Suunto Vector Black

We're expecting a storm to pass here over the next couple of days, so I decided to choose a watch that can survive the elements.

The watch I chose was the Vector black by Suunto. The Finnish company Suunto Oy was created in 1936 and are manufacturers of outdoor watches, dive computers, and compasses. The factory is next to the headquarters in Finland, and many of the watches are still hand finished.

The Vector model is called the original outdoor watch on the Suunto website, and is one of the most popular models. It is a compass and barometer watch, and uses the air pressure change for altitude calculations. The watch case is quite large and ruggedly built with a custom strap. The front us dominated by the large round LCD display. Time is shown on the largest digits in the centre, and the seconds are shown in a ring around the edge of the dial, or they can replace the date on the bottom. In the top left is a little barometer sign showing the air pressure trend. The compass mode shows the North using the markings around the edge, along with your bearing in digits at the centre. There is also a little spirit level bubble on the glass to make sure it is flat. The altimeter shows height in meters, and has a rate of climb/descent at the top of the display. You can change this to show air pressure in millibar, and in this display, it also shows the temperature. The other watch modes are alarm (multiple), stopwatch, and timer. It takes a very large, and not so common battery, the CR2450, which is accesses with a coin opening slot on the back. My one has had a bit of a hard time in the past so has lost its printing around the face.

This model has been popular in the movies and on TV, appearing in the movie Shooter, the TV series Supernatural, and being the main prop on the film Clockstoppers.