Always like having a watch and when I don't, I feel nekked.

I use an altimeter watch hiking and love having that extra data point. Plus I put it in record mode during the day's hike and it gives me cumulative altitude gained and lost, which I find interesting and occasionally useful. Not to be overlooked is the navigation benefit of knowing when to leave the trail or, say, head north to intersect the trail after an XC excursion. An altimeter can help me do that at the right spot.

Especially on a cloudy day or in heavy forest I don't have to guess the time, not to mention during the night. It's important to know how much daylight there is when deciding whether to press on or find a campsite. More prosaically, if I wake at two a.m. with the urge to heed nature's call, I know I need to do it. But at six I might be able to ignore it for awhile longer and grab a few more winks.

Have never had an alarm loud enough to wake me up, though. I suppose that's only fair, I'm not going to the office after all.

Cheers,