Manufacturer Comment

HighGear Axis Manufacturer's Comment
January 18, 2005

HighGear appreciates the opportunity to have our Axis reviewed by BackpackGearTest.org. Some of the reviews were very positive in terms of the altimeter functions and the durability of the watch. There were also a number of great suggestions that HighGear will definitely look into and possibility implement in future products.

However, overall, the reviews were not a fair representation of our altimeter watches. Upon reading the testers' reviews, it seemed that some of the tester's were not familiar with altimeter watches and their capabilities and limitations. For example, many of the reviews commented on the inaccuracies of the compass. Keep in mind that the compass on the Axis is digital. Any manufacturer of digital compasses, HighGear included, would only recommend using a digital compass for general navigation. In situations where exact direction and navigation is required, HighGear recommends that a true map compass be used.

HighGear's Axis uses barometric pressure to determine altitude. Any change of barometric pressure causes a change in altitude. The Axis in and of itself does not automatically know the altitude and can only read altitude due to changes in barometric pressure. Some of the reviews didn't seem to grasp the correlation between these two measurements.

Some of the reviewers also mentioned that the temperature function was nearly useless due to the effect of body heat. Most watches that include a temperature sensor have the same limitation. The two reviewers that tested the Casio Alti-Thermo and Suunto Vector on the BackPackGearTest site had a good understanding of this limitation and suggested removing the watch from the wrist and placing the watch on a pack strap or belt loop to get the most accurate results.

Finally, some of the reviewers mentioned that the Axis was "too large" or "too bulky." The Axis watch is the smallest altimeter watch on the market. Other altimeter watches are a great deal larger; including HighGear's other altimeter watch, the Summit.

HighGear sincerely welcomes critiques and reviews of our products in order to help us understand how we can better serve our consumers and continue to produce quality outdoor products. On the other hand, we do not feel this particular set of reviews were accurate critiques of HighGear products.

Jaime Hatfield
HighGear USA
Customer Relations

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