The Radical Edge Adventure: I Am Ambit.

I am not an adventure racer. I am not in the military. I am not training for a marathon, but I still LOVE MY AMBIT; let me tell you why.

This isn’t a tool I only wear when going for a hike, run or cycle. This is my everyday watch. Unlike a lot of GPS enabled sport watches, the battery holds a charge long enough that I only need to plug it in to my computer once a week. Even then it is not drained of battery. I can hear you right now, “You know Brian, $12 Timex’s don’t ever need to be plugged in to your computer, what’s the big deal?” Fair enough, person I created for this paragraph, let me answer your question.

I may not be a diehard adventure racer, geo-cacher or marathoner, but I am a fairly dedicated trail runner and hiker and all around gear geek. The Ambit scratches all of these itches. The setup and interface on the watch is easy to scroll through and explore: after five minutes of out of the box tinkering, I already knew how to set it up to map my run and toggle between the different information it is acquiring as I go. So that’s exactly what I did, I went.

Most other fang-dangled watches would make me do this. Not the Ambit.

At the trail head I clicked the AMBIT to the exercise screen where my options were as follows: running, skiing, trail running, trekking, cycling, indoor training, mountaineering or other sports. Each setting has different specs and offer different readings intuitive of what someone would want to keep track of while doing their particular activity. So I clicked trail running and hopped into the woods.

The satellite picked up in a matter of seconds and was ready to go. I have used this thing in some really thick and dense woods and have never once lost a signal. I didn’t know how much I would like my distances, ascension, speed and time being meticulously gauged as I was trying to relax and run. Would I focus too much on the watch and not enough on the run? As I got a few kilometers into my run I realized that I was really interested in what was going on, on my wrist, but it enhanced the experience.

Knowing how far I had gone, or how high a hill I had just grunted up, having immediate access to that info made me want to push my limits because for the first time ever I had actual data on what my limits were.

During exercise you can gauge your activity, set goals and really keep track of what you are putting your body through. Let’s get to post exercise. After my runs or hikes I sit down in front of the computer and plug in my Ambit. It has this sweet, little clip to USB cord that clasps on to three little diodes encased in the bottom of the watch. The first time you plug the AMBIT into your CPU a start-up wizard walks you through downloading the necessary plug-in that allows your watch and computer to talk to one another. Every time there is either a firmware or a software update for the Ambit, when you plug your watch in it will tell you there is either a necessary or optional update available. In the four months I have owned my AMBIT there have been significant improvements to the firmware and software. I can now export GPX and KMZ files to use alongside programs like GOOGLE EARTH and STRAVA. Inside of my watch there are new exercise options and additional features.

Suunto uses MOVES COUNT to store and view all of the data your AMBIT collects. It is super simple to navigate, personalize and organize. Check out my public profile HERE to get an idea of how it works. From Moves Count you can also see other SUUNTO user’s exercises or MOVES. A down side to MOVES COUNT is you can ONLY view other SUUNTO user’s moves. Get lost Garmin.

Now what do I do with all this data once I have looked at it? In all honesty, not much. I do enjoy looking at the mapped run or hike I just went on and throwing the file into Google Earth. I like having all my runs stored in a folder with the GPX file and map image together. I am collector. You should see me organize my comics, it’s a type of madness, one I derive much joy from.

The biggest benefit for me with the stored data and files SUUNTO so easily collects for me is sharing it all with people in my Trail Running Club – THE FREDERICTONFLIGHT CLUB. I have the ability to show people exactly where we have gone, where we are going next, what kind of distances and time lengths to expect with each particular run. Finding trail heads is no problem either. With the navigation functions in the AMBIT, I can drop a pin and revisit that location anytime I want. The AMBIT can even guide me back to any stored location with the push of a button.

Fredericton Flight Club! All are welcome!

This magical, wrist top wonder machine is my favorite toy, most used tool and coolest piece of gear I own. That’s saying something too, because I have been selling top tier gear for five years now and my gear shed is busting at the seams.

Other features include: Military Grid Reference (MGRS) Navigation Option, internal exercise logbook, stopwatch, 100 storable points of interest, route navigation, heart rate monitor (optional), current location, altimeter, barometer, compass, thermometer, alarm, dual time zones, you know what, this blog is long enough.