Barometric pressure is useful for more than just geeking out about the weather. It’s actually very useful when fishing, because fish are sensitive to low pressure systems and tend to stop eating and hang low until the pressure returns to normal. Obviously there’s a lot more to fish activity than just air pressure, but it does make a difference, and it’s something I am excited to learn more about as fishing season kicks off in New Jersey. If nothing else, it gives me an easy excuse if I have a bad day fishing!
Other excuses: ‘My kiddo threw a rock in the water and scared the fish’; ‘Too much fishing pressure where I am’; ‘It’s New Jersey and who knows if anything is actually alive beneath water that really shouldn’t be that color?’
The Pro Trek line isn’t the only ABC watch out there — Suunto is another big name in the space, and people coming from the running and cycling world likely know the Garmin Fenix line. This is somewhat subjective, but I would give the edge to the Pro Treks in terms of looks-they look rugged and like they could climb a mountain even without you, but they have a cohesive and specific style that lets them cross over into everyday wear. Suuntos look too ‘fitness watch’ to my eyes. The Garmin line, meanwhile, gets wallet-shreddingly expensive really quickly, plus it needs to be charged regularly. Meanwhile, the Pro Trek comes in at a very reasonable $320—that’s within the norm for a regular watch, let alone one packed with a slew of sensors.
The Casio Pro Trek runs on solar power, so as long as you are outside regularly, your watch should stay charged without you needing to give it much thought. I’ve been testing this watch for a few weeks now, and I have yet to see the battery indicator drop below high — and I haven’t gone out of my way to expose it to excess sun. If my everyday, mostly office dwelling existence left it charged, I’m positive it will remain charged even after a hard day of use tracking altitude and indicating direction.
Wasn’t joking about the size of the user manual…
The Pro Trek is both a complex and simple watch. Yes, there’s an insane amount to learn (the user manual is bigger than some of my college textbooks), but in the end, it is a watch that can do exactly what it say. This is a watch that will guide you through adventures up mountains, down into waters (it is waterproof to 200 meters), keep you headed the right direction, and it will look great and hold up well. It is a tough, tough watch; I forgot to remove it once when at the gym, and I smacked it with a kettlebell during a snatch. The watch is 100% fine, but the bruise it left on my wrist was a reminder that this watch is an immovable force that laughs in the face of hunks of cast iron.
If you spend time outdoors, whether it is hiking, fishing, or just hanging around and appreciating nature, the Pro Trek is what you want strapped to your wrist. It won’t let you down.
Source: Manufacturer provided review sample
What I Liked: Amazing build quality; Can quite literally help guide you up a mountain and tell you a storm is coming; Provides immense amounts of accurate details about direction, altitude and barometric pressure; Sunrise/sunset information is available for the next 81 years; Attractive in a rugged kind of way; Solar power means you don’t need to worry about charging or swapping batteries
What Needs Improvement: Backlight is not as bright as other watches; Might be too big for some wrists; No way to offload data after recording
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- Tracking dropping pressure as the snow storm heads our way.
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- Wasn’t joking about the size of the user manual…
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- Apple Watch vs Pro Trek
