The best watch for bushwalking

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The best watch for bushwalking

Postby Mutley » Sat 07 Dec, 2013 8:14 pm

Having searched the forum, I don't think this subject has been covered previously.

I am after a watch for general and specifically bushwalking / outdoor use. I really don't want to go down the Garmin path, as I already carry a GPS.

The watch should have the following features:

Digital or analogue display but will probably end up being digital. Must be very easy to read.
Secure rubber or cloth wrist band
Comfortable to wear and not stupidly large
Wouldn't look out of place to wear at the office during the week

Stopwatch with lap timer
Interval alarm
Countdown timer
Buttons useable with thin gloves
Bezel if analogue
Day and date
Altimeter
Barometer
Temperature with min max
Backlight
Alarm loud enough to wake me if arm buried in a sleeping bag
Less than $300
Reputable brand
Waterproof (or water resistant to 10 plus metres)
Shock resistant

Any suggestions from owners of such a watch, or am I dreaming of procuring such. Thing for the price ??

Happy trails..

Mut. :) :) :(
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Re: The best watch for bushwalking

Postby iluvhiking » Sat 07 Dec, 2013 10:21 pm

um,
Seeing as you stated no Garmin or ( Suunto) etc, well any watch will do.
HOWEVER: HALF THE FEATURES YOU WANT ARE SPECIFICALLY WHY WE OWN GARMIN OR SUUNTO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No need to ask here. go to a watch forum.
You have a large list of what you want ( basically any reasonable watch has those features- MINUS THE SUUNTO/GARMIN STYLE FEATURES-HR/ALT/BARO/C/F))...
You only need a watch bushwalking for a few things:
- time
- time to head home
- time the wife will be at rendezvous.
I mean seriously, as you said " no Garmin" - you question is Moot ( Just like George Costanza says).
You can pick from at least 10-20 watches ( with your criteria).
If you REALLY want a good watch - a Garmin or Suunto is the way to go - that's what we all use ( us UL gear freaks)
The extra few bucks are definitely worth it.
But again, If you have a GPS - and unless you are high altitude mountaineering- many "normal" watches will suffice here.
Just so you know - I have owned (the week it came to Sydney)- Suunto X-Lander, and it served me well on the Main Range, Himalaya, Karakorum, Alaska, Sydney, home,at the shops, at work. to check how long the wife was angry at me, to see when work was done, on holidays, etc.
Now own a Suunto Ambit 2
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Re: The best watch for bushwalking

Postby metastable » Sun 08 Dec, 2013 5:46 am

You could try a Casio Pathfinder. It has some of what you want. http://www.protrek.casio.com/ They're quite large watches, and the alarm on the one I have is pitifully weak, but they have all the other bushwalking type bit (compass, altimeter, barometer, solar powered, temp, stopwatch (no lap timer), countdown timer). They have a new V3 of the sensor units out so, I figure they might have fixed some of the quibbles people have with them. It is a big watch, but I still wear it every day. I have this one http://www.amazon.com/Casio-PAG240-1CR- ... B003URP7NK
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Re: The best watch for bushwalking

Postby Mutley » Sun 08 Dec, 2013 10:38 am

[quote="iluvhiking"]um,
Seeing as you stated no Garmin or ( Suunto) etc, well any watch will do.
HOWEVER: HALF THE FEATURES YOU WANT ARE SPECIFICALLY WHY WE OWN GARMIN OR SUUNTO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No need to ask here. go to a watch forum.
You have a large list of what you want ( basically any reasonable watch has those features- MINUS THE SUUNTO/GARMIN STYLE FEATURES-HR/ALT/BARO/C/F))...
You only need a watch bushwalking for a few things:
- time
- time to head home
- time the wife will be at rendezvous.
I mean seriously, as you said " no Garmin" - you question is Moot ( Just like George Costanza says).
You can pick from at least 10-20 watches ( with your criteria).
If you REALLY want a good watch - a Garmin or Suunto is the way to go - that's what we all use ( us UL gear freaks)
The extra few bucks are definitely worth it.
But again, If you have a GPS - and unless you are high altitude mountaineering- many "normal" watches will suffice here.
Just so you know - I have owned (the week it came to Sydney)- Suunto X-Lander, and it served me well on the Main Range, Himalaya, Karakorum, Alaska, Sydney, home,at the shops, at work. to check how long the wife was angry at me, to see when work was done, on holidays, etc.
Now own a Suunto Ambit 2[/



I' don't need to spend $400 for features such as a GPS which I will never use. This feature also necessitates charging the watch every day if the gps is enabled. What use is that if I'm out for 10 days ? I'm not into mountaineering but want barometric pressure to warn of weather changes and an altimeter to confirm contour location. I mainly navigate with maps and only pull out the gps if I'm really stuck. I have since had a look at the suunito non gps models which seem to offer what I'm after. ( at half the price of the gps models). However the displays look I bit faint. I will check some out in the flesh next week.

The Casio looks way too bulky.

Are there any other manufacturers I should be looking at ?
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Re: The best watch for bushwalking

Postby Giddy_up » Sun 08 Dec, 2013 10:49 am

Not sure if these are what your after.

http://www.timex.com.au/mens/outdoor
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Re: The best watch for bushwalking

Postby Mark F » Sun 08 Dec, 2013 11:38 am

Stopwatch with lap timer - Yes
Interval alarm - No
Countdown timer - Yes
Buttons usable with thin gloves - Yes
Bezel if analogue - Yes but a bit stiff
Day and date - Yes
Altimeter - Yes
Barometer - Yes
Temperature with min max - No has temperature but not really useful as it always measures the temperature of your wrist
Backlight - Yes
Alarm loud enough to wake me if arm buried in a sleeping bag - Alarm but not loud enough
Less than $300 - Yes
Reputable brand - Yes - Suunto Vector $250 at Paddys, Suunto Core $300 - no doubt cheaper from os.
Waterproof (or water resistant to 10 plus metres) - Yes
Shock resistant - Yes

Also - compass but no GPS which is what I assume you were alluding to with No Garmin/Suunto
I have had a Suunto Vector for 9 years and it has functioned well - battery change once a year.
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Re: The best watch for bushwalking

Postby Mutley » Sun 08 Dec, 2013 11:53 am

Thanks guys. Had a look at the times but these again seem very bulky. Mark f, is the Suunito easy to read in sunlight ?are there any missing features you would like to see on the watch ?
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Re: The best watch for bushwalking

Postby Mark F » Sun 08 Dec, 2013 12:01 pm

Both of the Suuntos can be sourced with either a white on black background or black on white background dial. I have black on white and find no problems reading it in sunlight. Nothing particular missing. The main functions I use are the standard watch, altimeter and compass. For temperature I have a Tempe pod that links to my Etrex 30 - temperature and max/min.
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Re: The best watch for bushwalking

Postby Watertank » Thu 12 Dec, 2013 1:55 pm

Mark, is Tempe pod a brand or an abbreviation? I can't find anything on the web with that name. I would like to source a simple temperature gauge.
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Re: The best watch for bushwalking

Postby dugsuth » Thu 12 Dec, 2013 2:19 pm

I recently bought a Casio PRW 3000 and I really love it. Looks good enough for an office environment and does everything you have listed as a requirement. Bought it online for ~$300. I bought the negative display and it's fine for visibility in the daytime.
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Re: The best watch for bushwalking

Postby sthughes » Thu 12 Dec, 2013 2:48 pm

Watertank wrote:Mark, is Tempe pod a brand or an abbreviation? I can't find anything on the web with that name. I would like to source a simple temperature gauge.

He's talking about a Garmin Tempe Sensor:http://www.ja-gps.com.au/garmin/tempe-wireless-temperature/ they are quite good, perhaps a tad easy to loose, plus you can't manually reset the min. max. which is a slight annoyance.
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Re: The best watch for bushwalking

Postby Spartan » Tue 17 Dec, 2013 10:29 pm

Hi, Mutley.

My standard work watch for the past decade or so has been a Casio G-Shock 'Mudman'. It has most of the functions you require, and retails for about $200 (i.e. it's not overly expensive). These watches are very popular with soldiers because they're robust, fully-functioned and largely idiot-proof. My other work watch is a Traser P6502. It's a straightforward analogue watch with a carbon fibre bezel and tritium illumination. Mine came with a NATO nylon strap, but they can be fitted with a rubber strap if one prefers such things. From memory it was around $500 five or six years ago. Both watches are waterproof to 200m.

I would happily recommend either for outdoor use. The former is strictly utilitarian (read, 'u-g-l-y') while the latter presents as being a bit more genteel.

All the best.
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Re: The best watch for bushwalking

Postby Strider » Wed 18 Dec, 2013 5:37 pm

Spartan wrote:Hi, Mutley.

My standard work watch for the past decade or so has been a Casio G-Shock 'Mudman'. It has most of the functions you require, and retails for about $200 (i.e. it's not overly expensive).

Try $85 on for size. I like the look of these

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.vi ... 1153491232
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Re: The best watch for bushwalking

Postby walkerchris77 » Wed 30 Apr, 2014 2:29 pm

Casio pathfinder . Fantastic watch. The barometer is great to let u know the coming weather. Solar Powered , compass with mag dec, altimeter, thermometer. And the usual other stuff. $330 in australia, $200 delivered from the usa.
Feel naked with out it. Wife thinks its funny when she asks me what the weather going to be tomorrow and I look at my watch.
Highly recommended.
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Re: The best watch for bushwalking

Postby beean » Wed 30 Apr, 2014 8:30 pm

I've got a Casio Protrek for sale in the for sale section. All the features you want plus it's solar powered. Make me an offer...
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Re: The best watch for bushwalking

Postby Dolerite Walker » Wed 18 Jun, 2014 9:32 pm

The best watch for bushwalking?

Rugged, metal casing, easy to read dial, water proof, long battery life

= Diving watch.

Altimeters are over rated - questionable accuracy, require frequent re calibration

Digital compasses are overrated - chew battery

Stopwatch? Bushwalking or bush running?
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Re: The best watch for bushwalking

Postby walkerchris77 » Wed 18 Jun, 2014 9:53 pm

:D :D My casio pathfinder has a compass, and everything else and the battery doesn't go flat. Its solar powered. !!!!!! And its water proof to 100m so u can go diving with it too.
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Re: The best watch for bushwalking

Postby corvus » Wed 18 Jun, 2014 10:03 pm

Dolerite Walker wrote:The best watch for bushwalking?

Rugged, metal casing, easy to read dial, water proof, long battery life

= Diving watch.

Altimeters are over rated - questionable accuracy, require frequent re calibration

Digital compasses are overrated - chew battery

Stopwatch? Bushwalking or bush running?


Beg to differ "Dolerite,
My Casio Pro Tech Triple Sensor(been using for years) has a solar regenerated battery and doing the comparison with GPS and it the watch was more accurate with Height , was spot on with my Silva Compass for direction and was consistent with barometric pressure trends,doubt a diving watch (which I have also owned ) could or would perform the same ,just saying :)
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Re: The best watch for bushwalking

Postby corvus » Wed 18 Jun, 2014 10:11 pm

walkerchris77 wrote::D :D My casio pathfinder has a compass, and everything else and the battery doesn't go flat. Its solar powered. !!!!!! And its water proof to 100m so u can go diving with it too.


Hey walkerchris77,
Shame on you,I am an aged pensioner on limited income and love gadgets, you are so wicked to post information to tempt me with that nice upgrade of my watch :lol: :lol: :lol:.
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Re: The best watch for bushwalking

Postby Strider » Wed 18 Jun, 2014 10:17 pm

Dolerite Walker wrote:The best watch for bushwalking?

Rugged, metal casing, easy to read dial, water proof, long battery life

= Diving watch.

Altimeters are over rated - questionable accuracy, require frequent re calibration

Digital compasses are overrated - chew battery

Stopwatch? Bushwalking or bush running?


Yep. My Seiko Kinetic has provided me a faithful service for many years now. Watches are for beauty and for time telling only IMO.
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Re: The best watch for bushwalking

Postby walkerchris77 » Wed 18 Jun, 2014 10:43 pm

corvus wrote:
walkerchris77 wrote::D :D My casio pathfinder has a compass, and everything else and the battery doesn't go flat. Its solar powered. !!!!!! And its water proof to 100m so u can go diving with it too.


Hey walkerchris77,
Shame on you,I am an aged pensioner on limited income and love gadgets, you are so wicked to post information to tempt me with that nice upgrade of my watch :lol: :lol: :lol:.
corvus


Great watch $200 on ebay from states. $330 here in shop. Does so many things I couldn't mention them all. Best thing is at night the watch shuts down, blank screen and as soon as you tilt your arm towards your face the back light comes on automatically and shows the time. The barometer is accurate as I check it against the bom website. The compass has mag dec and is spot on.

Would easily recommend this watch. I know its not cheap and there are lots of other ones out there. Yes im bias cause I love it.
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Re: The best watch for bushwalking

Postby walkerchris77 » Wed 18 Jun, 2014 10:50 pm

The casio mudman is ment to be pretty good and cheaper than the pathfinder. Alot of military personnel use them.
nice looking watch also
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Re: The best watch for bushwalking

Postby whitefang » Thu 19 Jun, 2014 12:29 pm

I have heard a lot of good things about the Casio G-shocks. Personally, I have the PRO TREK PRG-550 which has been excellent for me. It's a bit cheaper than the PAW-2000. Also, the solar powered powered battery is great. Had the watch for over a year and haven't had it skip a second (like it should when its flat) yet!
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Re: The best watch for bushwalking

Postby walkerchris77 » Thu 19 Jun, 2014 7:17 pm

Theres a casio protrek for sale in the market at the moment. Great watches.imo
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Re: The best watch for bushwalking

Postby GPSGuided » Fri 20 Jun, 2014 9:58 pm

From the flank... iWatch release is getting close. No more than 4-5 months away. Patiently waiting and see if it can convert a watch-less to a watchful.
Just move it!
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Re: The best watch for bushwalking

Postby walkerchris77 » Sun 22 Jun, 2014 5:13 pm

Interesting to see the battery life.
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Re: The best watch for bushwalking

Postby Mark F » Sun 22 Jun, 2014 8:46 pm

The things you can be sure of with Apple is that the battery won't be user replaceable and it will have a proprietary plug.
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Re: The best watch for bushwalking

Postby walkerchris77 » Sun 22 Jun, 2014 9:26 pm

Mark . Whats a proprietary plug.
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Re: The best watch for bushwalking

Postby Strider » Sun 22 Jun, 2014 9:40 pm

walkerchris77 wrote:Mark . Whats a proprietary plug.

E.g. Apple Lightning Connector
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Re: The best watch for bushwalking

Postby walkerchris77 » Sun 22 Jun, 2014 9:42 pm

Ok . Have never had an iphone or apple products so I was not sure what it was. Thanks
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