Garmin Fenix 3 HR ~ It seems to be the best GPS watch for hiking ...

Garmin Fenix3 HR (from Gamin web site)

vivoSmart

Recently, my vivoSmart has a problem again.   Some of pixels on the display started missing.   I checked this with the customer service of Garmin and they will replace it.  It is still under warranty.   This is actually third time since I bought it last September.  A good thing is Garmin always gave me a replacement right away.  So I am going to return for RMA and get the replacement soon.

For actual running, I usually use a GPS watch, Garmin Forerunner 910XT to track my workout.   I also have a foot pod to get running cadence.  However it does not work very well indoor activity except treadmill running.   For the other equipment in a gym, such as elliptical, stair climbing and walking on a treadmill, the impact is not probably strong enough to get a correct steps.   So I usually use vivoSmart to track such workout with the gym equipment.

It is not very convenient for me and I start looking for something new one which can cover everything with just one watch.  After some research on the internet, it seems Garmin Fenix 3 HR would be the best choice for me.   It covers daily activity tracking like vivoSmart.  And then, it has embedded heart rate sensor.  Therefore, it can monitor the heart rate without chest hear rate sensor.  It allow it to monitor the heart rate 24/7.  The rest, there are some nice features, but the embedded heart rate monitoring feature is the most interesting feature for me.   Based on some review, the accuracy of the chest sensor is better than the embedded one.  However, 24/7 monitoring is really attractive and possibly get a good data for hiking in higher elevation.   This data will help my current investigation for the heart rate base hiking method.

So I plan to get one some time in the future.  However the price is a big problem for me.  It is about USD $600 without a chest heart rate sensor.  So it is not really low cost.  My 910XT is still working well.   So I might not get one any time this year.  But before hiking to Mt. Whitney next year, I expect to get it and collect some new data for Mt. Whitney hiking.  

Start fire in outdoor

An oil lighter

   I had some bad experience to start fire on a camping stove during hiking, especially in winter.  However, it was not really critical for us because we always had some backup method to start the fire.   The problem is an attached ignition did not work in wet situation.  Once it gets wet, it usually does not work.  If people just rely on the ignition, then they might be in trouble in outdoor.  This is really common especially snow camping in winter and we always carry lighters for each person in our group.  Therefore, it was not really bad situation for our cases.

   Even though, we need to be very careful to pack / carry lighters / matches.   They also do not work when they get wet except water-proof type matches.  So it is always a good idea to put them into a plastic bag trying away from moisture.   When a person goes hiking alone, it would be better to carry more than one as well.   Since it is possible that one does not work some reason, such as running out the gas and etc.

Disposable lighers

   In many cases, I usually carry a few disposable lighters when I go hiking overnight.  It is a low cost and working well when it does not get wet.  In my past experience, I have never carry matches to hiking.   There is a water-proof type and it seems to be a good backup.  However, most of case we use camping stoves and not doing open fire.  Therefore, after using it, it will be a cinder.  We need to be careful to put it into a garbage bag.   As long as, people do a right way, it should not be a problem.  But using a lighter can completely avoid such situation.  Therefore, I personally do not see any point to use matches in outdoor.  Using a lighter would be much easy for most of people.

   The other experience was using Zippo lighter, which is an oil lighter.   Many people would use it because they say it is a better performance under windy condition.   I used to carry such type of lighter.  However, if hiking is a several days, the oil could evaporate.   Therefore, people might need to carry spare oil in this case.   When people using a stove with white gasoline.   The white gasoline could be alternate fuel for the lighter.  However, if people carry a gas canister, people need to have spare oil.  Nowadays, many people use a stove with a gas canister since it is easy and convenient especially short overnight hiking.   Thus, I would think just carrying a few disposable lighters would be a good option in many cases.

 Probably good for a family camping, might be a little big for backpacking....

   Anyway, people do overnight hiking, it is always better to carry a few lighter packed separately in a group.  Then we might be able to avoid a situation “no fire” in camping!

Light for camping

 LED Lantern

   Light for camping is changing a lot in the past decades.   The big thing is LED technology.  In 90’s, we were still using a candle for a light in a tent.  We just spent some time in a tent to talk and drink some alcohol beverage in a tent when we did backpacking.   At that time, LED is not an option for light in camping.  We were using a legacy “light bulb”.  Since the power dissipation was not small and we had to carry a few sets of spare batteries for backpacking.  That is one of reason we used to use a candle in a tent.  It was longer life and was good enough for a small tent.  Now, LED power dissipation is much smaller and we usually does not have to carry any spare battery if we install a brand new batteries and the duration of backpacking is not so long.   Probably a small LED lantern would be a good option using in a tent nowadays.   On the other hand, in a past decade, I did not have many chances to go backpacking with other people.  Also, only overnight hiking I had done was Mt. Whitney and Mt. Shasta, I usually left very early for the summit attempt.  Therefore, I was not awake in a dark during backpacking in a decade.  So that I really did not need any extra light other than my head lamp.

   However, a family camping is different.  In many cases, parents usually want to talk and drink alcohol beverage after dinner.  It is one of purpose and fun thing during a family camping.   Most of people get used to be very light environment in their daily life.  Even if they are in camping, people tend to desire bright light.   Also, the social event happens not in a tent, it is usually happen around a camp fire or a picnic table at a camp site.  Then people tend to carry a nice gas lantern, a large LED lantern and etc.   I only have a small LED lantern and it usually does not work well if people have a large lantern.  So I only use it in our tent only.  Actually only time we use it is preparing sleeping.  So it would be very short time.

Gas Lantern

 Gas Lantern

   It is very bright and reasonably lower running cost, one gas canister would be plenty for a few nights.  Only concern is it is using fire, therefore the gear gets hot.  It needs cooling down before packing.   The mantle is very sensitive and it is easy to broken.  So it is probably necessary to prepare a few spare since once it is broken, it does not work anymore unless it is replaced.   Also, due to high temperature around the mantle, the cover is usually glass.  So it needs to handle carefully including packing.

LED Lantern

   The power dissipation is much lower than a legacy light-bulb.  Therefore, we might need many spare battery for camping.  It might be better to use re-chargeable battery with solar panel.   Then, people do not worry about the power during the camping.  We might be able to charge during daytime.   A good thing is this type is not getting hot.  Therefore, it is much easy to handle and place almost anywhere.  Also, it is much safer than the gas lantern especially with some little kids.  I might consider to buy one for a family camping.

LED Head lamp

 LED Head lamp

   This is very good comparing with the legacy light-bulb.   When I was using this for running before sunrise, I did not have to replace the battery for a few months.  This means, as long as people put a brand new battery, they do not have to carry spare battery in many cases.  Even if people using it for a light in a tent, it might be all right just a short backpacking.   When I used a legacy light-bulb head lamp, I need to have a spare battery.  Especially if we really using it in a dark, we might need to replace the batteries during walking.   That is a big improvement in a past decade.

Equivalent exercise strength for hiking?

Equivalent exercise strength for hiking??

   I have been talking about heart rate base pacing during hiking.   Based on daily training data, we might be able to set a limitation of the heart rate during the hiking.  I think it works once we identify a good number.  Today, I just check the other way which is checking the heart rate number such as overall average and the maximum during a hiking and looking for a similar exercise from my daily training.

 Heart rate during hiking

   As a reference data, I pick Mt. Whitney hiking this year.  Based on my past analysis the first day to Trail Camp would be a hard section during this hiking because of weight for the backpack.  The first day overall average is 143 (bpm) and the average is 160 (bpm).  It takes about 5 hours.  This data includes rest.  So that I just focused on one section from this hiking which is about 1 hour out of 5 hours.   Then the average is 146 (bpm) and the maximum is 154(bpm) in the section.  Then I looked for a similar training from my training log.   One which is close to the section was a jogging for 90 minutes.  The average is 146 (bpm) and the maximum is 156 (bpm).   The heart rate plot is the following.

Heart rate during 90 minutes build up (running)

   If we look into detail, the profile of the heart rate is very different.  Since the heart rate during the hiking is vary.  The strength could be a bit higher than the running case and the heart rate could be increasing due to the strength and I needed to slow down to keep the heart rate lower than the target.  For the running case, it was a build-up and I slowly increasing the pace during the training.  Therefore, overall strength is probably lower than the hiking and the maximum strength would be the end of the training.  The other example is an interval training, which is 2 minutes high intensity and 5 minutes resting for 3 sets. For this training, after the interval section had completed, I did about 10 minutes running with a medium pace. The total training duration is just for 30 minutes.  The average heart rate is 145 (bpm) and the maximum is 161 (bpm).  This is probably closer situation as the hiking.

 Heart rate during interval (running)

   Based on this comparison, the equivalent training for the hiking is something similar as a training for runners.  90 minutes build-up / an interval is a sort of point training for runners.  To build a reasonable fitness level for the hiking, people need to do such training in regular basis.  Or people might need to slow down during the hiking if people do not do such level of the training.  My case is now the both sides are balanced since I was looking into the data from the both side.   From the daily training, we can guess a reasonable pace during the hiking.   It is important to see data from hiking and see actual strength looks like.

   Especially, the hiking this year, I controlled the pace very well based on the heart rate.   Therefore, the overall strength is also controlled as well.  Without controlling the pace, the strength during hiking could be much higher which means the equivalent strength for the daily hiking would be higher as well.