Hiking Watch

Hiking watches, read with cold hands in bad light

A hiking watch is a wrist instrument built for use outdoors rather than at a desk: legible in dim light, tolerant of rain and knocks, and strapped so it stays put under a cuff. The selection spans simple analogue faces, rugged digital models, sports watches for camping and walking, and satellite-tracking designs. Prices in the category stretch a long way because a watch that only tells the time and one that records a route are two different tools sharing a wrist.

Is GPS worth having on a walking watch?

It depends entirely on whether the track will be looked at afterwards. Satellite tracking records distance, pace and the shape of a route, and it can point back along the line already walked, which is genuinely useful on a featureless moor in poor visibility. It costs battery, weight and money, and it is not a substitute for a map and compass when the sky closes in. Anyone who mainly wants the log rather than the timepiece should start with the gps watch selection and work back from there.

Analogue or digital on the hill?

An analogue face is read as a shape rather than as a number, which is faster at a glance and easier with tired eyes. A digital display gives exact figures, a stopwatch, an alarm and a backlight, and it usually carries the extra sensors. Many walkers end up with an analogue watch for daily wear and a digital one for the days that need timing, and the whole category sits in the wider navigation & watches pages alongside compasses.

Which features earn their place on a hiking watch?

• Legibility: high contrast hands or digits and a backlight or luminous coating decide whether the watch works at dusk.
• Water resistance: check the rating quoted on the product page and treat rain, washing up and swimming as three different demands.
• Strap material: fabric straps dry fast and forgive a swollen wrist, silicone wipes clean, steel bracelets are heavy and cold in winter.
• Crystal and bezel: a recessed or raised bezel takes the impact that would otherwise land on the glass when a wrist meets rock.
• Charging or battery: a coin cell lasts years and needs a shop, a rechargeable needs a cable in the rucksack on a long trip.

What actually drains the battery?

On a tracking watch, three things dominate: how often the satellite fix is refreshed, how long the screen stays lit, and how cold it is. Recording a position every second gives a smooth track and empties the cell far faster than a longer interval that still describes the route accurately. Cold slows the chemistry inside any battery, so a watch that lasts a full weekend in summer can fall short of it in February.

How do you clean a watch after a coastal day?

Rinse the case and strap in fresh water after a coastal or muddy day, because salt and grit work into the gaps around the buttons and the strap pins. Dry the strap fully before storing, especially fabric. Do not press the buttons underwater on a watch that is only rated for splashes, since that is how water passes the seal on most casualties.