It doesn’t matter if you are out adventuring, scrambling or on an alpine climbing adventure in the mountains; a good climbing watch is always one piece of kit you should never leave at home.
This is a straight to the point guide to the best watches for climbing & mountaineering in 2022 out there on the market today, with quick recommendations for each criteria so you can choose the watches for climbing & mountaineering 2022 that best suits what you’re looking for.
They’re summed up in this table below. If you want to skip all the other talk and you just want to know which specific watches for climbing & mountaineering 2022 are currently the best to go for, then they’re all right here in one place for you.
| Editor’s Award | Winner |
|---|---|
| Best Mountaineering Watch | Casio Men’s PRG260-1 Pro-Trek Watch with Black Band |
| Best Sport Climbing Watch | Coros VERTIX GPS Adventure Watch |
| Best Budget Watch | AmGPS Watch |
| Decent Cheap All Round Watch | TicWatch Pro 3 GPS Smart Watch |
| Best Hiking Watch | Garmin Instinct Rugged Outdoor Watch |
| Best Watch For Alpine Climbing – Our Favorite! | Garmin Fenix 6X Pro |
Click to jump straight to each topic.
- Why You Need a Watch For Climbing & Mountaineering 2022
- What to Look for in a Watches For Climbing & Mountaineering 2022
- The Best Watches For Climbing & Mountaineering 2022s Reviewed
- Frequently Asked Questions
Why You Need a Watches For Climbing & Mountaineering 2022
One of the dangers of hiking in the mountains or going alpine climbing is not knowing exactly where you are. While this might be the aim at the start of the trip when it draws to an end and you have work in 12 hours then it’s usually a good idea to have another way to find civilization like a backup GPS watch with GPS tracking.
What to Look for in a Watches For Climbing & Mountaineering 2022
Watches these days are full of different bells and whistles that can help the budding outdoor enthusiast. If you’re not really sure what you want out of a watch we can give you an idea of a couple of features you want to look out for.
GPS – Global Positioning System
One big feature on watches these days is being connected to the GPS system. This means you can find out where you are from pretty much anywhere in the world. This feature is perfect for people who want to lose themselves to the wilderness with a reliable way of getting back home.
Solar Powered
Due to spending so much time outdoors having a watch that has the ability to survive on nothing but the tasty rays of the sun is probably a good idea. This means no more reliance on small watch batteries. While this one is not a necessity it is a great feature to look out for.
Water resistance, Barometric Altimeter, Heart Rate Monitoring
Although not essential, these features are definitely worthwhile to look for….especially for any extended climbing trips. Water resistance is a no brainer…for mountaineering use. As is Barometric Altimeter. The heart rate monitoring is helpful for training in general and a good idea to have on a true outdoor watch.
So, putting all of this together, let’s look at our recommendations for the best watches for climbing & mountaineering 2020s out there right now.
The Best Watches For Climbing & Mountaineering 2020s Reviewed
Best Mountaineering Watch: Casio Men’s PRG260-1 Pro-Trek Watch with Black Band
Best Mountaineering Watch
Casio Men’s PRG260-1 Pro-Trek Watch with Black Band
The Casio is one of the best all-around mountaineering watches out there. Packed with great features like a Compass, Altimeter, Barometer, complete with some tough solar-powered rechargeable battery.
If that’s not enough the Casio also has temperature sensors alone with an auto light feature that makes using the watch in the dark a breeze.
- 200M Water Resistant
- 6 month life on full charge
Check the latest price on Amazon.
Best Sport Climbing Watch: Coros VERTIX GPS Adventure Watch
Best Sport Climbing Watch
Coros VERTIX GPS Adventure Watch
Looking for an adventure watch that can keep up with your climbing addiction? Look no further as the Coros Vertix is the perfect choice for the modern adventurer.
Made from Titanium bezel with high-grade fiber watch body with Sapphire glass. With built-in GPS the Vertix is your already paid sherpa. With a 150-hour battery life, the Coros is perfect for sport climbing trips or outdoor adventures.
The Covos also includes training data which will help you with data-driven climbing training and push you to the next grade.
- Industry Leading Performance
- Precise Training Data
Check the latest price on Amazon.
Best Budget Watch: GPS Watch
Best Budget Watch
Ok, let’s be blunt…if your on a perilous adventure where your live may be on the line in the mountains, don’t skimp out on high quality adventure watch. However, if you’re just tooling around the mountains, or taking occasional day hikes, then a budget watch may be just for you.
So sometimes you are just looking for the budget option and that’s fine. This generic GPS watch is perfect for the climber or outdoor enthusiast who just wants the basics.
Fitted with all the usual Rate/Sleep/Step/Counter Monitors etc the watch also comes with GPS as the title suggests along with a ton of other features such as running mode along with a smart screen.
- Great Value For Money
- Strava data sync
Check the latest price on Amazon.
Best All-Round Watch: TicWatch Pro 3 GPS Smart Watch
Best All Round Watch
TicWatch Pro 3 GPS Smart Watch
If you are struggling to make a choice and looking for a good outdoor watch for any activity then you can’t go wrong with the TicWatch.
Its innovative tech ensures an extremely long-lasting battery life along with advanced health and fitness monitoring.
- Light & Comfortable
- Premium Design
Check the latest price on Amazon.
Best Hiking Watch: Garmin Instinct Rugged Outdoor Watch
Best Hiking Watch
Garmin Instinct Rugged Outdoor Watch
The Gamin is the hiker’s choice with a built-in 3-Axis compass and barometric altimeter along with GPS.
Included with the Garmin are fitness tracking and its fully connectable to your smartphone.
With 16 hours of battery life in GPS mode, the Garmin is perfect for day trips out hiking.
- Thermal, shock and water resistance
- Budget Friendly
Check the latest price on Amazon.
Best Watch For Alpine Climbing: Garmin fenix 6X Pro
Best Watch For Alpine Climbing
For the more adventurous among us looking to purchase something durable to last an alpine excursion the Garmin fenix is perfect.
This solar powered multi-sport watch comes fitted with advanced training features and makes it easy to navigate the outdoors with its preloaded topo maps.
The rechargeable mode allows for 21 days of battery life so you wont be getting lost in the mountains any time soon.
- Support For Garmin Pay
- Solar Powered
This our top pick overall for an all-around adventure watch. Actually it’s the one we ended purchasing personally, after doing extensive research for this article. We spent a week with an Apple Watch and then sold it and got the Fenix. It has just the right about of “smart” watch functionality without being a distraction when we’re out on adventures!
Check the latest price on Amazon.
Frequently Asked Questions
How accurate are watch altimeters?
This will vary of depending on what level of watch performance you go for but most watches these days are accurate within +/-50 feet. Its important to note however accuracy can change dependent on environmental factors. Some climbing watches also have calibration options for their built in altimeters to true up the accuracy as much as possible.
Is Suunto better than Garmin?
Both Garmin and Sunnto are both major brands when it comes to watches and its always best to compare the performance of each watch in its price range before you buy. We’ve been partial to Garmin, because they offer sizes that are smaller on the wrist than most of the Sunnto options. We’re not fans of 48mm+ watches! My Garmin Fenix 6x is the 42mm version and it is the perfect size.
Is Garmin more accurate than Fitbit?
There have been a few studies that show that Garmin watches tend to be more reliable accuracy wise for longer sessions as they allow for more and diverse metrics.
What is the best watch for hiking?
There is no best watch for hiking but you want to ensure the watch you do buy has a few features like GPS, solar rechargeable, water resistance, and a long battery life if you are thinking about longer trips.
We hope this list of the best watches for climbing & mountaineering 2022 has been helpful.
If there’s anything good that you think we’ve missed, or if you have any questions about anything, then let us know down in the comments below.
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