Walking Distance Calculator

[HB13DISH]

I am looking for a cheap walking distance calculator, something that can be strapped to the hand or leg. I have seen many that uses a GPS, but I am looking for the cheapest option.
August has been too hot and humid to do any appreciable walkies, but September should be just bearable, so I have about three weeks to get such a gadget.
Any suggestions and experience would be very much appreciated.

 

[Lazarus]

"Digi Walker" are reputed to be among the best, although like any device, Pedometers come in all sorts of styles and complexity and also various means of "fixing" to you. Quite a few are simply designed to slip into a pocket, but others can be strapped to eg an arm or a belt.

Here's a link to Digiwalker products

_http://www.digiwalker.co.uk/homepage.cfm?CFID=2805744&CFTOKEN=30572159

But there really are too many others to list!

You can even get cheap ones (c. £4 or £5) from Supermarkets here in the UK.

This one is a Step Counter that you can upload data from

_http://www.shop-com.co.uk/Pocket_Pedometer-49457702-64211793-p+.xhtml?sourceid=309

But perhaps a nice compromise would be something like this

_http://www.virtualvillage.co.uk/pedometer-pulse-meter-for-counting-footsteps/sku000310-002?utm_source=googlebase&utm_medium=shcomp&utm_campaign=Pedometer%20Pulse%20Meter%20for%20Counting%20Footsteps

Which is fairly cheap but does actually do Distance Computation etc.

So three links - one to the acme of pedometry and one to the bargain basement: But I imagine you really want something like the one in between!

 

[Lazarus]

Actually, I need a new one myself, so have also discovered that Amazon flog a whole range of suitable beasts at reasonable prices!

_http://www.amazon.co.uk/s?ie=UTF8&tag=firefox-uk-21&index=blended&link_code=qs&field-keywords=pedometer&sourceid=Mozilla-search

I'm going to order one in anticipation of our forthcoming walking holiday in the Lake District.

Thanks for the prompt

Edit: The Forum software plays silly beggars with the word describing the store and also the linkie - but I'm sure you can figure it out!

 

[Lazarus]

Well, I've just ordered an "Omron Walking Style II" for £12 from A.mazon.

It seems to be the best compromise between reputation, price and features - and the reviews suggest it copes well with hill walking, delivering reasonably accurate distance covered results (which basic ones do not).

 

[HB13DISH]

Well, I've just ordered an "Omron Walking Style II" for £12 from A.mazon.

It seems to be the best compromise between reputation, price and features - and the reviews suggest it copes well with hill walking, delivering reasonably accurate distance covered results (which basic ones do not).

Thanks Tivù for all your suggestions. I appreciate it very much.
I thought I would need to pay a lot for such a gadget, but around 12 pounds + shipment would be a bargain.
Will check first what they have in local stores, which means I will have to take a trip and waste a lot of time looking until I find something good. Bound to be a cheap thing from China. Might as well order the same from Amazon UK.
Will look forward to read your review, as you will receive it before I buy one.

 

[Lazarus]

Not a problem - it should be here by the end of this week and both myself and SWMBO regularly walk in the Moors right by our house, so we can get to grips with the gadget before hitting the Lake district towards the end of September.

BTW, the Omron only does km, not miles, but a "divide by 1.6" conversion factor shouldn't be too onerous! Personally, I prefer km anyway.

The normal price is around £28, so I'm a happy bunny.

 

[HB13DISH]

Found the Omron Walking Style II HJ-113 in a shop for 170 NIS (26 Pounds). Will look for other shops or order it from Amazon. Would make a nice present also for my brother.
No problem with Km. It is standard in Israel.

 

[HB13DISH]

There is another model Walking Style Pro which has a USB connector and comes with software for management. Didn't see it in Amazon.
Wouldn't this be better?
_http://www.omron-healthcare.com/sitepreview.php?SiteID=544

 

[Lazarus]

Well it retails nearer to £40 here and I personally don't need to download data - that's getting a bit too serious!

But horses for courses and all that.

Edit: Actually the .com version of the aforementioned online store do have that model at $31.99, so if shipping is reasonable, it looks like you might have struck gold

_http://www.amazon.com/Omron-HJ-720ITC-Pedometer-Advanced-Management/dp/B000MN92WM

(Linkie has gone weird again - just remove the superfluous ",")

 

[Lazarus]

A bit slow for A.mazon, but the gadget has only just been despatched.

Delivery date c. 20 Aug, so User Trials delayed until next weekend.

 

[2cvbloke]

I remember a few years back, Walkers (the snack food makers) gave away free pedometers, and I got one too, but it was absolutely useless!!! My walk was too smooth for it to work (it used a weight to pull down a lever which activated the switch that notched up the count), you have to walk a silly bouncy up and down walk for the cheapo ones to work, you could have a target set, and end up walking 100s more steps than the pedometer has actually counted!!!

Didn't actually do anything regarding walking distances though, you'd have to measure each stride to gauge how far you've walked, or step in the same length for the pedometer to be of any use!!!

I just use GoogleEarth and an online calculator, I plot the path I walked or cycled, then export that data to this site, and it tells me the distances I went...

I would post the link, but I have that on my other laptop, and I can't be bothered going to get that out...

There's plenty out there...

 

[Channel Hopper]

I have used a GPS based Garmin Forerunner (I think it was the 201)

_http://walking.about.com/cs/measure/fr/garminforerunr.htm

but was not impressed when the battery warning started after some six hours.

Way back when I was in the scouts I used to use an OS map on a hike, cheap, no batteries, and no real damage unless it got totally wet.

 

[Channel Hopper]

Ah no, looking in the spare drawer, it was the 301

 

[HB13DISH]

The Omron series should be OK, as Omron is a well known and prestigious manufacturer.
I realize that the calculated distance is not going to be that accurate as it will depend on the personal calibration, but it is better than having no gadget at all.

 

[Lazarus]

The Omron series should be OK, as Omron is a well known and prestigious manufacturer.
I realize that the calculated distance is not going to be that accurate as it will depend on the personal calibration, but it is better than having no gadget at all.

During my research, the clincher was the Reviews which confirmed that the Acceleration Sensor used by the Omron gave far more accurate results, including on hilly sections, than the mechanism used by low-end devices.

You can even shove it in a pocket and it will work well.

Of course, all the Reviews could be fakes ................. )(-red

 

[Lazarus]

The Omron has just arrived.

Just setting it up now and I'll send SWMBO out on the Moors this evening for an initial trial.

It certainly looks to be a quality piece of kit.

 

[HB13DISH]

The Omron has just arrived.

Just setting it up now and I'll send SWMBO out on the Moors this evening for an initial trial.

It certainly looks to be a quality piece of kit.

Glad to hear it.
Did you buy one or two?
I think that the gadget calibration is on an individual basis, depending on the personal pace.

 

[Lazarus]

Glad to hear it.
Did you buy one or two?
I think that the gadget calibration is on an individual basis, depending on the personal pace.

Yes, individual calibration is required - but I've only purchased one gadget.

So I'll set it up for SWMBO as she walks each evening, whereas I only do so occasionally. We can estimate the accuracy by reference to our 1:25,000 Maps and a bit of string!

However, we both walk regularly at the weekends (and, of course, on our Fell Walking Holidays), so I'll go Alpha Male and reset it for my own weight and stride length as appropriate.

We are reasonably fit for relative oldies, so its going to be of use for monitoring distance travelled rather than for step-counting alone.

Have you ordered one, or waiting for my review?

 

[HB13DISH]

Yes, individual calibration is required - but I've only purchased one gadget.

So I'll set it up for SWMBO as she walks each evening, whereas I only do so occasionally. We can estimate the accuracy by reference to our 1:25,000 Maps and a bit of string!

However, we both walk regularly at the weekends (and, of course, on our Fell Walking Holidays), so I'll go Alpha Male and reset it for my own weight and stride length as appropriate.

We are reasonably fit for relative oldies, so its going to be of use for monitoring distance travelled rather than for step-counting alone.

Have you ordered one, or waiting for my review?

Makes sense to have just one, for this model.
But for the one with USB, the data would not be accurate if two different persons use it over the logged periods.
Haven't ordered one yet. Just waiting for the next weekend to do it.

 

[Jmal555]

if you already have a Nokia phone with a GPS, you can get a free app for it here:

_http://sportstracker.nokia.com/nts/main/index.do

Great app, used it a lot myself.