Good luck trying to figure out all the functions if you buy this watch. Seriously. It’s almost like there is a map to the lost world of Atlantis buried deep inside this watch and you need the brain of Rodney McKay to figure it out. I have to be honest though, this Casio Pathfinder watch is sweet.
This watch is dubbed the Ultimate Pathfinder and for good reason too. The three right-side buttons brings up a digital compass, barometer/thermometer, and an altimeter. Plus, within the left-side ‘mode’ button, there is a tide graph, yacht timer (wtf?), stopwatch, five alarms, and yes, a clock.
Chances are wearers are not going to use all these features, but just in case, they are easy enough to use. I only had to pull out the manual to figure out how to read the barometer and set the temperature to Fahrenheit; everything else I figured out on my own with some hunting and pecking.
I took the watch out deer hunting one morning and besides finding the little computer/watch amazingly distracting, the barometer and thermometer was nice to have. Deer rarely move when it’s really cold, but because I live in Michigan, I have to bundle up with layers of warm clothes to go out hunting at 5:00 am. I found having a real thermometer was handy to watch the rising temps.
This isn’t a small watch so guys with girly wrists shouldn’t apply – to be honest, my wrists are the size of a manly women and it doesn’t look too bad. It is light though, thanks to a titanium band, but because the casing and face are so large, it feels kind of top heavy.
All that being said, this is one badass watch. The metal and dark plastic doesn’t make it feel too nerdy, and the multi-functions are great to have. It isn’t cheap with a $399 MSRP, but if you’re an outdoorsy type – or a wannabe – you might want to check it out.