Net hot spots across the country.
(3) With its Motorola 9505 ($1,495) Iridium offers the most compact handset in the sat-phone market (though it still weighs a hefty 13.2 ounces). At $1.50 per minute, international calls are cheaper here than on a traditional cell phone, and you get a dial tone everywhere, even at the poles.
(4) You'll never make it into Kranked VI unless you take your hands off the brakes. Have a friend check your freeride velocity with Bushnell's Speedster radar gun ($278). It uses K-Band radar and a custom digital signal processor to give you an LCD readout in mph. |
(1)
The Outdoors Technologies StrikeAlert
($80) personal lightning detector listens for radio staticcreated
by electrical storms up to 40 miles off, alerting you
to potential danger. Colored LEDs indicate whether the
storm is coming or going. It's like getting a page from
Zeus.
(2) Motorola's Talkabout T5950 two-way radios ($109 per pair) add just 6.2 ounces to a belt clip and let you yammer across five miles.
(3) Brunton's Nature Ear II ($279) boosts your ability to hear birdcalls and other woodsy sounds. Set the device to a predetermined frequency range—for warblers, say, not jays—then perch it behind one lobe and walk your favorite ornithological route with a whole new awareness.
(4) Bound for Antarctica, southern Chile, or high-altitude zones? Take along the 2.4-ounce clip-on SunUV Monitor ($100) from APA Optics. Input your skin factor (a numeric value representing the range from redhead to dark skin) and your sunblock's SPF, and the unit suggests a recommended maximum exposure time.
(5) Many weather-wise timepieces only deliver the temperature of your wrist or the air inside your coat. Who needs that? The HighGear AltiTech ($140) clips to a daisy chain to accurately track temp along with time, altitude, and barometric pressure.
(6) To its waterproof and rugged 5100 cell phone ($230), Nokia adds an onboard flashlight, thermometer, and FM radio. With an optional camera attachment, you can even send and receive color photos. |
(1)
The very best argument for the future of the compact disc
is Nike's PSA[CD12
($129). The rugged eight-ounce player spins store-bought
discs as well as six-hour homebrew MP3 mixes. Up to eight
minutes of skip protection make it eminently wearable
for long trail runs.
(2) Apple's iPod ($499) crams a small record store (about 400 discs) into the tiniest package going. The 20-gigabyte player uses a nifty solid-state touch pad, too.
(3) How often have you wished you could hit "rewind," then "record," on your radio? One button on the 128-megabyte Archos Ondio MP3 player ($140) lets you do just that—you never miss the beginning of a song (playing on the built-in FM tuner) that you want to save for future reference.
(4) Is the Timex TMX² ($139) a wristwatch or a clip-on? Actually, it's both—the minuscule (one by two inches) MP3 player module locks into either a carabiner-style housing or a wristband. Either way, you get a handy on/off remote and 64 megs of onboard memory. |
(1) Finally, a way to keep track of your tribe. Garmin's Rino 120 ($268) combines a powerful (five-mile radius) two-way radio with a GPS receiver to show your exact location—and those of your similarly equipped buds—on the 1.4-inch screen.
(2) Move away from monochrome. Magellan's Meridian Color ($499) is the first handheld GPS to show you highways and waterways in full color, bringing to life vital details on the 2.2-by-1.5-inch screen. The waterproof unit includes a 16-megabyte map database, and you can upload topos (optional, $150) via a PC serial cable.
(3) Cobra's GPS 500 ($199) gives you a lightning-fast lock on your 10-20 with assistance from "predictive software" (it makes a really good guess) and 18 parallel receivers (most models use 12). The waterproof unit, available in June, contains basic Rand McNally maps and offers a USB port for speedy chart downloads—a long-overdue first in the market.
(4) Legendary sonar and marine technology developer Lowrance packs the iFinder ($159) with its own custom charts (one option: a database of 10,000 wrecks in U.S. coastal waters and the Great Lakes). Add a display that's readable in bright sunlight, a waterproof pouch, and an external antenna interface, and you've got a great tool for seafarers and divers.
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