timepiece

[kimbo]

Hi folks,

Now, in 'normal' life I tend not to wear a watch as there seem to be so many places to get the time from ie, phone, comp, random stranger etc but I want to get a watch for my outdoor adventures. Can anyone recommend a watch that they use?

Thanks

kim

[h2o]

i use my phone and radio.But ive heard the army ones are good.

[Matt Weir]

I wear a CWC G10 Kimbo, for the price it's very reliable and takes a splash and everyday knock about.

[Miggers]

Glycine Combat 3 on a G10 strap for play, metal link for work...

[VooDoo3]

I use a Casio Pathfinder with compass, barometer and altimeter. The compass works great, but I have found the barometer and altimeter to be off. I can calibrate it with my GPS, but I just haven't had a chance to do it. Overall, it's a nice watch.

[firebreather]

I got a seiko kinetic divers watch from Lin (swmbo) for krimbo. I must have been very, very good indeed. I love it as it has a really solid feel to it. I mainly got it for use when out wandering that and I have coveted one for years.

Greg

[bikething]

strangely, I tend to wear a watch for normal life, but make a point of NOT wearing one at weekends, or when outdoors.

I prefer to 'go with the flow' and use daylight as a rough clock at weekends ... too many deadlines during the week, without having them in the woods as well..

[Mirius]

I've come to not wear a watch most of the time. If I'm out and about outdoors then it'll be the G Shock which is proving the test of time.

[EdS]

cheap timex expedition job - less than £25 and bomb proof.

[firebreather]

cheap timex expedition job - less than £25 and bomb proof.

I have worn timex expedition watches for years and they are great. The last one survived over 5 years and has only been replaced at crimbo.
Swatch do great simple watches that I swore by as a nipper as they told the time no matter what i put them thru. There are loads of great timepieces out there for cheap.
Greg

[Mikey P]

Gurkha Rolex (MWC G10)

[Dunk]

Casio G Shock hard as nails

[spamel]

Vostok, automatic action so no batteries to worry about. Takes a knock in its' stride, looks good, keeps great time and so far is my most favourite watch I have ever owned. The sweep hand on the second hand is also nice. You can pick them up for under forty quid delivered to your door.

[kimbo]

Many thanks for all the help and advice guys, given me loads to think about........and of course the possibility of buying a nice shiny new piece of kit!

Kim

[andy_e]

I have a Traser H3 P6500. I think it's great, very lightweight and of course you can read it in total darkness ( for the next ten years anyway )

[EdS]

Vostaks are great got 2.

Both 1970's wind up version - cheap as chips of ebay.

[Beer Monster]

I have a Traser H3 P6500. I think it's great, very lightweight and of course you can read it in total darkness ( for the next ten years anyway )

Ditto. Good watch. Surprising light (I don't notice it on my wrist - it’s made from some very tough resin type stuff) and streamlined - I thought it looked very chunky on the website but was pleasantly surprised when it arrived. Although if you go for this option I'd advise you to get one of the newer ones (I think they are called the P6508 Code Blue). Mine is an old one and doesn't have a traser marker on the second hand, which can be pain sometimes. Bought mine from Flecktarn.co.uk, also very good service.

[Dano]

casio g-shock

[kimbo]

Thanks again everyone,

I've opted for the traser 6508. I'll let you know what it's like when it arrives.

Thanks for all the advice and suggestions.

Kim

[match]

Don't have one at the moment, but I used to have a nurses fob watch - something like these ones:

http://www.creativewatch.co.uk/pocket-nurses.html

Useful mainly due to the small size, and the fact that its not on your wrist, meaning it doesn't get knocked about if you're doing rough work with your hands. You can also pin it up in your tent/hammock etc (as long as you're used to reading the clock upside down )

[andy_e]

Thanks again everyone,

I've opted for the traser 6508. I'll let you know what it's like when it arrives.

Thanks for all the advice and suggestions.

Kim

Nice one mate, am sure you'll be pleased with it. For all they are very lightweight, they're still very tough. I swapped out the nylon NATO strap that mine came with for a velcro wrap-around Animal one. Guarantee that the first night you get it you'll be trying to find the darkest spot around your house to see the trasers

[FGYT]

Thanks again everyone,

I've opted for the traser 6508. I'll let you know what it's like when it arrives.

Thanks for all the advice and suggestions.

Kim

good choice ive had a trazer for a few years now and still not marked the class which normally gets a sctatch after a couple of weeks

had the battry replaced last year luckly the Trazer importer and watchsmith is only down the road nice guy in the back of his garage new battery full strip and clean plus full pressure tests important to me as im a diver and i use it under water

oh be carfull and take it off before you go to bed or you will wake your self up with the light output once your eyes are acustomed you an read with it ...just

its teh only watch iv found you can read in any light conditones and supurb in murky british water

ATB

Duncan

[Emma]

I have an old basic Casio watch I got second-hand and ready-battered from eBay several years ago for about £4. It's definitely water resistant, boot resistant and scratches don't make themselves obvious. Hasn't broken down yet, though has gone a bit wobbly once or twice. Hasn't needed a battery replacement either. Who needs to carry a brick on their wrist?

[ddokkum]

I recently bought a newer version of the Casio PRG 40 and now i have bought the Casio PRG 80. It measures altitude, baro, and has a compass.

[Rebel]

After breaking my last two Timex Expedition watches I bought a new outdoors watch just a couple of weeks ago. The adjustment knobs on the last one used to catch on things and the watch would adjust itself to the wrong time. Finally the hands fell off it just before Christmas and the strap broke so I reckoned it was time for something new.

Over the years I've noticed different problems with different types of watches when it comes to expecting rugged use out of them, so many that I've been considering writing up a little review type thing of what to look for in a watch and what to look out for. Not because I'm a watch expert (I'm not) but because I've got through so many of them.

I know that the original poster Kimbo has already bought a watch, but I thought I'd add my two cents worth to the discussion. I know there are different tastes in style but there are certain features that make a watch more rugged than others. There's also the question of price, if it costs a lot you don't want to risk breaking it out in the woods, if it's too cheap then it might not be resistant to shocks, water and scratches.

I looked at "tactical" watches, military watches and such like and many of them seemed to be more of a collectible or image concious watch than a practical reasonably priced outdoor piece of kit. Many "outdoor" watches seemed to be aimed at divers and yachtsmen and cost more than I'd be willing to spend on something that might find itself getting scraped against the side of a tree or a wall (actually they cost more than I can afford too so that's the end of the story for me ).

Anyway after trawling the Internet looking at watches (which I'm not normally very interested in except as a tool that I wear on my wrist), I decided to get a G-Shock. They might not be to everybody's taste but they are specifically marketed to be resistant to mud, water and shocks - just the type of thing you might find when you are out bushcrafting.

http://www.g-shock.de/euro/lineup/

This is the model I bought because I liked the design and the cloth strap especially but they all seem to be similar in terms of suitability for outdoor use.



I have to admit that I have a hard time seeing the little digital readout bits (my eyes aren't what they used to be) but I don't use them much anyway. The strap is really comfortable and the analogue time is easy to read. It glows in the dark and has a back light too, as do all of the G-Shock analogue models. The digital ones all have a back light.

It has a recessed face, which is important for protecting it against scuffs and scrapes. A raised face can be cracked in just a few weeks and scratched up in no time. The buttons are tucked away so they can't be accidentally activated and they are the push type so they won't get caught on things and pulled out (like the other type tend to do).