Casio PAW2000 Watch

I think it's important to keep track of time.  I am not an anal OCD kind of guy worried about missing my next meeting, but whether I am out in the surf or riding my bike through the woods I think it's crucial to know how long it'll take me to get back to civilization or, maybe more importantly, how long I have before the sun will go down.  For this reason (and more that you will read about later on)  I think wrist watches are indispensable.

Now some might argue that there is no need to even own a watch in this technologically advanced era.  Cell phones, for example, serve two distinct purposes: telephone and timepiece.   Smart Phones also operate as GPS devices.  This is all really excellent stuff that I find absolutely enthralling (really), but, cell phones with these features cost a lot of money in monthly fees.  They also run on batteries that need frequent recharging.  There are also dedicated GPS devices that will tell time and show your location, but they too need frequent charging/battery replacement.

One of the tenets of the DirtBag credo is to strike a balance between maximum utility and best value for whatever item you choose to use or buy.  Enter my Casio PAW 2000 Altimeter Watch.

My first experience with an altimeter watch was by accident.  My friend Eli Helmuth, a talented mountain and ski guide in Colorado's Front Range (http://climbinglife.com/) was sending me a backpack I had bought from him, and in the package I discovered an altimeter watch.  The band was broken and it looked pretty beat up.  I emailed him asking whether he meant to include the watch in my package as a gift or if it had fallen off by accident.  By the time Eli replied, I had already replaced the band and grown quite enamored of this cool timepiece. I sent it back to him, but knew I would have to have one of these.

The perfect opportunity  presented itself when my father's 70th birthday approached.  My dad is a private pilot and a self-professed gadget freak, so I decided I would buy each of us an altimeter watch.  I did extensive research on all the options and brands out there, and decided that the Casio PAW 2000 was the best choice from the perspectives of performance, features and value.

For the price of around $230, here is what the PAW 2000 does:

•Power:  The watch runs on solar power and will likely never need a battery.  The solar cell can survive five months with no light whatsoever and can be charged by any kind of light, from light bulbs or the sun. 

•Atomic Clock:  The watch receives a daily signal from an atomic clock (in the continental USA this comes from the atomic clock in Colorado) providing extremely accurate timekeeping.

•Compass:  A compass with adjustable declination and easy to read graphics.

•Thermometer: Accurate when you remove it from your wrist.

•Altimeter:  Based on air pressure, so you need another source to give you an accurate reading in changing weather.


•Barometer:  Shows 24 hour trends as a line graph on the top of the watch screen.

•Sunrise/Sunset Data:  Input your latitude and longitude and you have sunrise and sunset times for any date up to January of 2099.

•Stopwatch

•Countdown Timer

My very favorite aspect of this piece of equipment is that it will function without any need for connection to the internet or the power grid.  Once it is calibrated, it will do its thing, completely independent of input from external sources.  This is in direct contrast to smart phones which require a cell phone signal, and GPS devices which require a sattelite signal.  Both of these devices also require power and careful handling.   Let's not forget how tiny the PAW 2000 is either -- it's a WATCH!  Considering its diminutive size, the utility of this thing is positively amazing.

It makes my life more fun, no question about it.