A possible liability a 'beeping' watch can be turned to your advantage.

Hidden and set to ring every fifteen minutes it can be both hard to find and quite distracting for anyone following you. The sound of the beep can be heard a long way away in the woods but the sound, one or two short chirps, can be very hard to localize. While the searchers spend time trying to track the sound down your over the hill and making tracks away from the area.

A similar strategy can be used to get people to look in the wrong direction at an ambush point. People are wired up and at the critical moment there is a beeping noise behind or among them. Everyone reflexively turns toward the noise trying to locate it. Turned the wrong way and looking at the dirt is not a good way to start an ambush if your intention is survival.

In some areas digital watches are used to set off explosives so in these areas the sound of a watch going off can cause people to reflexively assume a prone position. Which can be good in some cases. Like when a group of rough guys is crossing a road awash with sewage. If you can't have a good laugh while your out there what is the point?

A 7$ or 10$ watch can more than pay for itself if properly used for advantage.