# Most Tactical Watch



## ReconTech (Feb 2, 2003)

I have a few that I have my eyes on, including:

Luminox
Chase-Durer
possibly Omega
Triple sensor Casio

Currently I have a Citizen Navihawk Blue Angles watch, what is the ultimate in tactical watches?


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## ygbsm (Feb 3, 2003)

Some like the Suunto Vektor or the Casio GShock. Some find Luminox too bright (might give away your location) and the Casios with sesor not accurate or reliable enough.


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## MeridianTactical (Feb 3, 2003)

Get an mechanical watch, no battery to die in the field. Divers style with a Uni-directional bezel for simple timing.

I have a big $$ one (i wont mention brand ;-) ) that I do everything with (shoot, golf, motorcyle, type), so no worries about shock after 4 years of abuse. Just buy a good one!

Omega is a good name mentioned above.

The Luminox is a good Quartz (battery) watch for the price.

Chris


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## Josh (Feb 3, 2003)

I have been wearing G-shocks for 10 years through LAX and football practic and when hammering away with a jackhammer in sub zero temps with no ill effects.Just a thought.


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## guncollector (Feb 3, 2003)

Oh, the dreaded "T"-word...

I don't think most of our troops think of their watches in ambiguous terms of "tactical". 

Rather, I think *durability* and *reliability* tie for first, and *economy* a very, very close second--and thus the proliferation of Casio G-Shock type digital watches abound.

Nothing wrong with the durability of some of the finer automatics (i.e. Sinn, Rolex, Breitling, etc.), but I just don't think they compare to the "grunt-proofness" of a G-Shock.


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## Unicorn (Feb 23, 2003)

The smaller Casio G-shocks are very durable. I've had mine for about 9 years now, and it was to replace one I had broken after about 6 or 7. I cracked the lens on a rock while diving to the ground, carrying an 18 pound test weapon. Even with the cracked lens, it worked for another 6 months until it got too much moisture in it. And that time included going to the field at least once or twice.


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## FC. (Feb 23, 2003)

Luminox. No bullshit watch.


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## [email protected] (Jan 30, 2004)

Been there and done that guys will tell you: Tritium watches are bright, however if someone is close enough to see your watch you are in a Close Quarter Battle situation. Your sleeves are supposed to be down and gloves on. I currently wear a Casio Mil-Shock or my Issue Marathon composite navigator. Simple and reliable is what it is all about. http://www.countycomm.com/Watches.htm


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## Frangible (Jan 30, 2004)

Batteries last 5-10 years, doubt they'd wear out, and not worth the accuracy / annoying winding of a mechanical imo.

Most real soldiers wear Timexs or Casios. But then, they don't get paid much.

Don't waste your money on a Suunto or Casio triple sensor, you can get a GPS with all those features for the same price.

My Garmin Geko 301 GPS weighs 2.4oz and has a magnetic compass and pressure sensor altimeter/barometer and computer link, and cost $200.

Only thing I hate about the Timex / cheap Casios is the plastic crystal that gets scratched too easily.

If you get a Luminox, do NOT get the titanium. I have one and the band is a scratch magnet.


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## paulr (Jan 30, 2004)

One thing I've hated about Casios and other plastic watches is that the little spring pins that hold the strap on the watch eventually wear their way through the plastic. That may be less of a problem with G-shocks than the models I've been using. 

Here's the watch I wear right now (Casio Forester), by the way. I don't know about "tactical", but it's one of the few watches I know that tells you the time of sunrise and sunset, a very handy feature.

http://forums.timezone.com/index.php?t=tree&goto=1474&rid=0


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## moclov (Feb 2, 2004)

[ QUOTE ]
*[email protected] said:*
Tritium watches are bright, however if someone is close enough to see your watch you are in a Close Quarter Battle situation. Your sleeves are supposed to be down and gloves on.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes and no ... buddy of mine has a luminox watch. He wore it in the field and the first night you could see it from quite a distance ... couldn't really tell it was a watch until you got close, but it was an artificial light source. Clothing moves and gloves can get rolled down, so counting on these items to cover the watch isn't always a good idea. Especially if the theatre you're operating in is a hot one (temp wise). 

I wear one now, as well, because it's a good watch: accurate, and it takes abuse. But when I go out into the field, I tape it. "Artificial sun" problem solved, but it's still bright when I need it.

In regards to the mechanical vs quartz: both have good arguements. Batteries need to be replaced, but mechanical typically need to be wound, and can be somewhat "off". I prefer the accuracy of quartz. I also carry two watches, one on my gear, and one on me (not necessarily both the same) ... so if one goes **** up, I've still got a back up.

So to the original poster, if you're planning on using this watch where light sources could give away your position, there are always ways to decrease or negate that effect.


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## paulr (Feb 2, 2004)

I've seen some watchbands that have a velcro flap that covers up the watch except when you want to look at it, if that helps with the glow.

Digital watches can be much tougher than mechanicals, IMO. The original G-shock was designed to meet a "10-10-10" specification: 10 atmospheres of water resistance, 10 meters of shock resistance (i.e. you can drop it from 30+ feet without damaging it), and 10 years of battery life. They gave up on the battery life when they put in those bright green backlights later, but batteries still last for several years. I've never heard of a mechanical watch whose design specs involved 30 foot drops. 

Of course, carrying a backup never hurts, but maybe you already have one in the form of the timekeeping capability built into your cell phone (civilian life) or GPS unit (tactical operation). I know lots of folks these days don't bother wearing watches at all any more--they just use their cell phone like a pocket watch and look at its display to see the time.


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## moclov (Feb 2, 2004)

[ QUOTE ]
*paulr said:*
I've seen some watchbands that have a velcro flap that covers up the watch except when you want to look at it, if that helps with the glow.


[/ QUOTE ]

Eagle Industries makes one: http://www.eagleindustries.com/ProdDisp.asp?SubCatID=22

I don't like the extra bulk, but it does solve the problem.


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## shrap (Feb 2, 2004)

[ QUOTE ]
*paulr said:*
Digital watches can be much tougher than mechanicals, IMO. 

[/ QUOTE ]

That's pretty funny. I would find it odd that people would think otherwise.


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## MrThompson (Feb 2, 2004)

For tactical, durable, tritium and mechanical, Howard Marx's M16 gets my vote. Put an Eagle Industries band on it if you are afraid of the lume.

http://www.westcoastime.com/newm16milswi1.html


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## Frangible (Feb 5, 2004)

*I've seen some watchbands that have a velcro flap that covers up the watch except when you want to look at it, if that helps with the glow.
*

Velcro is NOT tactical. It makes a lot of noise.


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## gadgetnut (Feb 5, 2004)

I think we need to keep this in perspective. 99% of us aren't sneaking around in the dark with blacked-out faces. If you are in the 1% that is (legally I hope), I'd still recommend a Luminox. They are durable, accurate, dependable, and you can read them at a glance. If the glow is going to give away your tactical position at night, cover it with a black sweatband. They wont shift off the watch like a shirt sleeve will and there's no noise.


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## matt_j (Feb 5, 2004)

Hah.

I started with Citizen dive (aqualand) watch. It was a great instrument with depth meter yet it started to fall appart on me. On my way to work in July 2001 I bought a Luminox at Sharper Image and left the citizen in my desk. Citizen watch disapeared together with my office on 9/11. I would love to see how it looked like after WTC2 fell on it. I broke 3 Luminox Navy Seal watches in a period of two years. On all of them crystal snapped/cracked/broke. They were great, lightweight and bright, unfortunatelly they didn't live up to their reputation. I got so used to the illumination that I purchased Marathon Navigator US Gov Issued watch but abused and sratched living hell out of it in two months. I needed a reliable watch that is both presentable for office work and "tuff enuff" for field work so I went out and bought the Chase Durer UDT 1000 watch. So far so good. It feels solid and doesn't show signs of wear. I hate digital displays and will not settle for one. I prefer tradition analog face. My few complains with Chase Durer are that the hand that counts seconds is very small and I really need cleardisplay for the field work. I mean I can turn on the timer and leave it on constantly but that takes off about 4-5 months from 3 year battery life. But with the timer on you have load of stuff happening on your watche's face that may be distracting. Also in order to make watch really water proof you need to screw down all the crowns on the buttons. It's new to me so I'm worried a bit that I may forget to check it before I jump into the water during rescue. Also if you ever used watch with luminox illumination you will never want to go back to traditional glow in the dark stuff. So I'm still little grumpy about that. Otherwise it's a great time piece. 

Other choice is Omega Seamaster but that's only if you don;t mind running around with $1500 watch on your wrist. Personally I would save that for night out in a tux when I got my 007 grove on.

Matt


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## gadgetnut (Feb 5, 2004)

Wow...you must beat the crap out of your watches. Luminox are definitely NOT delicate watches. I would imagine the abuse that broke those would have broken most any watch. I am, by no means, easy on my stuff either. I've worn my Luminox Stainless Marine to do things I probably should've taken it off to do, and it still looks like new.


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## Deanster (Feb 5, 2004)

I've seen this question come up a number of times on other forums, and the consensus is that real 'operators' seem to be seen mostly with G-shocks or Timex Ironman. Since this is largely unsatisfactory to the gadget-oriented, there are a whole lot of other choices out there in the 'tactical' (black and expensive) market. 

Luminox are nice, and I love the readability, but they do indeed have a reputation for failing under truly hard use. They're plenty solid for normal folks, and I've beat mine until the plastic bezel is almost too smoothed out to turn without doing any real damage, but the crystal and the strap pins seem to be weak points for the truly abusive.

I really like the Seiko diver watches for a solid look, good luminosity, and 'can't touch this' function, but they're not very 'tactical' (black and expensive) at all. 

Omega are great, but much more 007 than tactical - I can hardly imagine something less likely to be on the wrist of a Navy SEAL. 

Anyway, if you go looking for 'tactical', I'm sure you'll find something you'll like, but I think you'll be happier buying in the 'diver' category, where the Omegas, Seikos, some Luminox, and other great watches (Doxa, SDW, etc) live.


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## nitrox1 (Feb 20, 2004)

Bought a Seiko diver 200m in 1984 when I was in the Navy.
Wore it through aircrew and sar school and 3 years of flying missions. It's been on over 500 scuba dives over the years as well, to depths of 150', backing up a digital bottom timer. I also rotate it in as a daily wear watch at the fire department for the last 16 years. Can't remember how many straps I've put on it. Probably spent more on straps than the initial cost of 80 bucks. (still have the box). These watches can't be beat. My favorite watch is my Sinn EZM1 though. But I'd cry if I busted or lost it.
John...


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## Commander (Feb 21, 2004)

IMO Casio Triple Sensor (PROTREK) is a great watch. I use the compass a lot in the field at night because of the light. 

The watch is 3 years now and I haven’t found a better replacement yet. But Suunto ( http://www.suunto.com/ ) is an option. 

BTW the Danish SOF (SPECIAL OPERATIONS FORCES) is supplied with a Suunto.


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## Clifton Arnold (Feb 23, 2004)

I have noticed that you folks have mentioned several mechanical watchs. I can't wear one I'm one of those people that make them lose time or stop. Until electronic watchs came out and down in price. I had to carry a pocket watch to keep good time.


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## Unicorn (Mar 2, 2004)

I still like the Casio G-shock classic. If I could have found one befire I deployed to the Middle East I'd have bought one to replace the beat up, 9 year old one that is still in my duffle bag as a backup if I can find a new battery for it.
It's not just that most military aren't paid what they are worth for their job (I must admit to a bit of bias here /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif ), but also why spend a couple hundred on something that is going to get banged up on rocks, trees, buried in mud or sand, exposed to a 140 degrees, frozen, dropped, etc? I'm willing to pay for my own gear when it makes sense, I've walked out of Tactical Taylor with a few things before I left, but some so called "tactical" watch? Not I. If you like them, then by all means buy one. If your rich and in a giving mood, buy me one too /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif, I won't say no.


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## DrJ (Mar 2, 2004)

A heavy pocket watch on a long chain...Kung Fu watch action...stealth, if you're captured the enemy has to reach in your pocket to get it, (jokes on them)...best to have one that explodes when opened...leave it one the ground in enemy territory, etc....


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## Zvi (Mar 3, 2004)

Doh. I've never heard the term tactical in regards to watches. First I thought it was a joke /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif Little I knew... 
Tactical watch /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif With non glare finish, sterile, scary sharp, saw teeth on one side and so on.
DrJ had a good point, self destruct mechanism triggers built in tactical nuke, somewhere around 20-30 Kt /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif


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