asklarry99
2010-01-26 02:40:06 UTC
Hey Brett-
After having a couple of tests come in late, I'm back on time for the Navigator 2.0 test!
Html for the LTR is at : http://tinyurl.com/y8qvp9t
Thanks
-larry
-------------------------------
LONG-TERM REPORT
January 25, 2010
FIELD CONDITIONS
I have worn the Navigator on two outings over the LTR phase of the report. The first was an overnight at Delaware Ohio in early December. I was cabin camping that but spend a few hours tramping around outside. Temperatures were in the 20's F (-6 to -2 C) during the day when I was outside, and around 50 F (10 C) in the cabin overnight. The second trip was to Portsmouth, OH in mid January. This trip was one night of cabin camping in a rustic cabin and one night of tent camping. Overnight lows both nights were right around 40 F (4 C) with highs around 52 F/ 11 C during the day. On the night I tented outside, it began raining around 6 am, so I was somewhat wet by the time I got back to the cabin.
In addition to these camping trips, I have been wearing the watch while exercising, which has been to the tune of 15 miles (24 km) of running per week since mid December.
Over the course of this test, I have worn the watch for routine wear of about 120 days, including 8 days on the trail with some light hiking, and another 75+ miles (120+ km) of running for exercise.
FIELD EXPERIENCE
In general, this watch has continued to be a sturdy timepiece, and I have found numerous occasions to use the compass, the timer, the chronometer, and the alarm. All of these have functioned as I expected from a good timepiece. The crystal of the watch has a few small marks on it, but there is no sign of cracking or significant damage. As noted above, I just wore the watch while walking through a modest downpour, and there is no sign of leakage.
One concern I have about the watch is its ability to resist falls. I have had the watch reset itself twice over the four months I have been using it. The first time this occurred, I don't really remember banging my wrist against anything to a significant degree, and only realized later that the watch had reset. The second time, I dropped it on a carpeted floor while putting it on and it reset. This did not represent to my mind a major trauma to the watch, so I was a little annoyed I had to reset the time and date. Later, I realized that the compass calibration was also off, so I reset it in the fashion described in the Field Report. Since then, it has maintained its proper orientation. I also realized that the 1st and 2nd time settings are not synchronized, which seems like a silly program
ming error. As I write this, the 1st time setting reads 9:18 pm, whereas the 2nd time setting is 10:03. As I will never be in two time zones that do not have the same minutes, it would seem like the manufacturer might want to correct this so the minute readings are synchronized and the hour settings can vary between time zones.
One thing that have come to like about the Navigator 2.0 is the plastic band. Although this is a small thing, the fact that the band is plastic means that it does not absorb sweat, so that the band does not smell, despite the fact that I have been wearing it for the last 5-6 weeks while exercising. I like this fact, since a sweaty smelling watch band can be one of the effects of an extended backcountry stay. The Free Fit band also continues to offer an easily adjustable setting. The mesh portion of the band shows some slight wear in the area where I keep the setting, but there are no signs that the mesh will give out at any time soon.
SUMMARY
Overall, I am quite impressed with the Freestyle Navigator 2.0 watch. It has all the features I have come to expect in my watches, with the added benefit of an easily followed compass for the trail. Although it carries slightly a few more grams than my prior trail watch, the added benefit of the compass outweighs this concern. Thus, I expect to make the Navigator 2 my future trail watch of choice.
Things I liked about the Freestyle Navigator 2.0:
Great features, including the compass
Adjustable band comfortable and works well
Band and watch casing are sturdy
Things I disliked about the Navigator 2.0:
Tendency to reset after dropping is concerning
Lack of synchronization of the two time modes
This concludes my report on the Freestyle Navigator 2.0 watch. My thanks once again to Freestyle USA for providing this equipment for testing, and to BackpackGearTest.org for allowing me to participate in the evaluation process.
-larry kirschner
------------------------------------
After having a couple of tests come in late, I'm back on time for the Navigator 2.0 test!
Html for the LTR is at : http://tinyurl.com/y8qvp9t
Thanks
-larry
-------------------------------
LONG-TERM REPORT
January 25, 2010
FIELD CONDITIONS
I have worn the Navigator on two outings over the LTR phase of the report. The first was an overnight at Delaware Ohio in early December. I was cabin camping that but spend a few hours tramping around outside. Temperatures were in the 20's F (-6 to -2 C) during the day when I was outside, and around 50 F (10 C) in the cabin overnight. The second trip was to Portsmouth, OH in mid January. This trip was one night of cabin camping in a rustic cabin and one night of tent camping. Overnight lows both nights were right around 40 F (4 C) with highs around 52 F/ 11 C during the day. On the night I tented outside, it began raining around 6 am, so I was somewhat wet by the time I got back to the cabin.
In addition to these camping trips, I have been wearing the watch while exercising, which has been to the tune of 15 miles (24 km) of running per week since mid December.
Over the course of this test, I have worn the watch for routine wear of about 120 days, including 8 days on the trail with some light hiking, and another 75+ miles (120+ km) of running for exercise.
FIELD EXPERIENCE
In general, this watch has continued to be a sturdy timepiece, and I have found numerous occasions to use the compass, the timer, the chronometer, and the alarm. All of these have functioned as I expected from a good timepiece. The crystal of the watch has a few small marks on it, but there is no sign of cracking or significant damage. As noted above, I just wore the watch while walking through a modest downpour, and there is no sign of leakage.
One concern I have about the watch is its ability to resist falls. I have had the watch reset itself twice over the four months I have been using it. The first time this occurred, I don't really remember banging my wrist against anything to a significant degree, and only realized later that the watch had reset. The second time, I dropped it on a carpeted floor while putting it on and it reset. This did not represent to my mind a major trauma to the watch, so I was a little annoyed I had to reset the time and date. Later, I realized that the compass calibration was also off, so I reset it in the fashion described in the Field Report. Since then, it has maintained its proper orientation. I also realized that the 1st and 2nd time settings are not synchronized, which seems like a silly program
ming error. As I write this, the 1st time setting reads 9:18 pm, whereas the 2nd time setting is 10:03. As I will never be in two time zones that do not have the same minutes, it would seem like the manufacturer might want to correct this so the minute readings are synchronized and the hour settings can vary between time zones.
One thing that have come to like about the Navigator 2.0 is the plastic band. Although this is a small thing, the fact that the band is plastic means that it does not absorb sweat, so that the band does not smell, despite the fact that I have been wearing it for the last 5-6 weeks while exercising. I like this fact, since a sweaty smelling watch band can be one of the effects of an extended backcountry stay. The Free Fit band also continues to offer an easily adjustable setting. The mesh portion of the band shows some slight wear in the area where I keep the setting, but there are no signs that the mesh will give out at any time soon.
SUMMARY
Overall, I am quite impressed with the Freestyle Navigator 2.0 watch. It has all the features I have come to expect in my watches, with the added benefit of an easily followed compass for the trail. Although it carries slightly a few more grams than my prior trail watch, the added benefit of the compass outweighs this concern. Thus, I expect to make the Navigator 2 my future trail watch of choice.
Things I liked about the Freestyle Navigator 2.0:
Great features, including the compass
Adjustable band comfortable and works well
Band and watch casing are sturdy
Things I disliked about the Navigator 2.0:
Tendency to reset after dropping is concerning
Lack of synchronization of the two time modes
This concludes my report on the Freestyle Navigator 2.0 watch. My thanks once again to Freestyle USA for providing this equipment for testing, and to BackpackGearTest.org for allowing me to participate in the evaluation process.
-larry kirschner
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