We’ve always built our Kestrel Pocket Weather Meters to be extremely durable and tough but we heard a story from a proud Kestrel user that made us realize just how rugged the meters actually are. One of our Kestrel customers uses her Kestrel meter regularly for Search and Rescue K9 operations, which is standard equipment for many handlers.

During a SAR K9 call out, this particular Kestrel user took her Kestrel 4500 out to measure some of the environmental elements that could affect the operation such as wind speed, temperature, wind direction, and relative humidity. When she went to grab it from her bag the very next day, it was nowhere to be found. After a good bit of searching she gave up, figuring she dropped it along the way and it was lost for good. Months later, after a long winter and spring and a great deal of snow and rain, the woman’s son came across the Kestrel carry case covered in mud in the horse pasture. Sure enough, when he picked it up and unfastened the velcro, the Kestrel meter was inside. He returned it to his mom and when she tried to turn it on, it worked!  She thinks one of her four-legged search and rescue co-workers may have mistaken it for a toy earlier that year and wanted to play a game of “hide and seek”.

She was pleased to learn that after months of the unit sitting under feet of snow, inches of rain, and covered in mud, the only thing that the Kestrel unit needed was a new impeller. With the simple pop out design, replacing the impeller was an easy fix, costing less than $20 and it’s good as new. Now, we think that is money well spent!

We enjoy hearing back from all of our customers. Thanks to our users for sharing their stories of how their Kestrel Pocket Weather Meters survive many of nature’s elements. If you have a story you’d like to share, feel free to email us and let us know.