A brief history lesson; Suunto was started in by Tuomos Vohlonen in 1936 when he patented the first widely available, mass produced liquid compass. Over the years the company evolved by developing dive computers, and eventually made the leap into altimeter and outdoor watches. The 90's saw tremendous growth of their outdoor computer lines, led by the award winning Suunto Vector. While Suunto has continued to evolve, the Vector remains a staple in their watch line - and sales remain solid despite the introduction of new watches like the Suunto X10, Suunto Core and Suunto Lumi.

This year, the Vector is celebrating ten years in the industry. Let's take a look at what set's it apart for veteran mountaineers and weekend warriors alike.

Suunto Vector Black

Altimeter - The Altimeter on the Vector measures up to 29,000 feet, which means unless you need to know your altitude on an airplane (which won't work anyways!) you can get anywhere in the world, even the top of Everest, and have an accurate measurement. Other altimeter features include a vertical ascent total and a 24 hour memory, which stores your journeys over the last day.

Barometer - Need to know if the weather is going to be changing soon? The barometer keeps track of changine air pressure, letting you know when it is ok to stay outside and when you need to think about heading indoors.

Compass - While we at altimeterwatch.net are not big promonents of digital compasses, the one on the Suunto Vector comes through in a pinch when needed. Be careful about using it too often - digital compasses are a serous battery drain.

Other features include time (duh), low battery indicator, and crazy durable exterior. Speaking of durable, chances are you will not have to return this altimeter watch. If you are looking for more function than form for your adventure needs, look to the Vector. Not much as changed over the years, which is a great thing.

Unfortunately, Suunto has limited it's Vector line to the Vector Black, Vector XBlack, and the Vector Yellow. All are $199 retail - a great deal on this bombproof, functional, rubber meets the road device.

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