Casio Pathfinder PAW1500T Altimeter Watch - 2010 BCS

No, Matt, atmospheric calculations are suspended after submersion for a while. The Suunto Core, however, does have a 15meter depth gauge.

Get him a Suunto Vector for $199. He will love it and not have to stress about taking it out and using it. Suunto service is awesome; I have had one of these watches for years and love it. I just recently received a second one in a different color as a gift from my wife, and could not be happier.

Eveline, I have both a Core Black Orange and the PAW 1500T, and like Mike said, your husband is a lucky man, and will appreciate either, I'm sure, as they are both excellent watches. Some things to note:

The Core has the following features that the Pathfinder does not:

-Depth gauge good to 15m
-Storm alarm which alerts you to rapid drops in the barometer
-Sunrise/Sunset times for your location (it says the Pathfinder has this, but it doesn't)
-Altimeter lock which increases the accuracy by locking the altimeter when the watch is at the same altitude for 5 minutes
-A Countdown timer that goes to 99m:99s, rather than the 60 min of the Pathfinder
-Selectable screens that display whatever mode you wish rather than reverting to time as the Pathfinder
-User replaceable battery (usually good for a year)

The Casio has the following that the Core does not:

-Solar charging ability
-Atomic Clock syncing potential (I say potential because it doesn't always work, depending on where you live.)
-Moon phase graph
-Tide graph
-200m water resistance
-Brighter backlight (that can be set to automatically display when you lift your arm)
-Casio's legendary durability

The Core is going to have a large barometer graph display that clearly indicates weather trends while the Casio barometer is much smaller; the Casio can be considered a watch with barometric features, the Core can be considered a barometer with watch features. While the Core has had a rocky background, the newest models have been trouble free for years, and between Backcountry's return anytime guarantee and Suunto's top notch Customer Service, you shouldn't worry about it. Interestingly, while the ultralight titanium band helps, the Pathfinder is actually heavier than the Core. Casio has a long track record of making reliable, durable watches. They also have refined the complexity of ABC (Alti-Baro-Compass) watches to very simple button driven functions, in contrast to the Core's more complex (but still intuitive) menu operation. They still have a long way to go to match the accuracy of the Core, however. The resolution on the Core is greater, measuring in 3-ft increments for altitude compared to the 20-ft increments of the Pathfinder. In conjunction with the alti lock, this results in an accuracy in altitude that the Pathfinder can't as yet match. The resolution on the Core's barometer is greater as well, measuring to .01 in Hg, to the Pathfinder's .05 in Hg. As far as accuracy goes, the Core and the Casio (all my Casio's actually) are within .03 in Hg of each other just about all the time.

One last note, these are both BIG watches at ~50mm in diameter, if that makes a difference to you. Again, I think he'll be happy with either one you choose, as these are the two watches I wear the most out of all of mine.

Some Suunto units are great - but some also tend to break over and over again. I think the softwear in the Suunto watch is a little more intuitive and better over all, but the quality and consistency of the Casio is far beyond the Suunto. Make sure you get it from Backcountry.com though, as if he doesn't like it he'll be able to return it, no problems! Hope that helps!

Eveline, I can't compare the watches but I can tell you that the Casio Pathfinder has been a very good watch for me. I have had mine about a year now and have not had any issues with it. The fact that it is self charging is a great feature and it has all the bells and whistles. Your husband is a lucky man to receive such a nice gift and I am sure would be happy with either watch.

There are several Pathfinder watches with the same basic features. This is at the high end of the price range because of the titanium.

Both of those are not changeable, I'm afraid.

All the functions can be displayed in US or Metric units.

It displays in either US or metric units throughout all it's measurement functions. The reading will be in hectoPascals (hPa). 1 hPa is equal to 1 millibar.