Hey guys, I’m ready to buy a military watch to help me with my long range shooting. I’m looking at the Suunto Core All Black Military Digital Watch - SS014279010. I read that either love or you hate this watch. I wanted to ask those who have had first hand experience with it. Is it worth the money? I was told that it only reads body temp, not the actual temp outside (weird?). I also read that you have to recalibrate the compass often and the Altitude and Barometer are a PITA to work with. What’s you’r guy’s experience? Was this just a “bad batch” that someone got? I want to keep the price no more than $300. I want this watch to read Altitude, Barometric pressure, and temp for sure. Any other features are gravy.
It’s a great watch. Easy to read but not too bulky. Easy to replace the battery on(and uses batteries you can find at any CVS/walmart.)
It’s true that you need to take it off for a couple of minutes to get a reliable temperature…but this shouldn’t be a surprise. You’re wearing a thermometer on your wrist, so the temperature it reads will be a combination of your body temperature and ambient temperature. Tape a regular thermometer to your wrist and see what happens. 
The barometer works really well as a either a straight barometer or altimeter(as long as you know that the weather is staying constant,) but I’d take it off of Auto. On Auto it’s constantly trying to guess between whether the altitude is changing or if the altitude is constant and a pressure system is coming or leaving. It’s good and consistent for inches of mercury, and is good for altitude when skiing and you know damned well that the weather is the same. Just pick which of the two is most important to you. Not a pain in the ass at all…and the controls are intuitive.
The compass does occasionally need recalibrating(which is as simple as taking it off and turning it 360º a few times,) but it’s not too constant unless you find yourself near large metal objects like heavy machinery…or maybe if you take it off at night and set it on your gun safe. It also accounts for declination, which can be pretty important depending on where you are…it’s not suitable for true orienteering but it’s good enough to get a pretty good idea on the fly.
I strongly recommend it, it’s a good and very durable watch and is almost entirely user serviceable. The finish holds up well too, only on the raised edge of the bezel has mine shown any where in two or three years…and I’m rather clumsy and catch a lot of door frames/poles with my wrist just walking around.
Thanks man. How is it on batteries? Does it eat them like crazy? What have you been getting on average?
I got fourteen months on my first battery when the low battery indicator appeared. I changed it out and have been using the second one ever since. From what I read it depends on how much you use the alarm/backlight, but about a year seems to be pretty common. And like I said, it’s super easy to change and you don’t lose your settings.
I’d probably just pick a day to change it once a year whether it needs it or not if you’re worried. Christmas/New Year/4th of July…whatever.
Do you think the altitude and barometric pressure readings will be accurate enough for long range work? Thanks for your help man, I REALLY appreciate it!
Per wunderground.com which has a reporting station ~2miles away, the current pressure is 29.96 inHg. My watch also says 29.96 inHg. I’d say it’s pretty damned close.
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Edited because my watch says exactly the same as the weather station…typo had it being a full inch off which was incorrect.
I love this watch its been rock solid, light for its size, and great battery life. But for serious data gathering for long range work I would probably go ahead and invest in a kestrel or equivalent. More precise and easier to use for shooting purposes. Good luck
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The original band on mine broke after 12 months, other than that it is a solid product.
If your wanting serious data for long range. Skip the watch and get a kestrel.
I know that the kestrel is awesome for long range and all, but now that I’m investigating these ABC watches I wanted to know how they would compare to a kestrel. If they compared pretty well (besides wind calls) then I would rather have a multi tool on my wrist.
I will put it this way. I wore one of these for several thousand rounds of long range data, and I can tell you that I would never have used this watch to collect dopes. Given that I didn’t have to personally invest in the Kestrel or BDC I used, so I understand the desire to cash in on the capabilities of a multitool. I’ve never seen or used any function on this watch to make me think it was inaccurate, simply not precise enough for the sort of data I was looking for.
So I suppose the best question to ask is: what degree of precision are you looking for? For me the answer is: If I’m bothering to try and gather exact data at any range long enough that temp, pressure, etc start to really matter, I’m going to go ahead and seek the most precise instruments for the job.
I hope that explanation helps. Good luck. If it doesn’t, please post up some more details about what/where you are planning on shooting.
Has anyone had experience with both the Suunto and one of the Casio G-Shock models with similar features such as the PATHFINDER PAG240-1? I really like the solar battery charging on my current G-shock, but would love to have the added features of one of these watches. How do they compare given a similar price range?
Perfect
Ok, thanks Nick. THIS was the second thing I was looking for. The first thing, was already covered by Thop. So thank you for you clarification. I was hoping someone who did long range work would post something here. Thanks for your response.
Right seat of a Cessna 208 over Belize. Pilot didn’t calibrate the altimeter before takeoff. I wouldn’t use it to gather dope, but it’s not like it’s inaccurate. I’d be willing to bet if he calibrated at the Belize City airport, it would be closer, well, at least closer than 40 feet.
i occasionally dive, and the watch has been great for me.
i alternate between it an my casio pathfinder.
in a bug out situation, i think id have to grab the casio due to the rechargable/solar cell combo.
but everyday wear, the suunto looks much better.
I just bought mine about three months ago and I wear it daily. I haven’t gotten into all the alti baro stuff just yet but the thing is great. the functionality of the buttons at first can seem a bit much with all the info the watch can provide but after using it a bit it all makes a lot of sense and operating the watch becomes very intuitive. It will stick out form your wrist abit far and for me I seem to hit the right center select so sometime I go to look at the time and and I get an altitude reading instead. Other then that, I feel, minor complaint I think I made the right choice…and I’m really just using it as a watch.
Lock the face. Hold the bottom right button until the little lock appears. You can still change the subfields with the bottom left button, but it won’t change the main field (time to alti to compass) unless you unlock it first.
Shit, thanks man!!! Well that settles it I’m now completely in love with this watch…
Haha, glad you found an answer. No you can officially say you have zero complaints about the watch