Wind Meter

I have been thinking about getting a wind meter for some time now - partly as I'm hopeless at judging the wind speed and partly because it sounds really good when you can say things like "yeah, it was 21 gusting 28.7 and the C-Quad 3.2 was just OK". The thing that had been putting me off was the cost, so when I found that Five Forty (my local shop) had one of the Skywatches at a special price of £19.99 I couldn't resist.

The Skywatch is the most basic model - with an on switch and an integral battery (good for 250,000 readings according to the manual). Simply open the sensor thingy (it swivels back into the casing to protect the mechanism), press the big red on button, hold it into the wind and watch the numbers. There is no maximum or minimum readings or anything, although you can change the units of measurement from miles per hour, kilometers per hour and knots (I only work in mph so haven't changed it).

I've used it the last few times I have been kite flying, and I can report that an HQ Obsession doesn't like 4mph wind, and that when I get hit by a gust of 25mph in the buggy whilst flying the Raptor 2.5 I tend to leave the buggy whilst trying to turn it around. Of course I could have worked both of those facts out without spending £19.99, but it's nice to have some evidence. And it sounds good in the pub.

After having this for a while I think it was a bit of a waste of money - I generally don't use it these days. And when I do I'm pretty sure it's wildly inaccurate. Certainly when someone with a more expensive model shows up and takes a wind reading it's never what the Skywatch says. If you want one, get a better one. Something to avoid.

Cost : I paid £19.99 for mine, but the usual price in £29.99.