Welcome. Just hang out, and read past postss. There is an incredible amount of information here.

Lofty Martin's SAS book is pretty good, but I like 98.6 as it is more direct. If you want woodmanship, get something fitted to your environment. You might be able to find Bradford Angier's book new or used.

Watches: don't do a compass IN watch combo. Neither works well. If you want hands, look at Sieko. If you want digits, look at Casio or Timex. Then get a seperate compass.

Re: diesel, I don't know about your area, but deisel feul is getting more and more scarce around here, except on the interstates. I've run diesel, and I run gas now. Diesel is great if you run them hard. If not, don't bother -- and it is a bother. Glow plugs, heavy cranking amps, etc. The europeans [make that the models available to europeans] are light years ahead of us.