The HangTimer measures how long you get air for

The HangTimer sports watch is a US$100 watch for measuring “hangtime” – the basis for bragging rights in extreme sports markets. The HangTimer is a multi-function carabineer style sports watch, and is capable of accurately measuring exactly how much “air time” you get to one hundredth of a second and hence is likely to be very useful for snowboarding, skiing, mountain biking and other extreme sports where time in the air is a measure of skill. The HangTimer’s magic ingredient is a tri-axis accelerometer which comes up with the proof behind the trash talk – proof that you did what you said you did! Best of all, in a world where PR-provided executive quotes generally suck, we like the quote from HangTimer’s VP Development, Ted Griebling: “We don’t condone insanity, but we’ll time it for you.” And just to catalyze a bit of the aforementioned trash talk, the best hangtime submitted during HangTimer testing was 3.02 seconds on a single snowboard jump.

Whether you huck off a cliff, bomb down a bike trail, or just toss it (and yourself) in the air, the HangTimer’s built in tri-axis accelerometer measures your actual hangtime. The carbineer style design fits comfortably in the palm of the hand and can be easily read when clipped to a belt loop. It takes two AAA batteries and has a rugged water resistant case to ensure it can take the punishment of those not so perfect landings. The DropZone team went through multiple iterations over two years to develop the final design that met their key technical requirements, aesthetics, and performance criteria for life on the edge. HangTimer went through rigorous testing by extreme sport professionals and enthusiasts at locations around the pacific northwest, including the Mt. Hood Summer Snowboard Camps and the Mountain Bike Park in Whistler, British Columbia. The best hangtime submitted by the summer testing enthusiasts was 3.02 seconds on a single snowboard jump. The response was overwhelming from riders of all levels: HangTimer adds a new twist to the sport – the immediate real-time feedback is confirmation that they just scored a new personal best. And they used the total hangtime to determine who bought the beer at the end of the day. Riders are already posting their hangtime stats along with big air photos on the internet.

The HangTimer’s initial launch will be to the snowboard market through the snowboard.com website and by sponsoring big-air snowboarders. Plans are underway to target extreme mountain bikers next.

Functions found in the HangTimer • A History of the last 10 jumps • Best hangtime • Total Accumulated hangtime • Average hangtime • 5 sensitivity settings (from 0.25 to 2 seconds) to adjust for sport and experience • Carabineer clip with competition lock • Time and date • Temperature • Stopwatch with lap time • Shockproof design • Water resistant to 3 meters • Electro-luminescent display