"tactical" watches

[Doug308]

I bought a Casio G-Shock Mudman a few weeks ago and it's a great. Comes in black and OD. Costs about $65 if you shop around on the web. Got mine through Buy.com.

[Thomas Carey]

I have met a lot of people at gun shows who have a Luminox watch. In fact it seems if they own one they have at least three. The most anyone I have met has had is seven. They are all Swiss and darn tough.

The battery life seems to be as good as anything. I have asked owners about that and it seems they get at least 4 years of battery life if not longer on models without a chronograph.

A brand that is newer that I really like is one that is actually assembled in the U.S. which is Lum-Tec. If you google the name you will find a lot of happy owners.

Personally I tend to go with watches with auto movements. My favorite always seem to have Seiko movements.

Presently I have a Seiko Premier with a 6R20 and its the most accurate mechanical movement watch I have had to date. Though it has no lume which I do miss and its really more a dress or general use type watch.

For hard use it's hard to beat a quartz watch and Luminox for many get the nod.

[horatioo]

I think I'm gonna start selling boxer shorts. I'm gonna call them tactical shorts and tripple the price.

You should use the line " this is my gun, this is my weapon" somewhere in the ad campaign.

[bcarver]

any casio G shock bt I like the solar powered ones that set themselves using the atomic clock in Fort Collins, Colorado.
I got two. the first quit after 15 hard years.

[Thomas Carey]

15 years is quite a good run. The G shock really is quite popular with a lot of people.

[Lawyer Daggit]

Rolex submariner or Omega sea master are the 'classic pro's watch'. These offer a good level of illumination, are tough, water proof and reliable.

Alternatively most forces types around here who are less well healed seem to wear the Casio G shock series.

Basically any watch that is reliable and tough and offers good illumination would serve nicely without attracting the mal ninja / "L'' moniker.

I must say I kind of like the idea of the Seiko divers watch / improvised weapon. Seems to me in the event of a sky jacking just ask the lady next to her to slip off her panty hose, pop the seiko watch into one of the legs with a few coins for good measure and one has a very effective improvised cosh that is just about weighted perfectly to introduce some bad dude to 72 virgins.

[Erik]

Tactical watches? Most "tactical types" I know, as in folks who are actually or formerly employed as such, wear either Casio G-Shocks or the Seiko divers.

Of the two, I prefer the Seiko divers. Of the Seiko divers, I prefer the Black Monsters.

[Psychlopath]

I've been happy with my Marathon.

It's been through a motorcycle wreck, 2.5 deployments and a divorce. It looks better than I do.

Of all the times I've taken fire, I dont think my watch has been the cause of it, even though it's not black.

Fortunatly for me, the watch now has an office job on this deployment.

[Diamond LawDawg]

Casio G force..black in color 28 years as P.O.from patrol,vice,narcotics and back...never failed to keep time LMAO

[output]

There have been some very good recommendations here. I would add Suunto into the mix as well. I don’t have a ton of experience with a lot of watches but I am happy with mine.

http://www.suuntowatches.com/All_Wat...=498&viewall=1

[iceman4022]

I have the Casio G Shock Atomic / Solar and was quite pleased with it for about the first year. After that, it will not hold a charge for anything. I can spend the entire day out in the sun and the first time I hit the indiglo on it, it is already running out of juice.

[Budzboy]

"$5420.00 at Amazon.com; rarely on sale anywhere."
And all it does is tell the time -

[poptime]

The Rolex is a nice, well made watch, the Sub made for diving, but these days more of a fashion statement (I'm rich) than a rugged go anywhere watch.

For most usage the G Shock will take the most abuse and keep working.

If you are diving, get a watch made for diving. If you are going to get beat up, get a G shock. The reason is, the divers watch is made to withstand even pressure. If it gets whacked, the case can be distorted and no longer resist pressure. Water gets in, $5000.00 gone.

Tempus Fugit
Dwight
Watchmaker

[parrothead2581]

Eh. If I'm dropping that kind of cash on a watch, I'll go Omega or Breitling.

I really don't wear a watch anymore. I use my cell phone for the time and date.

[DWARREN123]

Casio G-Shock has worked well for me. Depends on wants and needs.

[rdmallory]

www.bertucciwatches.com

Value priced and built like a tank, No watch pins to break.

Doug

[Tom2]

There is tritium and then there is everything else. I have an older Breitling and it glows alot better than a newer one that I have, but neither one are tritium. If you think you will need to see the time in the dark, the tritium is the way to go. It is like comparing tritium gun sights to those with paint on "glow in the dark" paints, which work less well to some extent either reasonable or all the way to useless, stops glowing in 5 minutes type stuff. SOme of the stuff they put on watches now is supposedly better, hight tech glow stuff, still it does not have a radioactive power source and dims eventually. You can find old radium watch dials from the 50's and they still glow better than the glow paint junk, event though they have turned brown and ugly. Might as well also insist on waterproof too. if you want a mechanical watch for not alot of money, some of the Russian Vostok watches on ebay are pretty decent and keep reasonably good time. They just are not as pretty with polished innards that no one sees. They make dive watches that are automatic winding for like 58$ or less on ebay. I still use a quartz Breitling dive rated for my everyday beater watch though. Not flawless, but pretty good.

[old bear]

If you really want to impress someone with your watch get an Omega or a Rolex; now if you want a watch that is reliable and affordable get a Timex, Casio, or Seiko dive watch. I have the Black dial “orange monster” it’s a great watch but to heavy for day to day use.

[Bill DeShivs]

Rolex and Tudor were the original "tactical" watches, and are probably still the best.
Some of the Swiss Army watches are very nice, for not a lot of money.

[dmazur]

Well, as a "mid road" watch somewhere between Timex and Rolex, you might consider Tag Heuer.

They have some pretty rugged "dive style" watches that run around $800 or so. Screw-down crowns keep them waterproof.

I don't use mine for diving, because a dive computer does the job so much better (and it's connected to your tank, so it shows remaining bottom time.)
But, my wife forgot to take her Tag off, and it survived a 90ft dive just fine.

Saphire crystals are very hard to scratch, stainless bands have double-clasp fasteners, etc.

Very well made Swiss watch, without the snob appeal of the Rolex.

[BigDinOC]

Let's go Timex vs. Casio. I have owned both and I think that I prefer the Timex. Hard choice.

[Adrian]

For one of the most disturbingly overbuilt watches ever, consider the Sinn UX, the Bell & Ross Hydromax, or the Technomarine Abyss.

They're filled with a silicone oil and rated to 12,000 meters of water resistance. Sinn's UX (personally the best-of-breed here) is built from U-Boat steel (Rockwell 67C, harder than most knives), and Sinn even makes a GSG-9 edition for those who simply must have an explicit tactical tie-in.

The Bell & Ross Hydromax is pretty neat. The company is relatively young, but it's built a reputation for building very no-nonsense, purpose-driven watches. They don't really do jewelry, though lately they've started adding a little gold and polish to some of their models (not the Hydromax).

Technomarine's version, the Abyss, has a bubble in the oil, which they consider a feature and not a defect (it gives the oil some room to expand and contract as the temperature changes). It's pretty surreal to watch it moving around, and every time I see someone inspecting one, the bubble seems to hypnotize them for a few seconds (this is unlikely to be useful in a real tactical setting, but some people might consider it a plus in a social one).

Of the three, the Technomarine has the least aggressive testing behind it (Bell & Ross, for example, actually built a pressure chamber to test theirs, and is very proud of that), and the least "ooh"-factor among the watch-collector crowd. On the other hand, a Sinn will set you back $1900-ish, a Hydromax $2400-ish, and the Abyss sells for a bit under $300 on Amazon. The difference is a very nice rifle and some ammo to feed it, or even a box of .380ACP from Cheaper Than Dirt (maybe two if you're lucky).

[Tuzo]

The "Special Ops" "Predator" is the watch that suits my image, demeanor, and every other aggressive personality disorder I may harbor. At least that is what the advertising seems to imply. Cool advertising using well made-up male models with $200 haircuts and back packs filled with foam (no indentation at the shoulders). Claims of "true" water resistance - not waterproof - of 300-600 feet equals the water resistance claim of my $49 Casio, which I bought on sale for $29. Of course the 3,300 feet claim for the "Xtreme Ops Seal Team" divers watch means that the watch will tick at that depth while the SEAL wearing it will have long been reduced to fish food. I usually have a good laugh at these types of "tactical" claims but this time I laughed even more because my son, who recently completed 10 years of active duty military service, was on hand to humorously interpret the advertising claims.

My nine years of military service were spent with plain Seikos and two Rolexes. By the way, the Rolexes never kept accurate time for more than a week. A fake gold Rolex I bought for $25 kept better time. Now I hike, recreate, shoot, work, swim, etc. with an analog Casio that seems impervious to nearly anything destructive. The only drawback to the Casio is its non-tactical designation.

[Adrian]

Originally Posted by Tuzo

Of course the 3,300 feet claim for the "Xtreme Ops Seal Team" divers watch means that the watch will tick at that depth while the SEAL wearing it will have long been reduced to fish food.

Not to take the wind out of this very appealing sail, but "water resistance" claims are usually done with with atmospheres, and the "N feet" claims are usually N feet of air used for the pressure test.

If you really want to nerd out, consult ISO standard 2281, but Zeno has a handy translation table.

For example, a "500 meter water resistant watch" translates to being able to resist SCUBA diving at 50 meters for two hours of continuous pressure. The 1000-meter/3,300-foot claim goes to 100 meters for two hours, which is... actually not too unrealistic.

Serious dive watches, including like the ones I mentioned earlier, follow a different standard, ISO 6425, and their numbers are "meters of water". In fact, they get an extra 25%-overpressure test to account for differences in water density. If you're buying one of these, you'll know.

And the Sinn UX is still Tougher Than You.

[w_houle]

I like my S&W watch http://www.outdoorsportgifts.com/images/360820.jpg and only cost me $25+tax.

Of course if you want to really cheap it out, find one of those guys in Battery Park in NYC with the $20 illegal knockoffs, and hope no one notices that the second hand steps from second to second while a real Rolex second hand is in a much smoother motion.

Hey, you leave my Rorex alone