Taking Suunto Compasses a Step Further

It's doubtful whether, back in 1936, the founder of Suunto could envision all the technological changes that have come about today. The liquid-filled Suunto compasses and Suunto accessories were an innovation back then. Knowing Suunto's habit of making cutting-edge products, it's no wonder that they've come so far. Take the Suunto X9Mi, for example. Here, they have succeeded where other companies have failed: they've created a truly usable GPS watch.

If you've used a GPS system, you know that they can be pretty helpful. It's bad enough to get lost while driving, and even worse to get lost while running, hiking, or biking. Here's how the Suunto X9Mi works. Figure out the route you want to take on your computer using National Geographic Topo Software or Google Earth. Download it to the watch (it will save up to 50 routes). Follow the route as shown. It's that simple. But they don't stop there. You'll get longitude and latitude information, return directions, travel time estimations based upon your current speed, and it will let you know when you're deviating from your chosen course. Of course, once back at your computer, you can download all of this good information for future reference.

This watch includes everything else you would expect from such a high-performance instrument, including the ability to track data such as speed, distance, length of time since you started, and more. It also possesses an altimeter, barometer, and good old thermometer. And, not surprisingly, it can also function like any of the other Suunto compasses - just turn off the GPS system first. With this GPS watch, Suunto worries about the details so you can focus on the ride.