The other, a Kestrel 3000, is unique in that it does wind, temperature and also humidity, it calculates and displays dew points and wind-chill factors. The Kestrel 2000 ($119 $108.99 from West Marine) does wind and temperature tricks, like the Minox. Nielson-Kellerman has two more advanced versions. The Kestrel still sells for $89 from Nielson-Kellerman, for $79.99 from West Marine. The time intervals for averaging are programmable. It does current, average and maximum wind reading. The Kestrel 1000, purely an anemometer (no temperature functions), has the same two-button operating system, the same battery and a good slide-on case held captive by the lanyard. In earlier issues, notice was taken of the Kestrel 1000 (reviewed in the June, 1997 issue) and the Skywatch Elite (in the Jissue).
There’s a $199 version in a blue case called a Bruton Sherpa that does time, wind, temperature, altitude and barometric pressure, with a 16-hour trend graph.) Also sold under the names Silva and Brunton, it’s made by Flytec AG, a Swiss company. The Minox sells for $109, from Leica Camera, Inc. The Minox has a CR2032 lithium battery good for up to four years or 100,000 one-minute measurements. The tiny impeller, mounted in a ball housing, swivels closed to protect it during storage. The time intervals used for average values are programmable. The temperature displays in Celsius or Fahrenheit, calculates a wind chill temperature and displays both. This new Minox gadget, a two-button (function and reset) instrument in a little waterproof case made of aluminum, reads the wind in knots, kilometers, mph, meters per second and Beaufort- both the current and peak average. (Remember the little German-made push-pull spy camera introduced a long time ago? It was one of the first successful miniaturization efforts in photography.) Most of these instruments, made possible by electronic chips and liquid crystal displays, have other functions, too. Be careful with this strategy, however- when I tried it on my wife, she asked why my face was so red.We’ve taken note on several occasions of the excellent handheld anemometers that reflect the mania for miniaturization. You could show this to your friends and attempt to convince them that conditions are just too marginal for safety-best to make another pot of coffee and get out the Thermaloungers. I found that, with hyperventilation and an all-out effort, I could blow through the Kestrel hard enough to register a 28-knot reading on the “maximum” function. The other situation when a wind meter might come in handy is if you’re with a group of gung-ho companions who are trying to goad you into launching when you feel like lounging on the beach. On a practical basis, you could use the averaging feature to confirm a sense that the breeze was increasing or decreasing over time. However, it’s interesting to compare your gut-level feelings with a real number, and it’s fun to test your instinctual anemometer against the solid-state version-I pass well on lower wind speeds, but tend to exaggerate a bit past 40 knots. I can’t imagine a situation in which I’d base a decision whether or not to paddle solely on the meter reading: if conditions looked too rough to go out but my anemometer said the wind was only blowing 20 knots, would I change my mind and launch anyway? While I like anemometers and use them often when I have one, I have a difficult time thinking of them as a necessary item of kayaking gear. Of course, I keep it in a waterproof pouch anyway. The Kestrel is fully waterproof, and floats as well the slide-off outer case protects the impeller and display screen. The lithium cell of the Skywatch is said to be good for thousands of readings however, once it dies, the unit is trash. The Kestrel anemometer reads wind speeds up to 78 knots, a limit that, while somewhat lower than other anemometers, should be academic for any kayakers who aren’t trying out for a BCU instructor’s certificate.Īlthough not as compact as the tiny, lithium-powered Skywatch meter, the Kestrel offers many more functions, and has a replaceable battery. The unit arrived without instructions nevertheless, it took only a couple of minutes to figure out the sequence in pushing the two buttons to access current wind speed, maximum and average speeds, and to switch the display between miles per hour, kilometers per hour, meters per second, feet per minute and knots.
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