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Watches?

mattr25

Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Jan 17, 2012
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Does anyone have any suggestions for watches that have compass, temperature, altitude, etc.... for a reasonable price. I don't have any experience with any watches like this. I worry about the accuracy of the cheaper ones but also don't want to spend more than 200-300 dollars.
 
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I'm curious about this too. And that the watches which, additionally, have calculator functions so that ranging math can be done on them. Or can be done with their bezel - like an aviator's chronograph with fuel/distance calculation capability.

Thanks.
 
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The 5.11 is nice! Being both a shooter and an Army Aviator I use two different watches. One is my duty watch that I wear when shooting and when deployed or in the field. It's a Casio Pathfinder that does altitude, compass, thermometer, Barometer, and it syncs with the atomic clock nightly. The other is a Chase Durer Falcon Command, it's more stylish and more of a dress watch but it does have an E6B and chronometer that work well for speed/fuel calculations. It's a little difficult to read the E6B in the cockpit though.
 
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I was just looking for the same kind of watch myself. I haven't decided on one yet, but I did like the looks of the Casio Protrek. Seemed legit and in your price range. Got good reviews too. Debating if I need all the readings it takes or if I just want the watch to be a watch, so I'm deciding between the Protrek and one of the Luminox Blackouts.
 
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I have a Casio Pathfinder (solar power). I just got it as a Christmas present from the wife and love it so far.
 
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Sounds like the Pathfinder is a popular pick. How is the durability?
 
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I had the 5.11 watch with the ballistic calculator which was pretty cool. Unfortunately, it broke during a fight (the first one I got into while wearing it).

I've had a Citizen Skyhawk AT which I've had forever and that thing is bullet proof. It won't break or stop running even after years of heavy duty abuse.

If you are looking for the information that you listed above then consider a Suunto. They have a wide variety of watches that will probably fit the application you are looking for.
 
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<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Bowman</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I had the 5.11 watch with the ballistic calculator which was pretty cool. Unfortunately, it broke during a fight (the first one I got into while wearing it).

I've had a Citizen Skyhawk AT which I've had forever and that thing is bullet proof. It won't break or stop running even after years of heavy duty abuse.

If you are looking for the information that you listed above then consider a Suunto. They have a wide variety of watches that will probably fit the application you are looking for.

</div></div>

Suunto is great. They have a new one that also includes full GPS with route plotting. But it's about 500 bucks. However if you're looking to ever get a GPS as well then it's evens(Ish).
 
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I would recommend against the 5.11. Aside from a compass, it has none of the other features you requested.
The compass seems to work alright; the ballistics program (though slower to change inputs) also works quite accurately.
As a watch, I think it sucks. Ive been wearing mine for 18 months and can't wait to replace it. Date is not on the primary display, the digital seconds display is 1/2 the size of the time display and is only visible in good light at the right angle or with the illumination feature (which I do love the illumination). Also, the face glass is EXTREMELY susceptible to scratches. Scrolling through features to reach chronograph or timer means first going through time, date, 2nd time zone and 3rd time zone first. Maybe useful to some, but not many.

I use this watch for my EMS job, a decent seconds display can be crucial.

I will be replacing this watch as soon as I can find a suitable replacement, most likely with some variant of casio g shock.
 
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I have a G-Shock ( Linky ) that I have had for a year. No problems so far. The environmentals are close enough to use for shooting outside of matches. And for a retail of $130 I believe its a good deal.

The temperature (as with most watches) is higher on your wrist.

No compass though.
 
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For me a 5.11 is out, as I've heard WAY too many stories of them dying very early deaths. Like 50%(+) of them, & not ones subject to hard field conditions either. And I'm not always kind to my gear, due to circumstance(s).
I LOVE the idea behind the 5.11 watch, but if it ain't reliable, & or needs to be babied, it's useless to me.

I mentioned aviator style watches with bezels because the bezel is simply a slide rule [old school calculator]. The catch is finding one with a bezel where it's not strictly oriented to aviators, ie; fuel vs. time/distance calculations.
I want a backup, & or primary calculator on my wrist if possible. And if not, then a rock tuff watch which will reliably give me accurate atmospheric readings. Also, I know that there are watches which do all sorts of calculator functions. Are there any which do that, as well as taking atmospheriic readings?

Anyone got some candidates they'd like to share. I'd Surely appreciate it.
It's either a good watch which meets the above criteria, or a backup system for doing ballistic calcs on the fly, for cheap. Like an FDAC or similar.

PS: When I say tough, I mean like a Casio G-Shock or better. Think of a hockey puck (no joke), both in terms of watches, as well as any electronics which may routinely get carried into the field.
 
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I have been wearing Casio Pathfinder for the last 15 years. Gone through about 5 sets of batteries in that period.

Mine has held up pretty good, been shot by UTM/SIM rounds in training, rolled in a car with me (twice), and generally pretty banged up. I bought another one about 5 years ago just in case it kicked the bucket but the original one is still running strong.

I didn't go with the Suunto b/c I could not hear the alarm. Overall everything in the Casio is functional and useful.
 
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I like watches! Andddddd I like gadgets.... So I like watches with doodads! I have had most of the above mentioned watches in one form or another (except for the GPS suunto, I will be scouring eBay after this post!)

The 5.11, the ballistic calc is RIGHT on. PITA to use though, good backup, can't read the thing unless it's in direct sunlight, hence I don't wear it much so I have not had it break. Don't like that it needs to be sent back to the factory for a battery change.

Casio pathfinder is the cats ass. I had one of the originals, still works perfect. I upgraded to the solar and haven't bought a battery for 5 years! Only complaint is no graph on the barometer.

Suunto, just as good as the pathfinder, but with the graph function. I could always tell when I was in class back in school cause the building had a positive pressure change that I could see on the graph.... I got a kick out of it

Had a LaCrosse version that was almost an exact duplicate of the suunto, but cheaper. I have beat the crap out of it and it's still running.

My everyday is a citizen nighthawk, but I got an import model with a black face and white bezel with the E6B. Looks a lot like a Breitling. The slide rule can also do multiplication and division as well if you learn how to use it. I am working on a pilot's license. My instructor told me all pilots have to have a big ass E6B watch (even though you really use a full sized E6B in school then chuck it after you pass ...)

Hope that helps.... I'm off to check eBay.....
wink.gif
 
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I currently wear a Suunto X-10. While it is quite a bit more than your posted price, they make some other very nice products as well.
 
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I have a Luminox Blackout that the wife got me for Xmas and a Breitling that I've been having. I really am taking a liking to the Luminox as a go to, day to day watch. Don't get me wrong, I love the Breitling, I'm just on a Luminox kick right now.
 
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+1 on Casio Pathfinder (model PAW-1300G)

I beat the shit out of this one for a year deployment in Afghanistan, still going strong, has not even needed a new band yet.
2 minor problems: the glass is reflective and you can't adjust seconds in the countdown timer.
 
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I have had a suunto X-lander for about a year now and have loved it. It has all the feature you are looking for. The only bummer is it is a single time watch only, so I have to do the math for Z time.
I used to have a casio pathfinder, awesome watch, has all time zones, auto time hack every day, as well. It ended up dieing though from flying nights for a full deployment killed the battery (caused a very short batttery memory). The altimeter in the casio was much mare accurate than the x-lander. I've got a picture somewhere with my watch showing 16,500 next to our aircraft's altimeter reading the same.

I guess to me it would break down to what do you want out of it. Personaly I think the suunto looks better but the casio has better features.
 
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I've worn a Casio Pathfinder PAW 1300T-7V for the last four years over here, and still love this watch. It has all the capabilities that you have listed and I would say that they're all very accurate too. The altimeter works very well including having taken it to 23k' on an unpressurized flight, and it read dead on with the plane. The compass works great for basic navigation, although it's no replacement for a good lensatic compass for precise azimuth shooting. The crystal has hardly a scratch in it, but I'm tied to the office more than the streets these days so it doesn't get abused like DeltaDan's did.

Keep in mind the thermometer on any watch needs to be off your wrist for at least 15 minutes to get an accurate reading. I still kept a small thermometer in my databook case for ease of use before I got a Kestral.

Solar power, durable bands and atomic timekeeping were the plus for me to put it over the Suunto in selection, not to mention being far cheaper and a smaller footprint. It's in the lower end of your price range.
 
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Suunto Core, everything your asking for and you can pick them up for $299. Had mine for 2 years and couldnt be happier. Been field thrashed a bit and battery gets chewed when you use the compass a lot. Batteries for it are cheap and user-replacable.
 
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Thanks for all the replies. Now I just got to make a decision on which one. Too many good options.
 
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Here is another:

http://www.suunto.com/us/en/products/Out...ector-black#all

I sold these for quite sometime and never had a single one returned or a problem of any sort. I was not a watch selling retailer but sold many. Very accurate! Takes a better than timex beating. Its also quite large like most of these type watches and like them all snags on things. Battery life is better than average and is like them all, the more the functions are used the faster the battery goes. One of my guys used the functions every day he was in the hills, several days a week and a year was about average for him.

I have the 5.11 for a few years now, did not pay anywhere near the $159 price back then. The ballistic cal interested me so rep sent me one. Like was said, as a pure day to day watch not all that good but for me, it does what I thought it would, wrist watch with a handy ballistic calc. I do not find the calc all that difficult or slow to use and it is very accurate. The compass function does eat batteries if you nav with it but for me, it was just a nicety for a back up to an actual field compass. Band is the original no issue for me with it. Went through one battery but played / nav'd with compass a bit when new and used the calc too.

good luck
 
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I've worn my pathfinder for about 4 years now and it's been through Afghanistan, SERE, flight school and I wear it on my civilian job working EMS and there isn't a single scratch on the face. So for durability, I give it a 10.
 
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+1 on the Pathfinder + tough solar. I used to have a Sunnto, but (and not just me) many find that it goes through batteries too often. Then you have to re-do all the setttings, its a PITA. At least the batteries aren't too expensive, but still pretty annoying. I did like the larger face than the Pathfinder, but I really love never having to worry about batteries, and the pathfinder is very durable. I really liked my G-Shock mudman with tough solor as well - it updated every day with the atomic clock via RF, but it doesn't do ABC. I think there is a model that does ABC, solar and atomic clock and thats what I would get if I did it again. The only issues I have with the g-shocks are:
1. Bands tend to break over time / loosen
2. I wish the backlight would stay on longer - or you could set it to stay on until turned off
 
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I looked for this a couple of years ago. Took the Casio Pathfinder too. Been wearing it every day for almost two years. This thing is a tank. Got it a Kohls on sale early in the day plus coupon for under $130.
 
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Just to clear something up said earlier.
The 5.11 most definitely DOES NOT have to be sent to the factory for a battery change...anyone can do it.
It does however need to be sent to the factory if you want the watch to be sealed to it's full watertight specs...this however is true of ANY watch.
Take in your Pathfinder, Sunnto or any watch to your local dept store to have the battery replaced and it will definitely not be waterproof to original specs.
If you're willing to give up the 100m (or whatever) spec you can replace any watch battery yourself...if you want it to be fully watertight all watches will go back to the factory.
 
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<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: CZbob</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Just to clear something up said earlier.
The 5.11 most definitely DOES NOT have to be sent to the factory for a battery change...anyone can do it.
It does however need to be sent to the factory if you want the watch to be sealed to it's full watertight specs...this however is true of ANY watch.
Take in your Pathfinder, Sunnto or any watch to your local dept store to have the battery replaced and it will definitely not be waterproof to original specs.
If you're willing to give up the 100m (or whatever) spec you can replace any watch battery yourself...if you want it to be fully watertight all watches will go back to the factory.</div></div> What's a battery change? Three Citizen Eco-Drives and a Tough Solar Casio Pathfinder here...
 
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I've got a pathfinder and it's a great watch. Tough as nails. Im a tradey so it gets bashed around on a daily basis and handles it no problem. It has also been dragged through countless swamps and channels, buried in Australian bull dust (extremly fines sand that gets into everything), dropped onto concrete, coverd in grease and engine oil and still shows no signs of packing it in.

Some advice is don't wear it while welding. It's plastic and melts funnily enough when bits of slag gets spit onto it.
 
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Suunto core all black. iv mine over a year and it gets pretty beat up and hasnt let me down yet.Its got everything you are looking for .
 
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Pathfinder Waveceptor Solar Atomic 1500T-7V
It resets with the Atomic clock in Ft Collins,Co
every night.
 
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I have a suunto and it's been great for a few years now. Every once in a while you can catch them on sale at moutaingear.com
 
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I owned a pathfinder that lasted through deployment and tons of training and it stood up fine. When it met my dog it perished so I decided to move to a suunto core which I absolutely love. For me it's a better overall fit, very sleek without all the huge buttons protruding from face. Just a very clean watch.

Suunto from here on out for me. But you can't go wrong with either.
 
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Another vote for the Pathfinder. I've worn a PAW 1100 for a couple of years that I bought from COSTCO for a $130.00. Absolutely trouble free with solar power, atomic clock reset, accurate environmentals with graphs, impact resistant, waterproof, etc., etc. Oh, I should have included a scratch resistant crystal that so far has been scratch proof.
 
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Guys,
It would help if you would state the model, just as redmanss and a couple of others have. Saying "Casio Pathfinder" is like saying Remington bolt-action; there are quite a few models.

Thanks
 
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Ok, well I know I'm a little slow on the draw here, but...

I'm looking at the pathfinder, riseman and suunto core...

As for the pathfinder I have no idea which model would be ideal... I want digital and solar, but beyond that I haven't found a good source to compare the differences. There seems to be a ton of different models.

Riseman, G 9200 bw...i like it, but for some reason it does not seem highly recommended. No one even seems to mention anything about it?? It has solar and seemingly everything the pathfinder has??

Suunto, I don't know much about it but I like the style. (Not the best motivation for purchasing an instrument)

Any help is much appreciated, thanks
 
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I own two watches, a Luminox and a Pathfinder. I suggest the Pathfinder. I haven't worn the Luminox for a year now.

If you buy the Pathfinder look at Khols. Once a month they have a sale on them usually 25% off. Then take a Khols coupon either online or if you receive it in the mail from their weekly for an additional 25% percent off.
 
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<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: ajb008</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I own two watches, a Luminox and a Pathfinder. I suggest the Pathfinder. I haven't worn the Luminox for a year now.

If you buy the Pathfinder look at Khols. Once a month they have a sale on them usually 25% off. Then take a Khols coupon either online or if you receive it in the mail from their weekly for an additional 25% percent off.

</div></div>

Haha.. I have the 8362 Luminox and the Pathfinder. I also got it from Kohls with the discounts. I think it ended up running me 130 out of pocket.

Both are great watches. I will switch every few months. I also have a Marathon GSAR auto.. another great watch. My shit gets beat up bad..lol

The Pathfinder.. I love it and only have one complaint. The temperature reading gets fugged from being worn on the wrist. It's kind of useless.. The barometer on the other hand is awesome and accurate. The glass is good. I havn't been able to scratch it.. BUT, the one time I was using a demo saw cutting metal, The hot metal sparks put a few tiny marks into it. That bothers me. I CANT STAND a mark on the glass...

The Luminox is just about bombproof. It's steel and it's heavy! The black PVD coating wears exceptionally well! I had a couple of the pins in the bracelet loosen and I had to order some replacements but other then that.. No issues.
I have some Maratac straps I will switch out depending on what I am doing.

The Marathon.. Love it. I usually wear this out on the town because it's brushed stainless and goes with anything. It still gets hammered on. Can't seem to avoid it..lol Door jambs usually pop out of nowhere! Auto is really nice. no batts to worry about..
 
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Sounds good thanks!

Got a really good deal on a riseman on ebay just now. 85 bucks shipped. I'll pick up the pathfinder with the discounts as recommended and play around with them both. I tend to hammer my stuff too, so either way a spare will be nice.

Lol +2 my "daily driver" is also a luminox, looking for something I can crash into walls and not feel so guilty. What can I say, I'm clumsy...

Thanks again for the responses
 
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There are a lot of models of the Pathfinders out there, so I hope this helps you a bit. First, unless you simply prefer a huge brick on your wrist, go with one of the slim models. PAW 1300 and PAW 2000 are both this type, but I'm not sure which others may be as well. I don't care about tidal data anymore, so I don't bother with that stuff. Sunrise and such is available on the PAW 2000 and not on the 1300 if you care about that. There may be other features out there you may or may not care about, and I'm sure the Casio website has some method to compare them to help you weed out the ones you don't want.

Additionally to that it comes down to what band you want, and me personally I prefer the titanium bands. They don't break or wear out, and I have a separate diver's watch for actual diving and the need to put it on over a wetsuit, so the fixed size of the titanium band is good enough for me too.

Check Amazon for some of the best everyday deals out there. They offer at or near 50% off MSRP most of the time anyhow, and you don't have to play the "do you have this model" game with them.
 
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I have and wear a Suunto Core All black, it has taken a beating on the bezel but works great.

I am not sure if it is just on the core, but to get a good reading on temp you need to take it off for a little bit as it reads near the wrist and therefore is a bit higher than the outside temp.
The biggest thing I like is the little icon on the fave that shows the baro pressure trend over the last few hours, it helps give some potential weather warning when you are out in the woods.

Lastly the thing I really like has to do with the color scheme of the all black Core, it has the negative view on the face which I have found to be very easy to see in the water with either mask or goggles on
 
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I'm not sure if I'd recommend it to many for a shooting piece of gear, but I run a Marathon TSAR on their matching bracelet. It's pretty tough and survives me working in a machine shop. Once I essentially took a full arm swing and the watch face nailed the side of our CNC mill and kept on ticking. As well, I'm weird and prefer an analog over a digital wrist watch.
 
Gave my old pathfinder to my son after my last deployment and retirement. Just received a new Pathfinder 1500 today in the mail. Picked it up off of Amazon for 202.00
 
I know this is more of an opinion based question but I'm going to ask it anyway. Is the suunto or the 5.11 more durable than the other? Looking for a new watch and the ballistic calculator would be a nice feature to have but all of the reviews I have seen say that they break easily.