Casio Men's Pathfinder Triple Sensor Multi-Function Sport Watch

UPDATE 10/5/16: Do yourself a favor and convert the strap to a NATO, which is 100% more comfortable. Once I switched out the resign strap, I couldn't believe the difference. Call either PacParts on the west coast or American Perfit on the east coast (both authorized Casio parts dealers). What you want to buy are the following two end pieces:-Part Number 10310531 - Cover/End Piece B08008-Part Number 10320753 - Cover/End Piece C14141If they don't have it in stock they will still take the order and send it out once the parts come in (which is when you will receive a confirmation email for the charge). As of July 5th, 2016, the total cost for both part from American Perfit was $11.95...much cheaper than buying it anywhere else. I'll try to add updated pictures later.Bottom Line: Great digital multi-function watch for non-professional use.Traditionally, I’m an automatic analog watch type of guy. My first dive into digital watches was the Casio G-Shock GA100-1A1 (pictured below for comparison purposes). I thought it looked cool online but when I received it I realized that it had minimum functionality (when compared to Casio Pathfinder/Protrek watches) which is something the tinkerer in me craved. I concluded that it put fashion before function and I became immediately turned off.Enter the Casio Pathfinder PAG240-1. This watch ticks all the checkboxes I wanted; easy to read, great illumination, multifunction (compass, barometer, attitude, etc), SOLAR and it looked utilitarian. Keep in mind that some of the features are to be used for non-professional use. I'll start off with the compass. This works just like any other digital compass and is pretty accurate once calibrated. It will get you out of a sticky situation no doubt. The temperature gauge is pretty accurate but keep in mind your body heat will add 10 degrees or more so it’s best to have the watch off your body at least 20 minutes before getting an accurate temperature reading. The Barometer and Altimeter work but they require semi-regular calibration to work well. The altimeter on the watch is tied to the barometer and uses some complex algorithms to compute altitude but it can be calibrated separate of the barometer. The PAG240 is the lightest that I own between all my automatic and quartz watches and it’s pretty comfortable to wear. Allow a few days for the resin strap to break inAll in all, great digital multi-function watch.

-See comments below for update!-After being on the edge for a long time, I bit the bullet and purchased the PAG240. I am happy with it for the most part :)Rather than do a full review, here are some observations/details to supplement other reviews:-Pictures don't do the watch justice! Look at one in person if you can, or search Youtube. Far from being obnoxiously flashy, it has a handsome utilitarian/rugged look to it. In my opinion, silver pathfinders try to look pricier and will attract more attention, including unwanted ones. If you want full functionality, go with this.-The watch weighs ~60g/2.12oz. That's 24 modern American pennies, or ~11 American quarters. The entire face (including side buttons) has the same diameter as the top lip of a standard soda can. I wear it every day without noticing its weight or size.-It has an optional (default on) power save mode which turns off the display after 60-70 min of inactivity. This will only activate between 10PM-6AM. Simply tilting the watch a bit will wake it up.-The timer can be set for hours/minutes (not seconds). The timer can count down from 24 hours.-The sunrise/sunset mode makes good use of the overlay LCD slices.-The compass can be adjusted for magnetic declination (1°resolution) and calibrated with bidirectional and northerly. It can also store an angle in memory.-The display is crisp when viewed full on. It becomes hard to read at extreme angles.-The rotating bezel rotates very fluidly. It's secured tightly to the face and won't slip once you set it.-The alarm is soft, but uses a high pitched frequency (sorta like a smoke detector). I had no trouble hearing it wearing headphones playing music.-Buttons are easily accessible and require a full push to register. Only time will tell whether they'll pop out and run for freedom like my old Ironman's...The light button is a little hard to find by touch in the dark, even with the helpful ... guide bumps below it.-About the altimeter- altitude is calculated using temperature and atmospheric pressure data. The manual suggests placing the watch where temperature is stable during the trip. Short of GPS, there is no way for sensors to accurately measure altitude. This mode is good for relative measurements at best and requires calibration on site before each use.-Altitude data can be stored automatically every 5 sec (for 1 hr) or 2 min intervals (for 1 day). The data is recorded only when you stay in the altimeter mode. Every time you exit the mode, it accumulates the max/min ascent/descent statistics to the current stored data. You can also store 25 manual measurements.I was seriously torn between this watch, the PAG40, PAG80, and the PAW1300 series.-The PAG40 uses regular batteries (good!) but had no timer (dealbreaker).-The PAG80 has all of PAG240's features (+extra memory), but no rotating bezel, and the color scheme was undesirable (dealbreaker)-The PAG1300 has multi-zone atomic timekeeping (good), is slimmer (good!), but loses the cool dual LCD (dealbreaker).Hope this helps!-UPDATE-After wearing this watch two and a half years, I must say I am still very pleased with it! It has been immersed in water countless times, dropped and abused, and everything works fine. I found the sunrise/sunset, stopwatch, and timer functions to be used most.The plastic case has gotten scratched quite a bit but it is not noticeable because it's black. The glass face is still pristine. The original wrist strap is still going strong. All of the buttons have stayed in!! The battery meter shows "High", so solar aspect works well.I'm hoping a good many more years of use from this watch!