Tactical watches

[ridedamtns]

Hello frogmen. My name is adam. I am an industrial design student and also a former Marine. Please spare me all the jokes. I am in the process of trying to design a tactical watch geared specially towards special ops. individuals like yourselves. I would like all the input you have to offer on the subject. I will give you what I have come up with, any and all changes or new ideas will be appreciated.
The features will consist of:
-Diving /waterproof 200 Meters
-Altimeter
-Internal compus
-water and shock proof
-non metal band/components as to keep from making noise
-dulled crystal face as to reduce any kind of reflection
-Tritium glass vials so that the hands would glow without any help. Not sure if this is good or bad.
-Would you prefer digital or analogue? or a mix of both?
-Thanks, and be safe in the times to come.

[Chickenhawk]

I think the whole SOF world is digital now, and the younger guys may not know how to read an analog watch (j/k!). I haven't seen an altimeter yet that was worth a d@mn, but there is room for improvement. I would also like to see a dual time setting (like the original G-Shock), so we can keep Zulu (GMT) time, and avoid having to do the math while we're tired. We screwed up when we asked Casio to make the Illuminator watch without specifying the dual time zone requirement. I also like the idea of the backlight, although I would consider dimming it a bit, and making it a red vice blue light. Some of our guys cut the red lens from a flashlight to fit the G-shock's face.

The best nylon band on the market (IMHO) is the Australian surf watchband. It has just enough hardware to properly secure the watch to your wrist, but not too much. The other advantage with the nylon band is having the watch mounted on a closed loop with two pins (so if one breaks, the other one may still hold the watch).

Make sure the watch has audible alarms that can be turned off when we're in the field.

[Wetwash]

I still prefere a dail, fluid filled compass that foes on the band rather than one built in the watch,,Digital compasses are ok.. but the dail face seems to read better logically to me.

[fish78]

Wetwash,

Those old Bunrus Type 1 and Type 2 's are fetching a pretty penny on the collector market these days...if issued and actually worn by SEAL the price really goes up...