wind gauge altimeter thermostat

[s.e.charles]

anyone have hands on experience?

i'd like to stay under $150 but not a dealbreaker if it's a bit over

thanks

 

[sierra]

I have a Kestrel wind meter, it works flawlessly. I've had it for years and I know it was under 100 bucks, check their website out.

 

[DayTrip]

I also use a Kestrel for wind and temp checks. Had it for 15 years and I think I'm still using the original battery. A few years back I had the guy who certifies my temperature devices for work check it out for accuracy and it was perfect.

I don't know if they have any models with an altimeter function though. Most of the apps on your phone or smart watch get that pretty accurate nowadays so I don't know that I'd bother with a dedicated device for that. I remember wanting an altimeter awhile back and they really didn't sound all that accurate. They sounded more like a rough check of elevation and required adjustments frequently to maintain accuracy. There are of course analog models that don't require a power source to operate which could be a plus depending on what and where you're going to use it.

 

[peakbagger]

Unless its a GPS based device, altimeters depend on atmospheric pressure differences to calculate elevation. If the weather pattern is steady (like a big high pressure system) then a pressure based altimeter can be very accurate but in most cases it needs to be set to a known elevation everytime its used. Using Brad Washburn's convenient stainless steel survey points on Washington and surrounds, my old Casio pressure based altimeter was good to plus or minus 5 feet over the course of a day when the barometric pressure was steady. When camping I use the pressure based altimeter as a weather tracker, if the reported elevation goes down over the night, it means high pressure is coming in usually indicative of nice weather, on the other hand an increase in elevation means low pressure is moving in and that usually means rain.

 

[Dana]

I found an altimeter (Avocet altimeter watch) useful in the days before GPS. Set whenever at a known elevation, it makes it easy to determine your position from contour lines when climbing along a linear feature like a trail or stream.

I used a Dwyer wind gauge for paragliding, which is why I had the altimeter as well, but other than the gee whiz factor the wind gauge wasn't that useful for hiking.

 

[JoshandBaron]

What are people doing with the information they get from their anemometer?

 

[maineguy]

Good question. With the exception of the paraglider, I can't imagine what it is good for.

 

[Ear Drum]

What are people doing with the information they get from their anemometer?

I've thought about getting one, just out of curiosity. To know, it was 25mph at the summit, or whatever. I don't think I'd use it for decision making (i.e., should we turn around now?), but just for the fun of knowing. That all said, it's a bit of money so it hasn't been a priority.

 

[TEO]

This is what I carry.

 

[DayTrip]

What are people doing with the information they get from their anemometer?

I bought mine because I was curious about exactly how strong the wind was when I was above tree line on bad days. Novelty to be sure and had no practical value other than getting good at guestimating wind speed and deciding when forecasted winds were higher than what I wanted to be out in. The only useful thing I determined from it is the following equation:

Actual Wind Speed = (People's Estimate Of Windspeed x 0.75) / 2

I don't carry it much anymore now that I can guess pretty well. 40-45 mph seems to be my "think about staying home" threshold, depending on temperature.

 

[hikeritz]

I've got a WeatherFlow weather station at home, and bought one of their handheld wind/temp/pressure meters for the trail. It talks to my phone via Bluetooth. Like DayTrip, it's just a novelty item for me.

 

[Warren]

I've been using a kestrel 4000 for years. Originally to figure out exactly how cold it was the night before and how well my sleeping bag combo worked at that temp and to deal with tendency to over estimate wind speed I feel most folks have. It cost of worked for the sleeping application; under 15° even lithium batteries seemed to create holes in the data logging and the screen was useless under 20°.

For wind measuring, I did find a wind of 50 mph on top of Monroe was enough for me to have to plant a quick hiking pole or be knocked off my feet with a full pack. Wish there was / could justify getting a similar unit that is waterproof as I have more of need to know in what speed of wind I can turn a kayak around in.

 

[Dana]

One thing to remember is that the standard height for the anemometer that measures wind at an airport or other weather station is 10 meters or 30 feet above the ground to get it above the boundary layer... so when they're reporting, say, 20 knots, you might measure only 10-15 holding your meter 5' above the ground. So if you're basing your wind estimate on experience with weather reports, your estimate may well be higher than what you measure on the ground.