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I have admired the Casio altimeter/barometer/compass pathfinders for several years. But I never cared for the huge size.

I wanted their functions in a smaller, lighter watch. When Casio introduced the PAW1300T-7V, I decided I would try it as a replacement for my aging Luminox Navy Seal watch. I needed a watch that was fairly light and easily readable in the dark. The Luminox had fit that bill perfectly with the Tritum capsules on the hands at at the hour marks. But over time those capsules loose their luminosity. Also batteries have to be replaced. The prospect of a solar powered, rechargable watch that automatically corrected itself with the Atomic Clock signal was an added benefit.

I fly for an EMS helicopter service for a living. Half of my shifts are night shifts. This watch works very well for quick time checks with its auto-illumination feature. I have found if I calibrate the altimeter and barometer with local conditions that the altimeter function is very accurate, usually within 20-40 feet of the calibrated altimeters in my helicopter. I frequently check the watch against the altimeters when we are flying. Dual time zones means I can leave the secondary time zone on UTC for filing filght plans. The temperature function is not of any real value to me as it is greatly affected by body proximity. But it is accurate if the watch is removed from the body for about 30 minutes. The alarms work well but the alarm tones are too soft for my ears after flying turbine engined aircraft for almost 40 years.

So, a quick recap: Automatic self-correcting time snychronization, Solar powered/recharged, Excellent automatic self-illumiation, Accurate altimeter and compass functions when calibrated for local conditions. It smaller than previous PAW’s and lighter, especially in the Titanium version. I was just thinking the other day that I have been using Casio watches for the last 30 years. (I just put a battery in one of the oldest and it still works great!) I have always liked their layout and user interface. This newest Pathfinder of mine is no exception. It is easy to use, easy to set. If you like Casios, for the money, it is hard to beat this watch, especially on Amazon!

Great watch with many useful features. I bought this as a backup tool for aviation. It has proved to be fairly useful. I give it only 4 stars because of the functionality of the measurements.

I calibrated my watch at the airport with actual observed conditions. Once calibrated it will provide fairly accurate measurements, I use fairly loosely. The barometer only measures in increments of .05 inches. Yesterday the barometer was as 30.07 observed and my watch read 30.10. I suppose 30.05 would have been closer but I was thankful that the watch read that close. The temperature measurements have been dead on. I have an outdoor digital thermometer at my house and they generally read the same to .2 degrees F.

The altimeter and compass do not continually measure. They have to be refreshed. I believe that the compass reads for 20 sec and the altimeter might be the same. The altimeter has shown to be the most inaccurate of the measurements. It tends to fluctuate a lot.

My biggest complaint though is the backlight. It only stays on for about 2 seconds once the button is pushed. It isnt nearly enough time to take in all the information that this watch provides. I havent found a way yet to change the duration.

I could certainly have gotten away with the 1300 series but my wife thought the 1500 looked better so who was I to argue. The moon feature of the 1500 is pretty cool. I do enjoy knowing what phase the moon is in and how high the tides are.

Overall I really enjoy this watch. I wish that it was a little more accurate but I guess that is why aviation instruments are thousands of dollars and this watch is hundreds. BTW, I really like Amazon and buy most everything from here…except this watch. I bought it at my local Casio dealer for about $30 less than advertised here. The casio pathfinder website has a dealer locater function. If you are thinking about this watch…get it.

This watch stands out in price/performance terms in this category. I replaced a 5-year old similar Casio model that was all plastic and required a battery. (When you are deep in the mountains batteries are a nuisance.)

With solar power the watch is always ready for action. It even conserves power when it sits overnight by turning off the display. All the functions work as documented.

One minor feature that is surprisingly useful to me is the time zone change function based on city location. It’s much faster and easier to switch as you move around the world.

With a titanium band I expect this one to last at least 5 years. Although the watch is large and noticeable it is very lightweight.

Expect to get labeled as a bit of a geek if you wear this watch as a day to day timepiece. It’s information over style although the looks work for me.

I love this watch and never travel without it. I followed the instructions in the manual and use the thermometer a lot. To get an accurate ambient air temp reading I just take off the watch and wait about 8 minutes in the shade. You can also calibrate the thermometer and found the factory setting to be dead accurate! I discovered that if you read the temp while wearing this watch it will read your skin temp and have found this to be very helpful in monitoring my skin temp. Anything less than a 83 degrees means I am starting to get uncomfortably cold and need to warm up. 86 degrees skin temp is perfect for me. Knowing this allows me to tell if I have a fever or just over worked etc.

I use the altimeter alarm function when I fly to alert me of a faulty cabin pressure system during my commercial flights. I set my PAG 40 alarm to 8000 which is the maximum altitude pressure allowed in passenger cabins set by the FAA. If the cabin pressurization goes above 8000 ft the alarm will sound on the PAG 40. There is a graph at the top of the screen to check your altitude history. The graph is also used for tracking barometer history.

I calibrate my altimeter daily to get an accurate reading since the barameter will change by the hour.

The compass feature is great and you can also calibrate that too. I find the compass usefull at night and on heavy overcast days.

You get 5 seperate alarms and a short alarm for the top of each hour. All the alarms can be turned off or on seperately.

The stopwatch function does split times and single timing. It will not do laptimes for example timing laps at a race on after the other.

It runs on 4 batteries part# 395. Which I was able to change them myself.

Watch speed calibration was also accessible!

The display is large and easy to read.

I have owned my Casio PAG 40 for two years now.

The watch band has held just great so far and the watch is free of defects.

I plan to buy two more of these watches.