Evolution Altimeter Review

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I wanted to follow up with the discussion that had been going on about the Evolution series of altimeters from Free Fall Accessories (FFA) www.freefallaccessories.com. I had contacted the company about looking at an old altimeter I was considering getting serviced to get it back up in the air. Through a number of discussions back and forth on E-mail I decided to purchase a Stainless Altimeter with a personalized face…. I also promised a review of it for the group so here it goes…..

To start with and for you own information if you don’t know, FFA currently sells a few different altimeter versions. The Evolution I has an anodized aluminum housing (colors available) and is advertised as 27% lighter then a Altimaster III with dimensions of 2.5” face and 1”high.. There is also the Evolution II which is like the “I” only with a 3” face and 1”high. The Evolution Stainless, the one I ended up buying, is similar dimensionally to the Evolution I but is Built from Stainless Steel. In addition to the three noted above they will be releasing a new altimeter geared towards free flyers with a counter balanced movement for inverted operation. I know nothing about it but there is some information on it at the web page noted above. All of the altimeters are available with a completely custom face. On the web page they note “Anything you can imagine we can bring to your altimeter”

SERVICE
The level of service I received even before ordering the altimeter made me feel very comfortable with FAA as a company. They were extremely responsive to my E-mails and answered all of my questions fully. As I noted above I decided to get the Evolution Stainless with a personalized face. David, the owner promised that I would get exactly what I wanted before they shipped the altimeter. We talked about what I wanted and within a day they had a few choices for me look at via E-mail. I wanted to have some more tweaks and they did it again within a day. In total we went back and forth three or four times with changes. They held true to the promise that they would not build and send me the altimeter until I was completely happy with the design. Once the final face settled they shipped it and it was at my door within 3 days with the promise that if I was not happy they would change it. That option was not needed since the face was exactly as I wanted it to look….. The service was great to say the least, and I was very impressed.

ALTIMETER
As I noted above, I went with the stainless steel version. It is 6.5oz and is slightly heavier then the Altimaster III at 5.8oz. I did not notice any difference weight wise on the ground after having it on for a little bit nor did I notice it in freefall at all. The extra weight did give it a feel of durability. If you are about weight on your hands while skydiving then the Evolution I may be a better choice for you needs since it is at 4.3oz.
Separate from the weight of my new altimeter, it has a couple of things that stood out right away; accuracy and the very smooth feel of the movement. I compared the altimeter reading numerous times to the altimeter in the jump plane. Each time the altitude was crossed, it was spot on. The other test I did was to start a sea level and drive up to the dropzone, about 460’. The drive starts at 0’ and through basically one big hill climbs to the DZ elevation. Along the way I could see the reading smoothly go up as I went up the hill. When I arrived the altimeter was again spot on for altitude. Though not a definitive test it did show me a high level of accuracy.
The second big thing I noted was the movement, and it is extremely smooth. When adjusting the altimeter to “0” it does not have any rough feel or sticking at all. It is notably smooth in its movement both when manually adjusting the altimeter and visually during in the plane ride up (the plane ride down as well in one case last weekend) and during the freefall.

CONCLUSSION
The weight, the accuracy and the smooth feel of the movement give the altimeter an extremely durable feel. The ability to get a personalized face is a very nice option but that seems to only be a bonus when you look at the quality these altimeters seem to carry. A couple of other nice features the altimeters have are a Standard field replaceable lens and a Lifetime transferable warrantee. Other items are noted on the web page.
In short I am very pleased with the Evolution Altimeter I purchased and if you are in the process of looking for an altimeter I highly recommend that this is one that you should consider.

"He who Hesitates Shall Inherit the Earth!"

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Here is the last set of revisions I had to choose from. The one I ended up buying is the one in the upper right, with the clear face center. Dont have my digital camera to take a pic of the actual altimeter so I am putting the final revisions to chose from to see.....

Scott C.

"He who Hesitates Shall Inherit the Earth!"