I normally like to "sleep in" on my backpacking outings, but some days that's not a wise option because of weather, planned mileage or meeting time deadline (e.g. shuttle). That suggests that some alarm arrangement is needed. Here's my situation...
1. I have lost a lot of my high frequency hearing (thanks to military service (think gunshots)).
2. Most wristwatch alarms (actually all I have tried) are inaudible because of their high frequency or because they are not loud enough.
3. I'm ok with carrying a small, hopefully lightweight travel alarm but again, the high pitch/low volume can be an issue.

I'm looking for suggestions or solutions. What do you use that actually works?

(Roleigh, I seem to recall you have a solution but it escapes my feeble attempts to find it here in the BPL forums.)

Edited by Beep on 07/01/2009 09:32:12 MDT.

Years ago I used a mechanical watch that had a vibrating alarm. Had to wing the ringer and the main spring. These days I don't need an alarm, I just wake up. Maybe if you drink a LOT of water and maybe caffine before bed you would find yourself waking up early :-)

I don't know what watches have a vibrating alarm but I bet a search engine could find something or any ecommerce site that specially in products for vision impaired folks.

The other option is to carry a cell phone / PDA which has a vibrate mode and lets you turn off the radio so the batteries last through the trip.

--Mark

Edited by verber on 07/01/2009 10:09:14 MDT.

Use the sun!

- or -
Put a tiny cheapie digital wrist watch (with the wrist band cut off) in your hat. If it's inside your hat, it'll be loud enough to wake you.

M!

Except he said he can't hear the wristwatch alam. :)

>>The other option is to carry a cell phone / PDA which has a vibrate mode and lets you turn off the radio so the batteries last through the trip.<<

Good suggestion, Mark, though my cell phone model doesn't seem to allow for vibration for the alarm function...but it IS much louder than the usual wristwatch. I like the idea of multi-tasking the cell phone.

I'm due for a change/upgrade in the next month or two so I'll look for vibrate AND ringtone in the alarm mode in a new phone. I almost always have my cell phone with me on trips, so if I can make this work, I'll avoid the weight/cost/hassle of another item.

I use my internal clock but if that fails the Sun works.

I can't remember who makes it (?Timex?) but Google 'Referee watch" This should bring up a watch with loud alarm and a vibrate feature.

I have higher frequency hearing partial loss and can't hear the beep alarm on wrist watches, no matter how loud unless I have it right next to the ear (and this includes the loudest one I know of, the Brunton ADC Pro). I bring along a 1 ounce watch for my alarm clock, the The Invisible Clock-II ( http://www.invisibleclock.com/ ). I set it to vibrate 6 times at high level, and put it in my titanium mug and man, does it wake me up!

I get up at 5:45 normally on the trail. You can use this to beep instead. Here is the vibration options:

"Adjustable vibration intensity, beep volume, number of beeps - if you want the vibration soft and quiet you can set to low. If you want it strong, you can set to medium or high - same for the beeps. And you can set from 1 to 6 beeps."

One AAA battery will last the whole thru-hike. "1 AAA battery (included) - average battery life = 10 to 12 months. Settings saved while changing battery. "

ps. the second loudest beeping watch I know of, is the Casio Referee Watch. Not as loud as the Brunton ADC Pro though. But louder than any other watch I've used. Still, for me, the only thing that is guaranteed to wake me up is the Invisible Clock II and it is only 1 oz.

Edited by marti124 on 07/01/2009 15:56:46 MDT.

i use my digital camera. Watches, especially casios are not loud enough. On my Olympus Stylus 850SW You have a choice of alarms and the display lights up. And it is loud.

I looked a long time for this, and there are two cheap (maybe $30) Timex watches that have vibrating alarms (one for hunting, one for fishing). I almost got one, but they were so basic otherwise, and me being a bit of a gadget guy I couldn't do it..

I wanted something that could set an alarm for an early start when I am mummied up in a down bag (can't hear much from outside).. Since I usually always have a cell phone with me and it has a vibrate alarm (Weekup is the program for PalmOS devices) my choice is to put the phone in my arm strap case (like you see people putting their IPods in when running or at the gym) and set it on vibrate.

Casio men's watches have a louder alarm volume than Timex. With a Timex alarm, I can't hear it even when awake unless it's close to my ear. My Casio watch was something like $28. However, if it's on your wrist down in the sleeping bag, you won't hear it, either. I put it in the corner of the tent near my head. The idea of putting it in your cooking pot is excellent--just remember to remove it before putting water in the pot, :-)

The Crow Indians allegedly drank loads of water before they went to sleep and slept beside a river so that they would wake up early needing to go to the toilet. Works pretty well for me...