[mikedeployed]

I'm not insulting anyone's intelligence here, but I after surfing reviews and forums, I wanted to add my two cents about barometric altimeters for the people out there that seem to complain about accuracy. I am a US ARMY pilot and deal with barometric altimeters, PA (pressure altitude), and altimeter setting every day.

#1 anything with "BARO" in it uses ambient air pressure. Unlike most basic GPS units that show "GPS Altitude" only.

#2 Barometric altimeters require constant (at least daily) calibration, but is the most accurate perception of MSL (mean sea level) altitude.
- "so my GPS gives me absolute altitude above sea level, why do I need a barometric alt?" ANSWER: You are climbing a mountain. Your GPS says you are absolutely 9500 feet above sea level. Meaning in a 3D environment, your absolute position is 9500 feet from 0 (sea level). The problem is, due to the current weather conditions, your actual pressure altitude is higher, let's say by 500 feet. GPS says 9500ft while actually PA is 10000ft meaning your plan to strap on O2 is off by 500ft. This could be a fatal mistake as you continue up.

#3 As a US pilot, I use inHg. For every .01 of inHg = 10ft pressure alt. If your watch is set to 30.00 inHg but the actual altimeter setting is 30.25 inHg, then you are reading measurements that are off by 250 feet, until you calibrate to to 30.00 inHg.

#4 Prior to doing any activity that relies on pressure altitude, you absolutely need one thing - CORRECT FIELD ELEVATION of your starting point/current location. Set the current field elevation on your watch, then for bonus points, compare the watch's barometer reading to the actual altimeter setting given to you by a weather station or some other facility (ie airport). If your watch shows 29.92 but the weather station is giving 29.90, then your watch is off by 20 feet.

Visit this site, enter the city/airport or ICAO airport identifier and you can get a current weather observation including the current altimeter setting.

ADDS - METARs

Sorry for this being so long, but it's not fair for someone that has zero clue about barometric pressure to rate these watches with a low score solely based on so called "inaccurate altimeters". Currently, my CORE ALL BLACK is within 10ft of accuracy. My helicopter has to be within 70ft to be safe and legal.....

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