The Traveler’s Timepiece

Hiking up the rugged Adirondack Mountains recently brought to our attention what tools are absolutely necessary in the wilderness, and what tools are extraneous and, in some cases, useless weight. Of course, our trek up Blue Mountain was a last-minute decision. We had time to kill before we checked into our cabin rental, and figured a 2-mile hike up a trail classified as “moderate” would fit the bill. The “moderate” trail rapidly turned into something a bit more rugged than expected. After the first mile clambering over stony boulders at 45-degree angles, we were eager to shed the dead weight of certain items and wished we’d brought along mini backpacks to hold our goods. Hiking such high elevations also renders cell phone service useless, too.

Thankfully, one of the kids brought a Swiss Army knife and another couple had wrist watches. I’ve heard that watches are going the way of the dinosaur among young people, thanks to handheld gadgets like cell phones, but my kids still like to wear watches. Their cell phones are barebone basic things, more of a nuisance to dig out of their pockets, flip open and wait for the screen to display the time. When hiking or doing other sports, it’s so easy to simply turn the wrist and glance at the wrist watch. What we REALLY needed was a compass– my smartphone compass was not working properly and none of the kids’ watches had such a thing. After our excursion when we were back in civilization and on the Internet, I did a quick search for combination watches. Would you believe that there are watches with built-in compasses? And even barometers that display pressure trends?! What a terrific traveler tool! I found them at BlueDial.com. Some of the watches there can be a little pricey, but they still beat the competition for high quality chronographs. The combo watches are very affordable, around $100 or so. Many are husky-looking styles geared for men, but they also have a fine selection of ladies watches for the discriminating traveler.

Check them out! Some of the little gadgets on the watches are quite stunning. They’d make THE PERFECT gift for the traveler, too. We’re definitely getting a compass next time!