Handheld Weather Instruments

[Mike Sibley]

I hope I'm not becoming just a gadget collector, but I am considering buying a Kestrel 4000 hand-held weather meter. It measures wind speed, temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, etc. and can plot a graph to show trends over time for each variable. It seems to me that something like this would be very helpful to cruisers, but I don't want to spend the $250 if the unit is not dependable and reasonable accurate, or if the informaton it provides isn't useful in a practical sense. Does anyone have any first-hand experience with the Kestrel 4000 or a similar unit?

[bewitched]

hand held and plots graphs over time to show trends? you're going to get very bored of holding it up I suspect

how does it calculate true windspeed when the boat is moving?

[Microship]

I have a Kestrel 4000 and love it. I collect data once an hour most of the time, and it's been on the same set of batteries for about 2 years. I can drop it in an interface cradle to extract data when needed. This is a well-made and reliable gadget... and although the graphic resolution is not high, it readily shows the pasage of a storm:

[Mike Sibley]

Originally Posted by Microship

I have a Kestrel 4000 and love it. I collect data once an hour most of the time, and it's been on the same set of batteries for about 2 years. I can drop it in an interface cradle to extract data when needed. This is a well-made and reliable gadget... and although the graphic resolution is not high, it readily shows the pasage of a storm:

Thanks for the information. It confirms my impression about the durability of the instrument and I have ordered the 4000 model. My only lingering uncertainty is whether or not it will make a practical differnece in my ability to avoid bad weather or more effectively prepare for it. If it results in better weather forecasts and safer passages, it will be well worth the money. If it only tells me how bad the weather is at the monent, then at least it's kool gadget and I am sure it will be fun to play with.

[Pblais]

I've got the cheap handheld unit. They work well but it measures one point at a time or the trend over the period of time you measure. Something with memory and a longer trend could be nice. Winds at the masthead and the surface are often different. Over the long haul knowing wind trends is a good thing to have. The difference from the gusts and lulls to the average tells you how hard a watch you are going to have.

Information that translates into actions is good. Learning how to use it takes time. Detailed wind data falls easily into that category.