An unapologetic thread about "manly" things...

[LuckyDuck]

To start this thread off, I'd like to begin this discussion with the topic of watches since that's what's on my mind.

Watches seem to be a "manly" thing and for reasons I'm not sure why. I've been digging into/researching this topic and the best explanation I'm finding is that men use watches as one of the few "approved" jewelry accessories that they can wear. Perhaps there's some merit to this but I'm not sure if this summation conveys why I'm personally interested in watches.


Just speaking for myself- I personally find it absolutely fascinating that we can wear such a complicated machine on our wrist which requires literally hundreds of small parts to work in unison to perform a function requiring absolve precision & accuracy. Precision & accuracy.. if there ever was a unifying concept to state with the participants here...

Personally- I've always held a fascination with watches. Not so much from a status symbol perspective but more so from a perspective that appreciates the precision of such a small device.

A few decades ago my first "real" watch was a Luminox Navy Seal model that looked something like this...

Good lord did I love this watch. It was my first "expensive" watch which took me months to save up for while working retail jobs (yes plural) and when my finances aligned I thought this was amongst the most amazing purchases I had made at that point in my young life. It was far from a luxury watch by other standards but it was amazing to me & what it represented for my income at that stage of my life.

It was an amazing watch too- quartz movement of course but tritium dials on the hands and that made it "special" to me then. I forget how many times I had to replace the batteries & straps because each part just wore out (I lived in that watch for years) but remember when it finally "died" on me and a part of me died with it. I got well over a decade with that watch, it spanned my entire military "career" but I rode it hard and ran it into the ground and it finally had enough. Certainly a sad day for me.

I limped through college with cheap (think Kmart Timex type of watches) but always missed having a "good" watch. Of all people, my little brother gave me one of the best Christmas gifts I'd ever received in my adult life... A Citizen promaster with eco drive aka- solar powered and I was once again smitten with a watch (not even that terribly expensive either). That looked/(s) like this...

Talk about a cool watch- the luminosity wasn't tritium but rather a high quality luminescent painting that doesn't have a "half-life". The watch was built "tough" and the strap contained kevlar if I remember right... I still have & love that watch. I'm still bitter that I don't have the exact same watch in the Black configuration.


Moving on- my tastes & budgets for watches has expanded & grown but nothing too extravagant either.

I picked up the above Timex for something like $30 6 years ago. I bought it as a "beater"/"throwaway" but god damn- that watch rocks and I'm still trying to keep life into it. The battery is presently dead as a doornail but I've got a pack of 'em coming to see if we can't breath some life into this "old" girl.

I'm getting long winded so to wrap things up... my latest acquisition is a relatively inexpensive but classic watch.. the Seiko "turtle" which is looks like the below & is an otherwise inexpensive option for an automatic movement driven watch.

I'm rambling now but to sum things up- there are some things "we" all like that are just inherently "manly". Watches have to be amongst that category. Not even as a flex/opportunity to drop 1,000's of $ on either.

Just on the discussion of "man things" there's certain products that just seem to 'strike that masculine chord' & amplifies one's testosterone while similetanously receiving olympic eye rolls from spouses and lesser lady friends.

-LD

 

[LuckyDuck]

Aside from stories about watches & my interests there-

Another "manly" element that I can attribute to my personal life is the concept of the "pocket knife".

Without disclosing my own age- I can recall a very young version of myself taking a pocket knife from my father to preschool and it being a "problem" enough that it was mentioned to my parents when I was picked up (it's bizarre the things one tends to remember) and being scolded/punished for taking my fathers knife. And from what I remember it wasn't anything all that special either but something like the below which was a pocket knife set up that I haven't seen in a long time.

Years later I remember getting my own "first" pocket knife that was my own (although kept in the possession of my father) because I achieved a merit badge of sorts from the cub scouts & that pocket knife looked something like this...

Well fast forward a few decades and I'm still regularly carrying a pocket knife of one sort or the other. Maybe it's a "manly" thing, maybe it's just a practical thing but just like I've geeked out on watches, I've spent decades pursuing the "perfect" pocket knife and that seems to me as a uniquely manly thing.

-LD

 

[LuckyDuck]

I'll step off my proverbial "soapbox" for now- and just close out my thoughts that what I find interesting on the watch & pocket knife stories I shared above is how irrelevant those experiences/stories are for many of the (younger) folks that came up after me.

Not that there's anything particularly "wrong" with that but it's a bit wild to me when I think how much weight I put on things like watches & pocket knives and try to understand the "why" I think they're special/important but also that I'm likely the end of the road generationally where these were important components of growing into "manhood".

-LD

 

[JbBooks]

One more to add is handkerchiefs, when is the last time you seen someone carrying one, other than to signify an Amish affiliation, my grandad did, my dad, and I do in the winter. Much better than wiping your nose on your sleeve.

 

[Maggot]

 

[FWoo45]

This is in the Pit, right?

 

[jpjulian]

To start this thread off, I'd like to begin this discussion with the topic of watches since that's what's on my mind.

Watches seem to be a "manly" thing and for reasons I'm not sure why. I've been digging into/researching this topic and the best explanation I'm finding is that men use watches as one of the few "approved" jewelry accessories that they can wear. Perhaps there's some merit to this but I'm not sure if this summation conveys why I'm personally interested in watches.


Just speaking for myself- I personally find it absolutely fascinating that we can wear such a complicated machine on our wrist which requires literally hundreds of small parts to work in unison to perform a function requiring absolve precision & accuracy. Precision & accuracy.. if there ever was a unifying concept to state with the participants here...

Personally- I've always held a fascination with watches. Not so much from a status symbol perspective but more so from a perspective that appreciates the precision of such a small device.

A few decades ago my first "real" watch was a Luminox Navy Seal model that looked something like this...

View attachment 8739805

Good lord did I love this watch. It was my first "expensive" watch which took me months to save up for while working retail jobs (yes plural) and when my finances aligned I thought this was amongst the most amazing purchases I had made at that point in my young life. It was far from a luxury watch by other standards but it was amazing to me & what it represented for my income at that stage of my life.

It was an amazing watch too- quartz movement of course but tritium dials on the hands and that made it "special" to me then. I forget how many times I had to replace the batteries & straps because each part just wore out (I lived in that watch for years) but remember when it finally "died" on me and a part of me died with it. I got well over a decade with that watch, it spanned my entire military "career" but I rode it hard and ran it into the ground and it finally had enough. Certainly a sad day for me.

I limped through college with cheap (think Kmart Timex type of watches) but always missed having a "good" watch. Of all people, my little brother gave me one of the best Christmas gifts I'd ever received in my adult life... A Citizen promaster with eco drive aka- solar powered and I was once again smitten with a watch (not even that terribly expensive either). That looked/(s) like this...

View attachment 8739811

Talk about a cool watch- the luminosity wasn't tritium but rather a high quality luminescent painting that doesn't have a "half-life". The watch was built "tough" and the strap contained kevlar if I remember right... I still have & love that watch. I'm still bitter that I don't have the exact same watch in the Black configuration.


Moving on- my tastes & budgets for watches has expanded & grown but nothing too extravagant either.

View attachment 8739818

I picked up the above Timex for something like $30 6 years ago. I bought it as a "beater"/"throwaway" but god damn- that watch rocks and I'm still trying to keep life into it. The battery is presently dead as a doornail but I've got a pack of 'em coming to see if we can't breath some life into this "old" girl.

I'm getting long winded so to wrap things up... my latest acquisition is a relatively inexpensive but classic watch.. the Seiko "turtle" which is looks like the below & is an otherwise inexpensive option for an automatic movement driven watch.

View attachment 8739821

I'm rambling now but to sum things up- there are some things "we" all like that are just inherently "manly". Watches have to be amongst that category. Not even as a flex/opportunity to drop 1,000's of $ on either.

Just on the discussion of "man things" there's certain products that just seem to 'strike that masculine chord' & amplifies one's testosterone while similetanously receiving olympic eye rolls from spouses and lesser lady friends.

-LD

I gave a Luminox Navy Seal watch to my son when he left home to become an Army Airborne Ranger. It got beat up pretty bad during his training but survived. It survived a combat tour in Iraq in 2003 but not much longer after that. Thanks for the memories.... My daily wear is an Omega Seamaster for 20+ years now. Its only needed 2 tune-ups but is about due for a 3rd. I have that exact same scout knife too!

 

[LuckyDuck]

One more to add is handkerchiefs, when is the last time you seen someone carrying one, other than to signify an Amish affiliation, my grandad did, my dad, and I do in the winter. Much better than wiping your nose on your sleeve.

Excellent point-

The below picture is actually taken on top of a handkerchief I had...

I can still vividly recall being in 2nd grade (again I have a freakish memory) and having a stick empale my hand during recess and having to go to the hospital to get it removed/stitched up. Where the handkerchief comes in is while this corrective action was occurring, I still remember the doctor having my father pull out his handkerchief for me to bite down on.

-LD

 

[LuckyDuck]

View attachment 8739849

A colt revolver- oh boy do I have a picture to share with you on a recent acquisition

-LD

 

[Milf Dots]

Pinaud Clubman Talc (it's now "powder" because talc causes cancer)- almost every barber I've ever been to had/has it- the famous green can! Even better was that my childhood barber had a poster of a topless woman on the wall and we soaked that shit up!

 

[LuckyDuck]

This is in the Pit, right?View attachment 8739853

Fair enough- she's a bit flat chested but still smoking hot by my standards.

 

[Milf Dots]

Both my father and GF used this:

 

[LuckyDuck]

I gave a Luminox Navy Seal watch to my son when he left home to become an Army Airborne Ranger. It got beat up pretty bad during his training but survived. It survived a combat tour in Iraq in 2003 but not much longer after that. Thanks for the memories.... My daily wear is an Omega Seamaster for 20+ years now. Its only needed 2 tune-ups but is about due for a 3rd. I have that exact same scout knife too!

I've got to give you sincere props there as a Dad- I vividly remember when I purchased my Luminox (I got it from Gander Mountain shortly before I enlisted) and my own father chastised me constantly for spending so much on a watch (I reckon it would have been about $250 then) and honest to goodness I still to this day remember my father's 'counterpoint' in what watch I "should" have purchased... (random picture but I assure you that it was this exact watch then)

Anyway- not trying to make this about me & my relationship with my father- just want to say that I'm sure your son remembers you purchasing that watch for him and that he still thinks about it all these years later like I am (I really do mean for this to come across as a sincere compliment to you).

-LD

 

[LuckyDuck]

Pinaud Clubman Talc (it's now "powder" because talc causes cancer)- almost every barber I've ever been to had/has it- the famous green can! Even better was that my childhood barber had a poster of a topless woman on the wall and we soaked that shit up!

View attachment 8739856

View attachment 8739858

I love that you shared that. As you said- that used to be in every barber shop I grew up in but (for one reason or another) they were merely "display" products because we never were allowed to buy them.

 

[Maggot]

Pinaud Clubman Talc (it's now "powder" because talc causes cancer)- almost every barber I've ever been to had/has it- the famous green can! Even better was that my childhood barber had a poster of a topless woman on the wall and we soaked that shit up!

View attachment 8739856

View attachment 8739858

I like their Lilac Vegetal, gotta be sparing with it or you'll smell like a whorehouse.

​

​

 

[Pharmseller]

Watches are gay.

Catching your own food is manly.

P

 

[LuckyDuck]

Both my father and GF used this:

View attachment 8739861

Appreciate you sharing that. Up until the past year or two I used to use one of the above products (Vitalis in the summer/warmer months & Brylcreem in the fall/colder months).

I only stopped using those because I've been cutting my own hair (think mid fade) to save money on that front to put towards the higher grocery prices.

-LD

 

[LuckyDuck]

Watches are gay.

Catching your own food is manly.

View attachment 8739868

View attachment 8739870

View attachment 8739872

View attachment 8739873




P

As Bill Murray once famously said-

that said- I don't think watches are "gay" per say- but the tools that seem to be all about 'em certainly queer things up (although I'd argue that they're coming from positions of ego & financial "show boating" while we have to turn a blind eye to the fact that they likely can't afford whatever luxury brand of time keeper they so happen to be wearing on their wrist.

If you'll allow me some leeway here on the topic of watches- I'd be so bold as to say that there's parrelles between this discussion and how history is taught in our schools. That to say- those that 'get it' as in understanding the story/significance of the topic are coming from a completely different world than those that approach the same stories from a standpoint of needing to memorize the details for an upcoming exam.

Kind of a long way of saying- those of us who just dig watches are likely coming from an angle of historical significance or engineering appreciation (or both).

For me personally- I'm just absolutely smitten with the complexity & number of parts that goes into a mechanical watch & the precision required to accurately depict time. Time in itself is an abstract conversation of its own right.

I certainly understand that not everyone is going to have the same appreciation for something as basic as a watch as I do (and that's totally fine) but for someone wired like I am, a mechanical watch is just as fascinating/perplexing as the pyramids of Giza. There's likely a gamut of opinions that can come form looking at the same thing (and at the same time nobody being 'wrong' with what they see) but the nuances are fascinating to the small groups that see 'em.

-LD

 

[Pharmseller]

When it comes to portable timepieces, nothing is cooler than a pocket watch with fob.

 

[LuckyDuck]

View attachment 8739849

 

[LuckyLuke80]

Manly things, like socks that come above my ankles? Boots that have laces and vibrant soles? Pants that fit me and don’t form fit to my legs? A pocket knife (already mentioned, I know). A lighter. A Glock 48. Scars.

 

[LuckyDuck]

When it comes to portable timepieces, nothing is cooler than a pocket watch with fob.

If I was wealthy- I'd honestly throw $15K towards this stupidly simple & unassuming watch without a second thought...

Speedmaster “Silver Snoopy Award” Watch 310.32.42.50.02.001 | OMEGA US®

Discover the elegant style of the Speedmaster “Silver Snoopy Award” Steel watch (310.32.42.50.02.001), and buy it online on the official OMEGA® Website! Take advantage of the full, certified OMEGA® experience for your online purchase and enjoy the performances and authentic style of this timepiece.

www.omegawatches.com

So here's where the "cool" part of watches comes into play & why us "watch guys" geek out over otherwise ordinary things.

So the above link is for Omega's "Snoopy Watch". For all intents & purposes it's a gimmick & you'd find plenty of Timex watches with Snoopy on it. And I assure you that they'll be far under the $10K+ that the Omega is going for.

But- I'll just share this here because I personally find it fascinating and directly attributes as to why I'm so smitten with that particular watch.

Maybe you know & maybe you don't- but NASA has something called a "snoopy award". Charles Shulz was the creator of Snoopy/the peanuts comic strip and he also was a bi supporter of NASA. To the point that he allowed NASA to use his intellectual property free of charge & even personally drew the Snoopy character for NASA's use.

So that all turned into the story of the "snoopy award" and it's a thing for NASA & when presented to folks it often includes a lapel pin that flew in space previously. So... Omega (the fancy watch brand) actually was presented the Snoopy Award decades ago. There's a whole story with NASA & Omega (google the Omega "moon watch") but that's but a side story.

How Omega received the Snoopy Award actually goes back to the story about the Apollo 13 mission. The Omega Speedster watches were equipped to the Apollo Crew and used/credited with the recovery efforts in bringing Apollo 13 back. It's really a fascinating story for those that enjoy these type of things.

Anyway- Omega came out with this snoopy watch to commemorate this whole backstory and I think it's cool as all hell. But the watches I'm sharing here are nowhere near what that price tag is. Not even because I don't think they aren't worth the money (the watch will likely appreciate better than many stock holdings) but I just don't have the financial "reach" to buy something so fancy so I have to stick with the <$1K watches that still interest me.

-LD

 

[LuckyDuck]

Manly things, like socks that come above my ankles? Boots that have laces and vibrant soles? Pants that fit me and don’t form fit to my legs? A pocket knife (already mentioned, I know). A lighter. A Glock 48. Scars.

Why not?

I've got a Glock 48 I can throw into the discussion since you mentioned it. I've got more scars than I can shake a stick at (so maybe manly there) but nobody wants to see those hence not posting pictures of 'em. Aside from that & your shoe choices- heck you wear what you want to wear- what is "manly" in my opinion at least, is how you conduct yourself in wearing/showing your choices.

You can be 3 sheets to the wind in awkward but still get a pass form me if you can convey enough confidence in you doing your own thing and not taking crap from any naysayers that would suggest otherwise.

-LD

 

[TACC]

I've owned a solar watch (Tracker)from G- Shock for going on 20 years now. I beat the hell out of it, and it keeps on working. I've changed the battery only once. I got my money out of this one. Until it shits the bed I'm good.

I've started my 10 year old grandson with always wearing a watch, fuck that cellphone to keep time and also carry a Leatherman or Gerber multi tool. He is realizing that both are coming in very handy during the day.

 

[LuckyDuck]

I've owned a solar watch (Tracker)from G- Shock for going on 20 years now. I beat the hell out of it, and it keeps on working. I've changed the battery only once. I got my money out of this one. Until it shits the bed I'm good.

I've started my 10 year old grandson with always wearing a watch, fuck that cellphone to keep time and also carry a Leatherman or Gerber multi tool. He is realizing that both are coming in very handy during the day.

I've got a G-shock inbound with a purported 10 year battery life. Truth be told- I would have preferred it to be a solar model but reckon that if I can get a decade off of a single battery I'll still be a happy camper. Just for grins- here's the G-Shock I have coming...

https://www.casio.com/us/watches/gshock/product.GD-010-3/

It's a bit wild to me how watches fell out of normal use (likely because of cell phones) but (I can only speak for myself) I otherwise feel absolutely naked without wearing a watch. It's not a fashion accessory- just an essential part of my everyday routine that comes along for the ride every day just like my wallet.

Heck- maybe even a wallet isn't all that common for our upcoming generation- I reckon that they carry their credit/debit cards & ID's all on their cell phones now. I'm not "that" old but sometimes I feel like an absolute dinosaur. I'm going to keep doing my "thing" though and stick with what I know to work....

A proper watch (independent of my cell phone), a proper wallet, etc. "old school" still works.

-LD

 

[Rookie]

I too appreciate a decent watch and never leave the house without one along with the day's choice of a pocket knife, and at least one pistol.

For watches I either go with a Tag Formula 1 or a solar Gshock. For a knife it's typically something from Case, Cooper Cutlery, Canal Street or Great Eastern Cutlery. (I'm a total pocket knife whore).

 

[ironman56]

I never wore a watch, but my love affair with knifes and tools in general began a a very young age , I remember swooning over a pocket knife at the local hardware store when I was 6 years old , took me saving all my pop bottle money for a while but that knife was the very 1st purchase I made with my own money, sixty three years later and I have a nice shop and more tools than most real men can dream about, tools that I use ,not collect, although some of my rifles haven't been fired for years,shame on me.

 

[TheHorta]

Watches are for fags.

Fag.