Today, seems like we’re covering a bit of “going outside” gear, between here and over at Knapsack – and you know what? That’s a-ok. Sure, we can bundle up and go out into the cold and snow, but it’s more appealing to thinking about warm days and cool evenings out on the trail and by the campfire. That’s what the Casio ProTrek PRG240 is all about.
Now, if you’re not familiar with the Casio ProTrek lineup, I’ll point you at our more recent reviews (say, here and here). While those aren’t from the same lineup, it gives you the basic idea of what all these things can track. I mean, aside from date, time, and alarm, you get the following bits of information:
- Altimeter – so you know how high you climbed
- Barometer – so you can tell if those dark clouds are following a low pressure system or not
- Compass heading – including a small display telling you the direction you’re going
- Thermometer: so you know just how cold it is when you roll out of the tent in the morning
Of course, the Casio ProTrek PRG240 also packs in other nice-to-haves, like worldtime, sunrise/sunset times, stopwatch, and alarms. Oh, and did I mention its solar powered? I mean, if you’re going to be in the outdoors, might as well let the sun power your watch, right?
Don’t tell John, but realistically? The Casio ProTrek PRG240 is the watch I would choose anytime for heading into the outdoors. In fact, I bought an older version of it for my dad a few years back, and he used it for hiking and camping until the strap broke (one drawback of these designs, aftermarket straps really aren’t there).
While there are a lot of variants in the ProTrek, the reason I’d opt for the Casio ProTrek PRG240 is the display. Yes, it’s big and fully digital, that’s the plus. Sure, the PRT lineup looks nice with the ana-digi displays, so they can blend into “regular” life more. For me, though, if you’re going to have purpose-built for outdoors, the digital display just makes things simpler to tell (a) what mode you’re in and (b) what that mode is measuring.
In the case of the recent update to the Casio ProTrek PRG240, we’ve got two new colors. You’ve got an olive green resin band paired to a black case and bezel (with orange accents), or a khaki band with yellow accents on the case. For me, it’s that olive-and-orange combo, primarily because it’s the color scheme of our REI tent. Regardless, either model will run you just $280, which is a pretty sharp price for a reliable outdoor companion like this. You can check them out – and order one – direct from Casio. casio.com
Tech Specs from Casio
- Case / bezel material: Resin
- Resin Band
- Mineral Glass
- Direction Bezel
- 100-meter water resistance
- Electro-luminescent backlight
- Full auto EL light, selectable illumination duration, afterglow
- Solar powered
- Low-temperature resistant (-10 °C/14 °F)
- Digital compass
- Measures and displays direction as one of 16 points
- Measuring range: 0° to 359°
- Measuring unit: 1°
- 20 seconds continuous measurement
- Graphic direction pointer
- Bidirectional calibration and northerly calibration function
- Magnetic declination correction
- Bearing memory
- Altimeter
- Measuring range: -700 to 10,000 m (-2,300 to 32,800 ft.)
- Measuring unit: 5 m (20 ft.)
- Manual memory measurements
- (up to 25 records, each including altitude, date, time)
- High Altitude / Low Altitude memory
- Total Ascent / Descent memory
- Others: Reference altitude setting, Altitude tendency graph, Altitude differential
- *Changeover between meters (m) and feet (ft)
- Barometer
- Display range: 260 to 1,100 hPa (7.65 to 32.45 inHg)
- Display unit: 1 hPa (0.05 inHg)
- Atmospheric pressure tendency graph
- Atmospheric pressure differential graphic
- *Changeover between hPa and inHg
- Thermometer
- Display range: -10 to 60 °C (14 to 140 °F)
- Display unit: 0.1 °C (0.2 °F)
- *Changeover between Celsius (°C) and Fahrenheit (°F)
- Duplex LC display
- World time
- 31 time zones (48 cities), city code display, daylight saving on/off
- Sunrise, sunset time display
- Sunrise time and sunset time for specific date, Daylight pointers
- 1/100-second stopwatch
- Measuring capacity: 23:59’59.99”
- Measuring modes: Elapsed time, split time, 1st-2nd place times
- Countdown timer
- Measuring unit: 1 second
- Countdown start time setting range: 24 hours
- Countdown start time setting range: 1 minute to 24 hours (1- minute increments and 1-hour increments)
- Daily alarms
- 5 independent daily alarms
- Hourly time signal
- Battery level indicator
- Power Saving (Display goes blank to save power when the watch is left in the dark.)
- Full auto-calendar (to year 2099)
- 12/24-hour format
- Button operation tone on/off
- Regular timekeeping:
- Hour, minute, second, pm, year, month, date, day
- Accuracy: ±15 seconds per month
- Approx. battery operating time:
- 6 months on rechargeable battery (operation period with normal use without exposure to light after charge)
- 23 months on rechargeable battery (operation period when stored in total darkness with the power save function on after full charge)
- Size of case : 57.3×50.9×15.3mm
- Total weight : 65.4g
