Very random question--Tactical Watches

[JoeInVille]

I am not truly sure whether or not this is the right place to ask this question but here it goes. My parents want to get me a gift for my High School graduation that will be useful for the next few years of my life and I thought that maybe a tactical watch would be. I talked to my recruiter to see if you are even allowed to wear watches during deployments and he said it was fine as long as it was black and didn't interfere with your gear. For example, an extremely shiny and silver watch would not be a good thing to wear. My question is, what is a good watch if anyone even knows. Are there any specific watch companies that have good military watches that can be sold to civilians? I don't generally wear watches so I am clueless but I thought it would be something that I could actually use rather than a gift that would sit in my room while I am gone...

[JoeSzynal]

Just get yourself a $30 timex ironman and call it a day. You don't need the $100 g-shock that tells you the position of jupiter. That's retarded.

You won't use it at boot camp but deployments it's a must. Garrison not so much as long as you've got a cell phone or other device with the time.

[rvillac2]

I concur with the Cpl. You'll need a watch but spending a lot of money on one is kind of silly. It will get scratched or even lost if you're in a physically active MOS.

I used to jack mine up simply by putting on and taking off my deuce gear.

[SlingerDun]

My question is, what is a good watch if anyone even knows.Ball makes great watches that are hard to break. I don't wear a wrist watch because it can be dangerous at work under a horse so i keep it on a fob attached to a belt loop stashed inside the fifth pocket. But it's just a watch, it's boring. I would ask the folks for a Garmin Colorado400t GPS recieverhttp://www.leatherneck.com/forums/images/icons/icon14.gif It comes preloaded with road maps and shaded relief topo's of the entire United States and it's pretty cool. You can't use it in boot camp but damn near anywhere else its good to go.

[BR34]

I bought a 27 dollar Timex on Liberty Sunday in bootcamp. 15 months later and it's on my wrist right now..."Still tickin". Hasn't been off my wrist for more than an hour since I graduated boot camp.

Just get a non-flash watch that tells time. What else do you need? What the hell is a tactical watch anyway?

[Zulu 36]

My personal favorite is a Casio G-Shock (now about $50). In over 15-years I wore out only two as a cop (patrol, narcotics, detectives, SWAT) and in the Air Guard (Desert Storm and lots of trips to the field). The batteries last forever, they take a hell of a beating, and they do everything you could need from them: tell time (including military format), the date, and run a stop watch (for PT). Anything else is a waste of money.

The bands on the G-Shock will wear out faster than the watch itself, so you might want to have a spare set handy. I think I went through about three bands for each watch.

[jrhd97]

I have had Iron Man watches, a Timex Piece. It's alright. The Timex Expedition series is good. My favorite is the Wegner my wife bought me a couple years ago. A great Swiss watch, but it'll cost what 3 Timex Expeditions will cost.
Don't wear something you don't want scratched up.

[Sonic13]

I loved when getting watches was like, the biggest deal ever. Yeah, i admit it, i was one of the guys who got the 100$ g shocker :p

[bigalholmes165]

A bit pricey, but it lasts - http://www.hammacher.com/publish/63488.asp?source=google&keyword=benrus+military+watch&cm_ven=NewGate&cm_cat=Google&cm_pla=Father%27sDay05&cm_ite=benrus+military+watch

[JSam]

This is a stupid question-- but does the Corp. care if it's digital or analog?

[jrhd97]

No
Just so you can tell time with it.

[JoeSzynal]

This is a stupid question-- but does the Corp. care if it's digital or analog?

Not a stupid question. You are going to want to go digital here for purposes of synchronization with your platoon or fire team before a mission that involves pieces/people moving around the battlefield out of visibility. At exactly 2015, all vehicles will start up in an effort to mask vehicle counts. Or, at exactly 2015, your fire team is clear to push inside the compound because the outer cordon is set etc. (Our primary signal plan was radio comm but time markers are an option)

Or it could be something simple as not having a buddy available to help with a time hack while fixing a radio. You can use a digi watch to get a hack off a radio that is good and then run back over to set the down radio.

Point being, there will be many times where you will need the precision of a digital watch. I rock a $30 ironman. It has taken me through two deployments and still works great, although a bit thrashed. I've retired it now in favor of something a bit classier.

I'll mail it to the first poolee who PM's me with their mailing address. Consider it a good-luck charm.

[JoeSzynal]

I loved when getting watches was like, the biggest deal ever. Yeah, i admit it, i was one of the guys who got the 100$ g shocker :p

Haaa.. Ya sonic thanks for being a good sport here. No worries about the $100 g-shocks. They are nice. I'm just cheap.

I remember going with a buddy last year to the PX because he needed a watch. He was looking at and eventually bought this ridiculous top-end g-shock that had everything but the kitchen sink on it (Altimeter? Crazy number of time-zones? I think even GPS but I could be remembering wrong). He's a big guy but this watch was even huge-looking on him.

I just remember shaking my head as he was ringing it up.

Good times.

[JoeSzynal]

UPDATE: My lucky ironman has been claimed. No more PMs please.