Headwind Consumer Products840-0052 5 in 1 Weather Meter Thermometer, White

My son is seriously into weather. I wanted to get a cheap outdoor object to help him learn more without investing a lot of money until I was sure its the sort of thing he would be interested in and use consistently. For that purpose this is great. It's been a couple of months and he loves to go outside and check it. It's also very sturdy. The barometer is glass and is removable. It comes with a note that tells the buyer to turn it upside down in freezing weather to prevent breakage, and it stores neatly upside down in its slot, which I thought was great.I really wanted to like it, but the weather speed indicator is bent and gets stuck on the side so it's hard for the wind to push it as it should, therefore the windspeed is not accurate. It can't be bent back into shape because it is a durable plastic. Which is a good point I suppose, and if it wasn't bent I think it would work very well.The thermometer is off as well - it said 70 degrees and we have two inches of snow outside. I believe this is because there are bubbles in the liquid in the thermometer - perhaps this is a normal problem with thermometers and there is a way to fix it, but I have not had a chance to fiddle around with it yet.My son knows it's not accurate and he's actually having fun comparing it to our other thermometer every few days to discover just "how" inaccurate it is. So in that sense it's actually turned out to be pretty educational.Either way it served its purpose and I would buy it again if I was in a similar position and needed to gauge my son's interest with a cheap object. Now that I know it is something that will be used consistently, we will be on the lookout for more accurate weather instruments.

As a former planetarium director and science teacher and being an amateur meteorologist, I've had several of these over the past 50 years. Some deteriorated after being "weather-beaten" for several years (including hurricanes). One I accidentally destroyed with a dog frisbee (I couldn't hit that thing in a thousand attempts if I was aiming, but...). I was pleased to be able to find this instrument on Amazon, since all weather instruments nowadays in hobby shops or online are digital. I have some of those as well, but you can't beat the hands on simple mechanical station. One slight issue - the index marker that is used to indicate total rainfall doesn't hold its place. The older versions did that better, but I still recommend this for weather enthusiasts.

I bought this to set in my yard so i could compare the wind speed with the bushes and trees. Then, when I was kayaking, I could glance at the trees and bushes along the shore and guestimate the wind speed and so potential danger.Within a week, the speed indicator jammed and registered zero wind regardless of the vegetation. It was dirt in the hinge so I over-drilled the holes and it worked again, then jammed. This time it simply warped in the heat.For a child's toy in the shade it may be ok for the few days a child shows interest but for my needs, being able to see the wind speed, it is useless.Spend more money to buy something better.

I remembered these weather devices from my childhood and had to get one when I saw it here. A great value. Requires that you mount it to a post or deck railing with the screws provided. Make sure you mount it truly vertically/level or it will effect the balance of the wind vane. Also, the rain gauge is a glass tube--it works great--however, make sure you bring it in the tube before winter weather as it can crack if it freezes with water in it. It's easy to slide out of the device.

I installed this on a post on my deck. It is a handy gadget to show the wind direction and rough approximation of speed. The only issue is the sliding pointer to track cumulative rainfall does not stay in place. It moves with the wind. Therefore it is worthless. A simple design change could fix this.I treated it with rust preventative to protect it from our salt air.