Bridger Watch - "The Problem No One Fixed" (smartwatch)

[mayberry331]

Latest email update says late March potentially into April for ship date.

 

[mayberry331]

Not affiliated with bridger and I don’t know anyone who own the company but I have seen a little bit of criticism of this watch and thought I’d share my 2 cents.

This watch probably isn’t for everyone. But it does solve some problems for me. Maybe it’s because I’m not as skilled a woodsman as some of the people criticizing it. But more than once I’ve found myself thinking, “Man, it would be nice if I could just screen-share my phone to my watch right now.”

Most of the time that thought comes when I’m closing in on a bull with cows and I’m not 100% sure I’m on the right ridge, rise, or contour etc. I’ve had several situations where I pulled my phone out to verify my position, realized the screen was soaked with sweat from hiking, had to set my bow down, dry the screen just to check my map, and then scramble to relocate the bull I was chasing.

Being able to quickly verify my position while still moving without digging out my phone would be a real advantage in those moments.

And that’s not even considering other practical features, like having a red light available for hiking in the dark to a glassing knob or navigating before daylight. Hope this helps someone.

 

[deserthunter2016]

Not affiliated with bridger and I don’t know anyone who own the company but I have seen a little bit of criticism of this watch and thought I’d share my 2 cents.

This watch probably isn’t for everyone. But it does solve some problems for me. Maybe it’s because I’m not as skilled a woodsman as some of the people criticizing it. But more than once I’ve found myself thinking, “Man, it would be nice if I could just screen-share my phone to my watch right now.”

Most of the time that thought comes when I’m closing in on a bull with cows and I’m not 100% sure I’m on the right ridge, rise, or contour etc. I’ve had several situations where I pulled my phone out to verify my position, realized the screen was soaked with sweat from hiking, had to set my bow down, dry the screen just to check my map, and then scramble to relocate the bull I was chasing.

Being able to quickly verify my position while still moving without digging out my phone would be a real advantage in those moments.

And that’s not even considering other practical features, like having a red light available for hiking in the dark to a glassing knob or navigating before daylight. Hope this helps someone.

I can do all of that on my Garmin Fenix? I guess in Garmin I have to be in an activity to be able to see maps which I could see the benefit in not having to do that.

I’ll use a red light on a headlamp before I would on a watch for hiking. It’s just too inconvenient especially if I’m carrying a weapon, trekking poles, whatever it may be. I’ll use my watch light for looking for stuff in the tent or taking a piss in the middle of the night. Nothing that would be more than a couple minutes at most.

I’ve never had a problem with battery life on my Fenix, but I’m sure there are guys in the field for more consecutive days than I am.

Can a heart rate monitor be connected to the Bridger other than the built in monitor on the watch? In my experience the watch HRM’s are not nearly as accurate as the strapped style.

Does it show sunrise and sunset times? I use this daily during the season.

I don’t need ballistics in my watch.

Being able to see mtntough workouts on my watch is also not important.

It seems to be heavily marketed towards certain selling points that aren’t really anything better than what’s on the market and proven itself.

Not knocking the watch, it seems to look like a good watch with a lot of features with potential.


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[mayberry331]

Sounds good, I appreciate the response. I agree, overall seems like it will be another good option for people to have and I’m sure people will use it differently than what features and options were appealing to me.

 

[stayzeroed]

I have read some good opinions on this watch. For me, I NEED convinced to buy this watch and cast aside the watch I spent $900 on, just a couple years ago. So far, unfortunately, I have not yet been convinced. Maybe once I can see/feel the watch, I could be convinced. But at this point, it's hard to do away with something that already works.

Anyone else?

 

[wysongdog]

Saw a post they are integrated with onX now. That will be the tipping point for me to get one. That’s what I was waiting for.

 

[well_known_rokslider]

OnX integration is tempting. Maybe I'm just a tight wad but I just don't think I can justify the cost when my Garmin Instinct has pretty much done everything I actually need. Definitely glad to see some more options come to the market, especially brands that are blatantly hunter targeted. Curious what happened to Dave...

 

[deserthunter2016]

@jgilber5 can you connect an external hrm?


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[PeteinMT]

Are these shipping yet?

Anywhere these can be seen in person?

 

[PeteinMT]

Thanks, I am in Bozeman so I will go check them out!!

 

[Oregonhuntrboi]

Got mine ordered and looking forward to trying it. Will there be an option to remove apps and clutter that we don’t want on the screen?

 

[PeteinMT]

FYI Schnees does not have any watches to look at. They did host the launch party but do not have watches

 

[chanson_roland]

Seeing a lot of media on these now. Anyone know anything about:

- What the OS is? Assuming android, but want to confirm. A saw something where BridgerOS was built from scratch, but I'm assuming this forked from something (Android, Linux, QnX, etc)

- Open or closed appstore?

- Cloud App so you can see/track your trail, stats, etc?

- Any developer community notes or plans to do so?

 

[bozeman]

I go back to the watches thread on the main forum....keep it simple, tell me the time. Jack of all trades is a master of none......while it may look the part, its just one more distraction to me. How many devices does one need to know where they are, where they came from and where they are going??

 

[ZachTullock]

Interested to hear some real world feedback on this watch. I'm still rocking my Fenix 5 from 2018 - It's been a great watch over the years, but the heart rate monitor and health metrics are not up to date with the latest and greatest.

 

[deserthunter2016]

[mention]jgilber5 [/mention] Does it track HRV status and training loads over time?


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[selargent]

Will it eventually have our Arial maps on onX ? That’s really what I’m waiting for. Not just a topo view. I never liked garmin because the maps. I like being able to see clearings have an idea where I’m going. Seeing that view where you can picture animals at. 30 day battery life is awesome when you’re in Alaska. Especially when battery on your phone is crucial because of charging. Thanks for any info on this.

 

[UpstateArcher]

Does anyone else have real world reviews? In the mountains? I want to like this thing! I want it to work but aside from all of the expected bugs, the “OnX integration” that was promised, just isn’t there from what I’m experiencing. I’ve had it about a month and hadn’t even bothered trying to map with it yet since it couldn’t even maintain the clock time or a gps signal. Now that most of those issues have been resolved, I’m trying the mapping for the first time today.
I downloaded maps last night to the app.. now I can’t sync them to my watch without WiFi? And the downloadable maps are horrible.. am I missing something? I don’t see how this has any integration to OnX other than a more complicated way to copy and paste grids. I hope I’m wrong but I just don’t see how updates are going to turn this into a product worth the hype, promise and money. They really need to start pumping out some content and be clear with people on what this thing can and can’t do.

 

[jonnyviceroy]

Does anyone else have real world reviews? In the mountains? I want to like this thing! I want it to work but aside from all of the expected bugs, the “OnX integration” that was promised, just isn’t there from what I’m experiencing. I’ve had it about a month and hadn’t even bothered trying to map with it yet since it couldn’t even maintain the clock time or a gps signal. Now that most of those issues have been resolved, I’m trying the mapping for the first time today.
I downloaded maps last night to the app.. now I can’t sync them to my watch without WiFi? And the downloadable maps are horrible.. am I missing something? I don’t see how this has any integration to OnX other than a more complicated way to copy and paste grids. I hope I’m wrong but I just don’t see how updates are going to turn this into a product worth the hype, promise and money. They really need to start pumping out some content and be clear with people on what this thing can and can’t do.

I think they just got a bit ahead of themselves. I was supposed to be a part of an early testing program and after a few months of them saying they’d have the watches soon to testers they said they can’t provide test watches anymore and instead offered a discount to purchase one. I love the idea and what they are trying to do I just think they’re off to a rocky start it seems. A project like this probably isn’t one that should be rushed to release. I guess my old garmin will have to keep on keepin on for now.

 

[griebel303]

I am in the same boat as you @jonnyviceroy , was disappointed to see that email today saying we wouldn't getting beta watches anymore after the 6 months of waiting. I agree I love the idea of where its going and hopefully in time it will be to a stable spot.