Personally, I have never had a simple Timex Ironman fail on me. That being said, I love my Polar AXN500 Outdoors Watch. It has a reliable compass, altimeter, barometer and thermometer. With the added Heart Rate monitor feature for my workouts it is a one unit does most watch! It is easy to use and accurate as long as you calibrate it often (once a month or so). I have often used the compass for quick hikes or runs and it is right on, I don?t go to the field without a ?real? compass but it is accurate enough that I use it almost exclusively on the fly.

The key to any watch that does more than telling the time is to use it when not stressed out? a lot? so that it becomes second nature when you are, like running in the cold at 7500??
<img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />