LabAltimeter
The world famous Swiss
Army Knives have always been a must-have item in everybody's rucksack:
their size, usefulness, reliability and quality have long made them an
indispensable tool for climbing, hill walking and skiing. Recently
Victorinox have added a series of interesting additions to their
already astoundingly large list of pocket knives, building in torches
(Voyager Lite), USB cards (Swissmemory) and, most interesting of all
from our point of view, a highly sensitive altimeter and thermometer.
The result is a pocket knife which not only cuts, screws and dices, but
also gives you the temperature, calculates the present height and
offers, on that basis, an indication of the future weather
conditions... what more could you want when climbing up and down
mountains?
The Victorinox "Altimeter" is shaped around the tried
and tested "Mountaineer" which, with 17 features (large blade, small
blade, scissors, saw, screwdriver, can opener, tweezers etc) is one of
the most useful Victorinox knives for all-round mountain use. It goes
without saying that all blades are of stainless steel and obviously we
can add nothing more to this other than the fact that thanks to this
multi-functionality these knives are perfectly suited for all
situations, even emergency, that come when out on the hills.
The
true novelty is the built-in altimeter, which turned out to be
extremely straightforward to use: simply press the Victorinox crest for
four seconds and the display turns on, showing the current height.
Press the crest a second time and the knife toggles into temperature
mode. Don't touch the crest for 15 minutes and the display turns itself
off automatically. It's a simple as that!
The temperature
range goes from -20°C to +60°C, which should be ample, as should be the
altitude range, which calculates in 5m steps from -100m up to 6000
meters. And if you're not familiar with metric, at the touch of a
button the Altimeter displays Fahrenheit and feet.
Obviously
the altimeter bases its calculations on the current atmospheric
pressure, and to make a correct reading it therefore needs to be
calibrated at the start of the outing and, climate conditions
depending, also during the trip. This calibration is carried out by
turning the altimeter on and holding down the crest for another four
seconds: the display starts flashing an up or down arrow and the
altitude can be increased or decreased by pressing the crest until the
known altitude is reached.
We found the Victorinox Altimeter
an extremely useful tool to have stored away in the top pocket of our
rucksack or in a jacket pocket. While it doesn't substitute a
full-blown altimeter or thermometer designed specifically for the job,
it definitely works well. The altimeter was highly sensitive
Suggestions? Add a watch and stopwatch, and a luminous backlight for finding out how cold it is in the tent during the night!
Recommendation:
as with all objects, don't leave your knife beneath the car windscreen
in summer - you'll be surprised how hot it can get and this could
irreversably damage the thermometer!
The Victorinox Altimeter is available at Victorinox Points, in specialist shops, and online onwww.adventureshop.it
Conclusion: excellent tool, uesful, robust, simple to use. A knife for every occasion.
