Greetings:

I need a sturdy wristwatch suitable for hiking in Central America this summer. Digital or analog. It doesn't have to do more than show the time and date. Water resistance is important. Also, watch display can be a bit on the large size so I don't have to use reading glasses to see the time.

Any recommendations?

I have the Luminox Series 3000. It's simple and tough. Affordable, at around $150. Waterproof to 200 meters (not that I'm getting in anything deeper than a hot tub). Analog, with date window. Tritium hands. Super battery life. The rubber watchband cracks, after awhile, and I'm on my third. I like rubber, and don't wanna switch to nylon or metal. This watch has served me well in Iraq, Afghanistan, and I wear it daily on the job as a metro police officer. One thing I did have to do was look very hard to find one that did not have the Navy SEAL logo on the face. I don't wear stuff I don't rate.

I used to use a G-shock, but, I never used all of the functions. I used the date, time, and sometimes, alarm. It is a good watch, but, it sucked the life out of batteries. That was a huge issue, to me.

Thanks for the thorough description. The size of the watch face is important to me. I need reading glasses to read a typical newspaper. Small stuff on a watch face can be a problem. I have to be able to read the watch face without my readers. Can you measure the diameter of your watch's face for me?

The time elapse bezel is 1 1/2 inch, outside. The crystal is 1 1/8". The next portion is a small "shelf" or inner, fixed ring, which holds tritium capsules for each hour number. It is 1 1/16", o.d. The actual face is 15/16" o.d.

I use cheaters, but I don't have a problem reading the face.

Here's a link, if you wanta eyeball them.

http://luminox.800rpm.com/index.php?/site/catalog/serie...SEAL%20Dive%20Series

Here's another, with nice , big numbers. The date window appears to be a bit small, though.

http://luminox.800rpm.com/index.php?/site/catalog/serie...0%20Quadrum%20Series

I really like the quality and value of Luminox watches. (No, I'm not a salesman... )

quote:

Originally posted by GeneSchubeck:
The time elapse bezel is 1 1/2 inch, outside. The crystal is 1 1/8". The next portion is a small "shelf" or inner, fixed ring, which holds tritium capsules for each hour number. It is 1 1/16", o.d. The actual face is 15/16" o.d.

I use cheaters, but I don't have a problem reading the face.

Here's a link, if you wanta eyeball them.

http://luminox.800rpm.com/index.php?/site/catalog/serie...SEAL%20Dive%20Series

Here's another, with nice , big numbers. The date window appears to be a bit small, though.

http://luminox.800rpm.com/index.php?/site/catalog/serie...0%20Quadrum%20Series

I really like the quality and value of Luminox watches. (No, I'm not a salesman... )

Oh, and, let me know what you go with. I'm curious, now.

I bought a Seiko diving watch, model #SKX173. You can see it at Amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/Seiko-Mens-Automatic-Watch-SKX173/dp/B00068TJ76

I owned this watch years ago and really liked it. Researching Luminox reminded me of Seiko.

Thank you for the help!

Dave

I wear a Casio Pathfinder. It is a digital watch that is solar powered, so expose it to light and never replace a battery. The display is fairly large.

It has dual timezones, a thermometer, digital compass, barometer, and altimeter. Plus all the usual stopwatch & alarm type functions. I thought it was really cool when my wife and I hiked the Grand Canyon but she got irritated with the constant, "Wow, guess how hot it is now?" and "Wow, guess how many feet we've descended."

She was like "Too d@mn hot and I don't care to know how many feet we have descended because that is how many feet we have to go back up to get out of this freakin canyon!"

Anyway, back to the question... The instruction manual is like a small version of War and Peace it is so thick.

The other really cool feature is that it is radio controlled. Each night it receives a signal from the atomic clock so it is always accurate. Do you want to know the EXACT time? Ask me...

It runs around $200.00 and there are a few different models.

Water resistant to 100m. Pretty durable.

Armitrons are pretty nice, cheap, and good-looking. I had one that was analog with a digital display (like if you wanted to set it to a different time zome). So it was straightfoward but you still had alarm and stopwatch if you wanted them. Also more durable (YMMV) that the Timex Iron Man.

I may be too late with this post, but thought I would pass information about the watch along. I
have worn this watch for over two years with no
problems nor battery change.

1. Wenger "Swiss" Military Watch, made by
Company that make the "Swiss Army Knife"
2. All stainless steel (1-5/8" diameter)-
Swiss Army Knife represented on back,
3. Analog display, large luminus numbers all
around (with date display-small)also, has
small numbers all around for 24 hour time.
4. Rotating bezel and hands are large and
luminus , background is black.
5. Water resistant to 100M.
6. Mineral Crystal(1-3/16 in. diameter).
7. Black Leather band.
8. Purchased at "Sam's Club" for under $50.

At this price, if one can now be found, you can
buy a couple for an extended trip. I also
purchased one for my brother, who works in
industry, for his birthday on December 21,2006.