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Long-distance hiking is best defined as trekking on a trail that is over 50km (or 30 miles). With that being said, long-distance hiking can be 5-10x longer than this if desired. Sometimes the longest hikes will take several days or even weeks to complete. Most paths are somewhat outlined or are obvious coastal routes. However, in less-traveled parts of the world, it may be up to you to find the path yourself.
Knowing that you could be away from civilization for a long time and be at war with the elements. It would make sense to have a tough watch that will not let you down. Everyone will have different requirements for what they want or need. If you’re in a hot climate, it may be essential that your watch can measure temperature. If you’re in a tropical and humid climate, it is probably more important to have a watch that is fully waterproof.
Table of Contents
Useful Features To Consider For a Hiking Watch
GPS
A GPS is one thought, but not essential. If you are an experienced hiker then it’s likely that a GPS won’t be of too much use to you. However, it can sometimes get you out of tricky situations, especially in an emergency. If you are injured and cannot get a phone signal, the GPS might find you the best place to be seen or the highest place to get a cell tower.
Keeping a GPS on non-stop is quite useless and drains the battery of both watches and phones. If you’re going to set out a planned route, it can help distinguish the correct path and will save you from getting lost and wasting time.
Thermometer
Thermometers will help in overly hot or overly cool environments. This feature on the watch can help you make a decision of whether it’s time to rest or continue. For example, at noon, the day is almost always at its hottest. This can be measured more accurately with a thermometer.
Heart Rate Monitor
Another non-necessary feature, but it can be nice to monitor your heart rate sometimes. You will be able to check if you’re going too fast or too slow and adjust your pace accordingly. Other than this, the heart rate monitor is pretty much a luxury and non-essential for long-distance hiking watches.
Altimeter
Altimeters are especially useful since combined with a map, they can make a lower power GPS solution. Altimeters do not wear down your watch battery like a GPS does. If you are able to determine that you’re actually a lot higher up than you thought you were. It will be a lot easier to pinpoint yourself on the map without the use of a watch GPS.
Battery Life
Arguably one of the most essential features for a long-distance hiking watch is how long the battery will last. It’s no use having a watch with every feature imaginable if the battery life is only 5 hours. Ideally, you want your watch to last for days or weeks without having to be charged.
Ideal watches for long-distance hiking, are solar-powered watches. All solar (or eco-drive) watches contain a capacitor. This capacitor allows power to be stored from light sources. This way, even when the sun goes down, you don’t have to worry about your battery running out at a crucial time.
Waterproof & Toughness
Depending on what type of climate you’re in, this could be essential or not a concern. If you’re in a tropical, rainforest-type environment. It is 100% necessary to have a waterproof watch. It’s no use getting caught in a downpour or going through a very wet area in which your watch cannot survive.
The same goes for heat and toughness. You will need a watch that can withstand the sun and something non-metallic that doesn’t heat up. Not that your watch is going to be dropped on the ground, but it doesn’t hurt to buy something that can take a bump or two either.
Compass
Self-explanatory really. A compass is the lite version of a GPS. It can’t pinpoint your location in a matter of seconds. It can however find your north just as quickly. If you are an experienced map reader, this should be enough to get your bearings and discover if you’re going in the right direction or not.
Barometer
This won’t always be necessary for everyday hiking. However, if you’re out on a long-distance hike and cannot make a decision about whether the weather will change or not. A barometer will not make the decision for you, but at least can add another snippet of information. If the atmospheric pressure changes significantly, then there is a good chance that the weather will change too. The great thing about this is that your watch will be able to save you from getting caught in a storm.
Best Watches For Long Distance Hiking
Most Reliable Watch – Casio Pathfinder Tough Solar
The Casio Pathfinder range are some of the toughest and most reliable watches out there. Based on this they are ideal for long-distance hiking. The watch has 6 months battery life from a full charge. This essentially means that if you are out walking all day in normal light, you will never have to worry about not getting enough charge.
The watch also features an altimeter, barometer, and thermometer. If that wasn’t enough there are also several alarms and countdown timers, as well as world time zones. These won’t be of much use to you on a hike but are some nice extras. Even if you think you will never use them, you never know when they will be needed.
Check The Price Of Casio ProTrek On Amazon
Toughest Watch – Casio G-Shock Mudmaster
The G-Shock Mudmaster is another watch made by Casio. If you aren’t already aware of G-Shock watches, they’re pretty much unbreakable. You could literally drop this watch from the top of a building (it’s been done) and it will easily survive.
On the side of the watch, you will not find a normal crown or pushers. These buttons have been specifically engineered to resist mud, dust, and water. So even if you were to hike through a particular muddy wetland. The watch will still have no trouble working at all. It is 200 meters water-resistant and has a thermometer.
Whilst the Mudmaster doesn’t have as many hiking features as other watches. It certainly is the toughest. You will never have to worry about dropping, scratching, getting wet, or anything else if you’re wearing this whilst hiking.
Check The Price Of Mudmaster Watches On Amazon
Best Value Long Distance Hiking Watch – Timex Expedition XL
With the Timex Expedition XL, you are getting fantastic value for money. The display is gigantic so if you have bad eyesight or worried about the glare of the sun, there is no need to worry. Timex Expedition is a very solid watch and not quite as strong or developed as the Casio G-Shock range. This is however warranted since the price is typically 3-5x cheaper than Casio.
The Expedition XL is water-resistant up to 200 meters, so hiking will be a walk in the park for this watch. The handiest feature of the watch is the fact that it has a 100-hour chronograph. This means that if you ever wanted to time your hikes or had a personal best to beat, the stopwatch will keep going. It’s typical for a mechanical analog watch to have a 1-hour chronograph. So at 100 times the capability, this really is suited to those who want to time their long-distance hike.
Check Out The Price Of Timex Expedition XL Watches On Amazon
Best Looking Hiking Watch – Garmin Instinct
The Garmin Instinct just improved on every other model that Garmin released. For the pioneering models, there were always complaints that features stopped working after a while, or that they simply weren’t accurate enough. These quarrels have since ceased since the introduction of the Instinct.
This model has pretty much every feature you could want for a long-distance hiking watch and will easily last you with a week’s worth of battery in smartwatch mode – which is simply incredible. When the GPS is live, the battery will last significantly less time, but this can be offset by simply turning off the GPS once you’ve worked out exactly where you are.
Other features include a heart rate monitor, altimeter and 100-meter water resistance. The Instinct is constructed to the standard of the US military, so certainly should be good enough for your hike through the woods. If that wasn’t enough, it also comes in over 15 different colors, so there will be a style to suit absolutely everyone.
Check The Price Of The Garmin Instinct On Amazon
Best Watch For Weather Alerts Whilst Hiking – Suunto Core
The Suunto Core is a toned-down and cheaper version of the Garmin Instinct. It doesn’t have a GPS, but it does have a 3 point compass. Its giant display shows you the temperature as well as having a built-in barometer and altimeter.
Suunto is a Finnish brand and was founded in 1932. Since this time it has manufactured a variety of precision watches and perhaps most notably, compasses for the Finnish army. Their customer service is really second to none. I once personally had a divers watch have one of the buttons get stuck after 10 months. I returned my watch to the service center in Finland and got my watch back within 2 weeks! It had been fixed and also fully serviced free of charge.
The key feature of the Suunto Core is its storm alarm. If you are hiking long distances, this feature is ideal since it can warn you of any sudden changes before you find yourself in a potentially dangerous situation.
Check The Price Of Suunto Core Watches On Amazon
Budget Hiking Watch – Casio Forester
There is really not much to say about the Casio Forester other than it does exactly what it is meant to do. It doesn’t feature anything fancy but is rigid and sturdy enough to survive the outdoor world with ease.
You certainly wouldn’t catch me wearing this on a Saturday night, but that’s not its purpose. The dial can easily be illuminated with the simple push of a button. The forester is over 10x cheaper than some of the watches on this list and is a real bargain for well under $40.
Check The Price Of Casio Forester Watches On Amazon
Best Watch For Mountainous & Cold Hikes – Casio ProTrek Outdoor GPS
The Casio Protrek outdoor GPS is pretty much a replacement for your phone. If you take your phone on hikes with you, then this is pretty unnecessary, since your phone will likely do a better job.
However, if for whatever reason you don’t take your phone with you, it offers a great GPS and full-color maps. Another cool feature is that this watch is great for trekking and hiking in mountains. It will survive and function well into temperatures as low as -10c (14f). In case you were wondering what software is used on this watch, it runs Google OS, which is probably the main reason why its maps are so good.
The battery life is around 24 hours, which really isn’t bad at all for a full color GPS watch.
Most Advanced Long Distance Hiking Watch – Polar Grit X
Polar is not a brand that everyone will be familiar with. This is because it is less well known than the likes of Garmin and Casio. This is likely because it comes from Finland and was only founded in 1977, it is a lot younger than other watch brands.
Polar was one of the first companies to patent a heart rate sensor on a wristwatch and was also the first company to manufacture a wireless heart monitor. It completed this task by 1982!
It goes without saying then, that the Grit X is equally as impressive. Its heart rate monitor is extremely accurate and second to none. In addition to this, it is the most lightweight GPS hiking watch on the market. Polar is expensive, but truly ahead of its competitors when it comes to developing technology.
Check The Price Of Polar Grit X Watches On Amazon
Don’t Want A Watch? How About A Handheld GPS? Garmin eTrex 10
If you are sick of watches or simply don’t like wearing them, a handheld GPS might be the solution to your problems. The eTrex 10 does not have as many features as the watches listed above but is literally made for hiking. If you are an amateur long-distance hiker or don’t know a particular route very well, this may be your best option.
As it’s neither a phone nor a watch, it is less battery intensive than more modern technology and can last up to 24 hours using GPS.
Check The Price Of Garmin eTrex10 On Amazon
