If you haven't heard much about SUUNTO, you are not alone.

SUUNTO is more of a quiet, milspec warrior type, mingling with the elite for the last 80 years.

Tuomas Vohlonen, an orienteer (person using navigational skills, a map and compass) was unhappy with his compass so he invented a better one.

In 1936 he had figured out a way of putting together a compass housing using celluloid (a type of thermoplastic) filled with liquid to protect the needle.

One of the First Suunto M-311 models. Photo by Kmseteam

From compasses they moved on to making watches.
Their reputation for creating phenomenally accurate compasses that were sold to the military and the general public saw them making up a lot of ground in the watch industry,

In 1998 they released the SUUNTO Vector. It was the world's first watch with ABC functions (A=altitude, B=barometer, C=compass).
The popularity of the Vector watch grew the company's offerings at a rapid pace with their subsequent models offering compass bearings, altitude, training effect and even GPS location.

Having supplied a lot of their equipment to the military they custom made a Tactical watch called the Traverse.

See below for different models and a special offer.

Why we like the SUUNTO Traverse Alpha

Milspec

The watch is built to military standards and used by the elite of the world. When you hold one in your hand, you know that you are holding a serious piece of tech that has been put through its paces.

These are the military standard tests that the Traverse Alpha tops:

1. Test Method 500.5 Low Pressure (Altitude);
2. Test Method 501.5 High Temperature, operation, procedure II;
3. Test Method 501.5 High Temperature, storage, procedure I;
4. Test Method 502.5 Low Temperature, operation, procedure II;
5. Test Method 502.5 Low Temperature, storage, procedure I;
6. Test Method 503.5 Temperature Shock, procedure I-C;
7. Test Method 504.1 Contamination by Fluids,
8. Test Method 505.5 Solar Radiation (Sunshine), procedure II;
9. Test Method 506.5 Rain, procedure I, blowing rain;
10. Test Method 507.5 Humidity, Procedure II, aggravated;
11. Test Method 509.5 Salt Fog;
12. Test Method 510.5 Sand and dust, procedure II;
13. Test Method 512.5 Immersion;
14. Test Method; 514.6 Vibration;
15. Test Method 516.6 Shock;
16. Test Method 516.6 Drop;
17. Test Method 521.3 Icing/Freezing Rain;
18. Test Method 524 Freeze / Thaw, procedure I:
19. Test Method 509.5 Salt Fog;
20. Test Method 504.1 Contamination by fluids, procedure II,
21. Test Method 514.6 Vibration, category 24;
22. Test Method 516.6 Shock, procedure I;
23. Test Method 516.6 Drop, procedure IV

Take a look at some of the tests in the below video.

GPS/GLONASS/MGRS

The watch will instantly show coordinates of your location.
It uses GPS and GLONASS (Global Navigation Satellite System).

The Traverse supports MGRS (Military Grid Reference System) coordinates which are used by the NATO armed forces.

Waypoints

It allows you to import routes in various formats (GPX, KML etc.) as well as set up waypoints and then guide you through them.

Automatic Shot detection

The watch detects when a shot is fired and immediately saves the coordinates as a waypoint.

Smart Watch

These days SUUNTO compete as one of the elite when it comes to the realm of smart watches.

It can connect to your phone and is both IOS and Android compatible.
The Traverse will even show your phones notifications and incoming calls so you can use it as an everyday carry watch.

What makes a Smart Watch SMART?

Apps.
It's all about what the watch can do and the more you dive into the SUUNTO features and app capabilities, the more impressed you will be.

The watch comes standard with a lot of features.

• Hiking, Fishing and Hunting modes
• Sunrise-sunset times and alerts
• Fishing and hunting specific POI types
• Moon phases and moon rise/set times
• Automatic Shot detection
• Red backlight, Night Vision Goggle compatible
• GPS and GLONASS for route and POI navigation
• Real-time breadcrumb view of the recorded track
• Tracking for speed, distance and altitude
• Discover new routes with heatmaps on Suunto Movescount and Suunto Movescount App
• Route planning in Suunto Movescount with topographic maps
• Route preview and route altitude profile on the watch
• 100 m/330 ft water resistance
• Altitude (FusedAlti™)
• Weather trend and storm alarm
• Compass
• Backlight in flashlight mode
• Vibration alarm
• GPS time update
• Daily, weekly, monthly and yearly activity tracking of steps and calories
• Mobile notifications
• Compatible with Suunto Movescount App (IOS and Android)

Automatic shot detection feature

The automatic shot detection system was developed specifically for the Traverse Alpha and works best with rifles and shotguns.
The tech behind the algorithm takes your motion patterns into consideration and gun recoil movement measured by the accelerometer.

Every time a shot is fired it logs the exact coordinates as a waypoint which you can track later.

The main SUUNTO watch app is called Movescount.

Check it out here: http://www.movescount.com/

More APPS

Apps are being added all the time. There are some big APP names in the mix already.

Tracking, Waypoints, Heat Map

There is a large interactive heatmap that you can use to plot your routes and choose whether to share with the others. The New Zealand community seems to be expanding at a rapid pace.

Check it out HERE.

The Models

Click here for details on the Traverse Alpha Stealth

Click here for details on the Traverse Alpha Foliage

Click here for details on the Traverse Woodland

Click here for details on the Traverse Concrete

Offer

We believe that SUUNTO, especially the traverse Alpha (in our Tactical realm), is not going to stop its massive current growth...so we acquired a few units and for a limited time only we are going to be taking off a hundred bucks. Get yours!

Come visit our SUUNTO range in our showroom. Click on the map below to get directions to our Tactical store in Auckland.

Stay safe, stay elite