Suggest an EDC watch

[dangerman]

Much in the same guise as the recent EDC pen thread - any recommendations?

I think I need a new watch. I've got a Tissot PR50 Titanium. Which is nice. But that's about it. It's nice. Tell the time accurately and even throws the date in too. But it's not, or doesn't seem, very robust and I can't help but feel that for something that sits on my wrist all day every day I could do better. The PR50 is a bit small and dressy too, I fancy something a bit more cool and testosterony. Maybe a G-Shock, but I've seen other things that would do the trick.

As feature packed as possible would be good, but not useless features like you'd find on a smart watch. I definitely don't want a camera on it or something like that.

About a hundred quid should cover my needs I think.

[featherstick]

You can get some good Citizen EcoDrives for that money.

I wear a 30-year old Seiko 5 - automatic, waterproof, time/day/date, that's it. Doesn't even have numbers on the face.

[womble]

I use a Casio G-Shock. It's solar powered, gets the time automatically from the international time signal, and has countdown, alarm and stopwatch, as well as other features that are more or less useful. The backlight button is separate and easy to operate.

Sure, it's toast if the particular feacal matter hitting the spinning blades is an EMP, and once TEOTWAWKI hits, the time signal is going to shut down, but it needs neither winding nor batteries and a few seconds a year missed or gained isn't going to matter much and I don't personally think EMP is actually going to be what flings the poo.

If anything counts against it, it's probably the strap. That's the reason I had to replace the last one, but this one's strap is different and I don't know how it's going to last just yet.

[tanstaafl]

I use a Casio G-Shock. It's solar powered, gets the time automatically from the international time signal, and has countdown, alarm and stopwatch, as well as other features that are more or less useful. The backlight button is separate and easy to operate.

Sure, it's toast if the particular fecal matter hitting the spinning blades is an EMP, and once TEOTWAWKI hits, the time signal is going to shut down, but it needs neither winding nor batteries and a few seconds a year missed or gained isn't going to matter much and I don't personally think EMP is actually going to be what flings the poo.

If anything counts against it, it's probably the strap. That's the reason I had to replace the last one, but this one's strap is different and I don't know how it's going to last just yet.

Yep agree with Womble love my G-Shock , Radio controlled and solar powered from about £50, can be difficult to change the strap tho as you often need an adapter, I could not get one for my model that would take a nato strap but found that a softish velcro strap fits well and gives me the benefit of a Nato ( ie if one pin fails it stays on the wrist) tried to show in piccy

[dangerman]

Featherstick - I've seen the Ecodrives, I really like them. They're a little heavy though (or the one I held was). If I had the money I'd probably be a watch collector, I love Japanese and Swiss watches. I've had several Seikos and they have all had brilliant build quality (accept for one stainless strap that they'd stopped making and so couldn't get replaced). If I get another watch like that though, one with just the time and data on, I'd probably go for one like yours, the Seiko 5.





I love that it has the day as well as the date, and I really lurrve the window into the back of the watch. Beautiful!

Or this...



Does the same job for a tenner, but it's less pretty and you need to spend a few quid every few years on a battery. That said, these don't really do anything that my Tissot doesn't.


Womble - that's what I'm thinking - a funky g-shock. Solar, radio, alarms, backlight, Great! Invincible: bonus! But how much was that? What model is it?

All the G-Shocks I can see for that price range are all solar but not radio. Or neither. And I'm thinking I want a few more features too, like compass for example. Dual analogue/digital would be nice.



I didn't intend for this to be just you lot coming up with good ideas and me rubbishing them all - these are all good, but the exact watch I want must be around somewhere. I bet someone here has my watch.

I'm not planning for the end of the world, I'm trying to think of realistic real life situations I could find myself in. Like increased security where you're not allowed a phone or a torch or anything with a bigger battery than a watch. In that kind of area the more features the better. For me, imagining my life without my phone is a bit of a fright. Maybe I need to spend a little more. There are brands I've never even looked at like Suunto. There is on called the Suuto Core that looks the mutts nuts. £170 though. :/

[Wulfshead]

Things like this make me smile as I had a giggle on a camp 3 years ago speaking of watches.
My friend was ex-military and, like me, retired early due to injury.
We got talking about his 'tactical' watch and he rolled out the list of components and case manufacture materials.
He reveled in the fact it was reduced to £1000 and that he had saved about £500.
Not a great gizmo loaded watch albeit that it had a momentum winding system.
It had an hour hand, minute hand, second hand and a date window.
After about 30 minutes of his gushing about his watch I asked him what the time it was, he replied 13:45.
I took great pleasure telling him that my £30 Timex Expedition said it was also 13:45

The thing is I got an email from a State-Side survivalist blog yesterday which listed the top 10 tactical watches ( I suspect the blog owners opinions ) and to be honest some watches on that list would be confusing to read in an emergency, why a barometer on a watch is needed is really beyond me.

Give me an hour hand, minute hand, second hand, date window and a back-light and I'm a happy chap, and £ 970 better off

Wulfshead

[tanstaafl]

I did buy a basic Traser military last year and really liked the simplicity of it , but found the tritium illumination not very good in low light situations (a urban setting) now my eyesight is not brilliant and I reckon the illumination would be fine in the very dark/pitch black , I just found that the street lights etc when walking along were not bright enough to see the dial but it was too dark for the tritium to do its thing.............very nice watch tho...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Traser-Military ... 521&sr=1-4

[Yorkshire Andy]

http://www.casio.co.uk/products/timepie ... G-7710-1ER

what i wear on a day to day basis ...

[Bad Wombat]

+1 for any solar g-shock. Those things are just indestructible.

[womble]

Womble - that's what I'm thinking - a funky g-shock. Solar, radio, alarms, backlight, Great! Invincible: bonus! But how much was that? What model is it?

Mine is a GW-2310.

Personally I dislike analog/tritium faces because it's too easy to misjudge the angle you're holding it at and think it's twenty to one when it's really a quarter to two... though I'm sure there are clearer displays than the one that did that to me many moons ago... Still, though, in a hurry, I prefer digital.

Another thing with the solar G-Shock: if you have all the bells and whistles (specifically the "backlight comes on when you turn your wrist to look at the watch", they can suffer from SAD in the winter when covered by a cuff for much of the day.