Recent land and sea adventures convince me I need to find a solid wrist band, watch, and compass. I like the looks of the stuff designed for divers, especially those solar powered and "atomic" radio time calibrated watches and the "side window" compasses.

Years ago my favorite band had the "pin" mounts on top of the solid band, so that losing a pin did not mean losing the band, and had snap down covers to go over the watch and compass faces. The band saved a lot of wear and tear on the instruments and the instruments themselves a few times when one or another of the pins disappeared. I cannot locate such a thing today.

So, thoughts?

Thanks.

My preference is any of several Casio or Timex Expedition models that feature both a compass and watch. I have used them for several years with complete satisfaction. The compass works nicely as a backup which I have rarely used - it is still nice to have, at virtually no cost in bulk and weight.

The watches of this type have kept adequate time for normal applications (anything short of chronometric navigation); I will adjust them about once a year. If I need to know the time with real precision, I consult my GPS and/or cellphone.

The bands have held up nicely to vigorous outdoor use. When the watch dies, it doesn't cost an arm and a leg to get a replacement.

Dive watches became functionally obsolete with the development of the dive computer. Most of them now smell suspiciously of bling....

First I am going to politely reply that analog dive time measurement is not dead in light of dive computers as I don't own one.

My setup, a Pulsar divers watch (with solar face), re-mounted on "The Band" (available at REI and probably others) velcro based watch band, with a Suunto clipper compass clipped to the band. The compass is on the inside so that it faces up if my arm is in the position to hold a handgun or whatever.

This setup has worked for me well for two years now. The only complaint I have is the crystal on the watch is scratched as the crystal is slightly domed. When it goes I am going back to a Seiko automatic divers watch. Although I might try the Luminox deep divers watch with tritium.

http://www.luminox.com/about/deep-dive/

Bill

I should have noted that I only freedive these days, having concluded the extra gear, bulk, and expense of SCUBA is not for me.

Whilst at the local discount supermarket (Lidl) today I purchased one of these el cheapo AURIOL watches;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBzaKWj9iZ8

All for around $22. Certainly not the best but it has a Chronometer, an altimeter, a digital thermometer and a digital compass. If only it could tell me how far it was to the golf pin, but that would need a clever little GPS built in. It might look a little cheesy compared to a Luminox, but I suspect it will get the job done.

I killed my last watch swimming so I went for something really waterproof, a suunto core. On paper it only waterproof to 3 ATM, but much better than that in reality compare with other manufacturer's rating. Heck it even has a dive meter that goes down to 10 meters, and you can work the buttons underwater.

I am guilty of having one of those; and I don't even dive. It is definitely "I wear it because I like it and it is way too cool." --
Invicta Russian Diver 3846 Quinotaur Rose Gold Men's Watch.

Standard Disclaimer

My $.02

http://www.amazon.com/Casio-MTG900DA-8V-G-Shock-Atomic-Tough/dp/B00134L8XU

This is probably my best watch ever, but not most expensive. I won't spend too much time explaining because everybody has their own little whims when it comes to watches.

I have a Victorinox Swiss Army watch,That is Going on 5yrs.Old,& Is Still operating Very Well,Despite Beating it to Purgatory & Beyond!It was a bargain for $120 almost 5yr ago!It's rated for 50m Depth,& Has the Original Black rubber band,Definitely as Tough as The SAK's are!For Compass navigation,My DR PSK is Always Available!

That one's easy:
Posideon Sub-Deep for the watch and a Suunto Clipper for the compass. I've been using that combination for the past several years and I a'int managed to destroy either of them yet.