Aside from the formula for determining North- and I can never remember where Mickey's hands should be: What is a watch good for in a survival situation? Movies love to show the changed value of Anthony Hopkin's watch to make a compass or Tallullah Bankhead's diamond bracelet for a fishlure. The ETS member who names both movies gets a medium popcorn <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> A watch can measure time and distance for navigation and determine if natural phenomenon occur at a regular basis. Even knowing what loved ones are doing at specific times can be a moral booster( Aunt Hermionne is serving that wretched garlic and tuna casserole tonight. But at least being stranded in the desert means I avoid it and MMMM these bugs are delicious.) A watch needs tobe robust and relatively accurate. Unless you plan on a nuclear blast which will knock out most systems ( including us) except a mechanical or the battery goes dead it is personal preference. I have an old Marathon mechanical wind. When My cat was a kitten the ticking substituted for his lost mom's heartbeat until he got used to this really wierd looking substitute <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />