Garmin or suunto watch

Joined
Sep 7, 2015
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577
Looking at getting a watch for my hunting adventures.
Both seem to have great features but I dont. think I need the most fancy model.
These are the basic options I want, anything else would be extra
- tells time
- counts steps
- measures distance walked
- altitude
- altitude gained/lost would be nice but not necessary
Any other watches that do these options and I'm not aware of let me know.
Thanks

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Joined
Feb 21, 2017
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I picked up the Garmin Descent for diving, and as a bonus, it does all of that stuff you listed, and a ton more. I would encourage you to take a look at their whole lineup. The Descent is pricey, but they have other models that do everything but the dive stuff for about half the price.

There are tons of apps that you can get to customize your experience with the watch, and it will be tracked on your smart phone for you to review later. Access Denied

It also allows you to get text messages and alerts from your phone on your watch.
 

CareyJAF50

Lil-Rokslider
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Jan 11, 2016
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I picked up a Garmin Fenix 3HR a few months back after the price dropped to $350 thanks to the release of the 5HR and I absolutely love it. I cant speak to the Suunto, but the Garmin has been awesome. I use it daily to track hikes, runs, altimeter, steps and my heart rate. Can also do a ton of other stuff that I don't use quite as often. But I like that it gives you the option to save your runs/hikes in there so you can easily reference previous distances and times.
 

dotman

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I much prefer my Garmin over the suunto I had, more accurate and features I use.
 
OP
F
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I picked up a Garmin Fenix 3HR a few months back after the price dropped to $350 thanks to the release of the 5HR and I absolutely love it. I cant speak to the Suunto, but the Garmin has been awesome. I use it daily to track hikes, runs, altimeter, steps and my heart rate. Can also do a ton of other stuff that I don't use quite as often. But I like that it gives you the option to save your runs/hikes in there so you can easily reference previous distances and times.
What's the difference between the fenix 3 and fenix 3 hr?

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dotman

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If you plan to use the new inreach mini or any other future Garmin products it is also nice that the genie 5 or forerunner 935 are compatible with these.
 

dotman

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Can you elaborate?

Not really as Garmin has only released a list of compatible watches with the new inreach, all I know is what Garmin has released but I would assume if this functionality is in the new inreach mini it’ll be in all new releases of the larger units.
 

Tony Trietch

Part Time Bow Hiker
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Jul 28, 2013
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I have been looking at both watches as well. Both look to have everything I'd need, will follow along here and see what everyone has to say.
 

Jskaanland

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Mar 19, 2016
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I've been a big suunto fan(non gps models) for years. My Xlander I've had for almost 10 years just bit the dust(bought it at an REI garage sale for 45 bucks). It was my fault for not checking the gasket after replacing the battery and going swimming. I haven't been as happy with the Core series, as I'm on my second that had to be warrantied. I'm leaning toward the garmin with the functionality with my running apps.

On a side note, this video has an overview of how it works.(7m10s) Looks like some basic tracking/messaging features.

[video=youtube_share;1U0bF920_O8]https://youtu.be/1U0bF920_O8?t=7m10s[/video]
 
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bsnedeker

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I believe I know the answer to this already based on my research, but I haven't seen this answered specifically before so hopefully someone here can answer: Do the Suunto and Garmin watches allow you to set waypoints and a series of waypoints (or path) and then display the bearing and distance to the waypoint?

This is literally all I need a GPS to do as I use maps for everything...I just need to be able to plug in a coordinate, or a series of coordinates, and know what bearing to set my compass to and the distance I need to go. I would really like to get one of these watches as they are much sleeker than the GPS unit I use now, but I'm wondering how much of a pain it is to do this stuff on a watch vs. a dedicated GPS like the Garmin Foretrex, which is what I use today.

For me, the fitness tracking features would be a bonus, not my primary purpose for purchase.
 

Jskaanland

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I believe I know the answer to this already based on my research, but I haven't seen this answered specifically before so hopefully someone here can answer: Do the Suunto and Garmin watches allow you to set waypoints and a series of waypoints (or path) and then display the bearing and distance to the waypoint?

This is literally all I need a GPS to do as I use maps for everything...I just need to be able to plug in a coordinate, or a series of coordinates, and know what bearing to set my compass to and the distance I need to go. I would really like to get one of these watches as they are much sleeker than the GPS unit I use now, but I'm wondering how much of a pain it is to do this stuff on a watch vs. a dedicated GPS like the Garmin Foretrex, which is what I use today.

For me, the fitness tracking features would be a bonus, not my primary purpose for purchase.

I know the garmin you can save a current location as a waypoint but from what I can find you would need a phone to send it a gps cordance as a waypoint.
 
Joined
Mar 26, 2013
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I have the new GPS rangeman G shock and its works great. Ive been testing it on a few local trips and haven't had any issues so far. It will also sink up with your smart phone.
The watch has solar power so if you run your main battery down , you can recharge it . Something that was appealing to me when I'm way out there
 

ohoopee

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Feb 8, 2014
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683
I plot routes on movescount app and download to my suunto Traverse watch for planned hikes. My needs are purely navigational and the Traverse does that for me well. I can mark waypoints with watch but it doesn't have maps like my gps. It was frustrating to get
the gist of the thing at first but once you have it, its a great lightweight tool. The tracback and record feature are nice. I don't keep some of the features on all the time so I can get couple days w/o battery recharge.

The lugs where the band attach are not metal lined. I fell in a river and popped band loose. Sent to Suunto and they replaced lug
body with no questions asked.

Ps I hated watch until I learned how to use it properly!! I don't have a sub 100 IQ and still found the learning curve steep compared
to my gps handhelds. There weren't a lot of concise walkthrough's when I first purchased it. Damn thing couldn't find the Huddlehouse
restaurant 2 blocks away. Exgf still teases me when I take it to Appalachians bc of the HH episode.
 
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