What type of watch to use??

AetherWeaver said:
If you have a scanner and are in the right area , you can get by without a watch... From my experience, the railroad dispatchers and engineers state the time pretty often during their communications. .
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If you have a scanner flip it over to NOAA and Stephen Hawking will gladly tell you the time every 5 minutes or so. But it would be alot easier to just have something on your wrist you could glance at.
 
hahahaha. that was funny. when we were sitting at that wal-mart with that fucker roboting the time to us. think that was you doobie
 
Doobie_D said:
If you have a scanner flip it over to NOAA and Stephen Hawking will gladly tell you the time every 5 minutes or so. But it would be alot easier to just have something on your wrist you could glance at.
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Nice! It did strike me it's the same speech synthesizer he uses.

When the tracks are busy, the rail frequencies tell you the time at least once a minute.

A watch is certainly the easier way, which is why I wear mine.
 
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this casio 3 sensor pathfinder is great! the only thing is that in order to get an accurate temperature reading you have to take the watch off for 1/2 an hour to expose the temperature sensor to the elements. not too big of an inconvinience. the altimeter works properly as compared to my garmincsx60 within 15 feet. its a great watch to have if you are using a local topo. the compass is accurate as well...it also gives you an accurate reading for true north as well. no complaints here and i would recomend it to anyone who tramps backcountry. now its time to put it to good use.
 
cranberrydavid said:
Well first, this thread is going to be read by thousands of travelers and wannabe travelers for years to come if they're interested in watches, so you probably ought to keep personal shit to PM's.

Second, don't sell toy watches short. I'll give you one story. I was riding the Hurtigruten (Norwegan mail boat) around the top of Norway in early March. The temperatures were staying around -15C and after we got above the arctic circle the sun just sort of circled below the horizon, peeking up about noon for a couple hours in the south if it wasn't snowing. The rest of the day was constant twilight. When we'd stop in a village to load and offload freight I'd go ashore until the boat was ready to leave, but you had to watch the time to the minute. Besides, in high latitudes where the sun goes in circles rather than up and down it's more useful as a compass than for telling time.

I had decent sports watch that had been a gift just before the trip. It had a lot of features, but I found that when it got outside in extreme cold the display would go ink black and not come back until it had warmed up for an hour or more. I was planning on getting off at the top of Norway and hitching south through Finmark and Lapland so I needed something a lot more reliable. Features don't matter if you cant read them.

We stopped in Bodo for a couple hours, which was the last big town before I left the ship, so I went ashore to see if I could find a watch. Everything was closed for Sunday except the kiosks, but I asked around and finally found a large kiosk that had some disposable toy kid's watches with a "secret compartment" full of gum like chicklets.

I picked through the box and found the one with the strongest display in the cold. I paid something like $1.50 for it. It wasn't waterproof, but I wore it on a string around my neck inside my shirt. It never failed me for the next 3 weeks as I hiked through reindeer pastures and traveled with the Sami, until I got down to Stockholm where it warmed up and the "good" watch started working reliably again.

So don't sell toy watches short. For some trips they're exactly what you need.
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Here ya go, sir..

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From your pic it looks like you have everything & the kitchen sink packed, & you mean to tell me no cell phone,iphone,ipad,blackberry or blueberries that already tells time. I personally wear a gshock thats over ten years old Id say. Luminox watches are great too, but pricey about $200 opposed to about $80 for a gshock. If you are near a px on a military base they will have these watches & other rugged olive drab looking field watches for much less.
 
highwayman said:
From your pic it looks like you have everything & the kitchen sink packed, & you mean to tell me no cell phone,iphone,ipad,blackberry or blueberries that already tells time. I personally wear a gshock thats over ten years old Id say. Luminox watches are great too, but pricey about $200 opposed to about $80 for a gshock. If you are near a px on a military base they will have these watches & other rugged olive drab looking field watches for much less.
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i have a 34 pound pack weight and that includes rations for 4 weeks. i dont carry a cell phone, iphone, ipad,blackberry, or jackberries because i have no use for shit like that. i guess $80 isnt bad for a watch that lasts 10 years but i would think that $19 more dollars for a watch that does everything that i need it to do with a lifetime warranty from the same watch company that makes the g shock...casio...would be a better option. but thanks for your profound words of wisdom and your keen sense of rationalization.
 
Well then cub scout when you fill your pie hole with a months worth of rations than you will know exactly what time it is. You dont need a watch, you need a calendar & a maybe a scale. Nothing like living off the grid like carrying that receipt for that $10 casio calculator watch that will most definately break before you get that huge pack on your back. My watch suggestions were & are solid field tested & rugged watches that I have used while in the military, & doing the things that you dream about while viewing this website. Ever heard of craigslist or ebay? They are websites where people sell there goods for reduced prices, Try there sport.
 
This is a bizarre thread, get whatever is cheap and lasts, like a timex or casio, stitch to a homemade band when it looks like it might fall off, or immediately- doesn't matter so much. Expensive watches are going to break or get lost, get stolen, either on the street or when you get put in jail. I thought this was common sense.
 
I generally just carry an old piece of shit pocket watch... maybe I need to catch a train or bus on
ocassion, other than that... what's the hurry?
 
I just use me cellphone when i have to. very rarely do i ever really think about what time it is. usually go by the sun. and if im off to catch a bus i ask people on my way to the bus.
 
like Mr. D said, if you need to be on-time for something(bus, homeless feeding, date, show, whatever) the sun is not gonna help you. plus learning to tell the time from the sun for someone who's not experienced is just guesswork. but most importantly, it's only up for 12 hours a day.
if you need the time, get a cheap walmart watch. but for someone considering a high-tech watch/thermometer/compass/etc. thing, i would imagine you have a phone? if not get a watch. the multi gadget type thing seems unnecessary unless you're going to the backcountry. believe me, i know it's easy to overthink things when you're just starting traveling. ive been there. don't overthink! you'll waste a lot of money and end up carrying a 50 pound bag. im not saying don't do your research but you're gonna have to get out there for a while to understand what you really need.
 
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