Wrist Watchs

[V-S]

Curious about peoples opinions on them for NightOps?

Tactical/Military watches have a ton of features, mostly suitable for survival settings. The feature I want the most (apart from telling the time) is voice recording, though it seems to be a niche feature not included in most watches.

[Psychlonic]

I almost always wore them, using it to figure how much time I could reasonably spend in an area while leaving needed time to get back to where ever before daylight hit. It can be difficult to keep an accurate track of time at night otherwise.

Personally my go-to was always a basic bitch digital. In the beginning I'd use the timer to try to limit my time in certain areas but I found it was quicker and easier to just mentally compare my entry time to current time. Also the illuminator is nice, I know they make traditional watches with glowing hands but the illuminators are really dim and discretely looking when nobody was around didn't hurt anything.

Also developed a preference for really low profile bezels. Something like a chunky Casio G-Shock profile you wouldn't think would make much of a difference and 99% of the time it didn't, but the remaining 1% was bothersome.

As far as newer features, I think it's a matter of "if it works, it works". If it can be worn in a manner that doesn't present any problems, there's no real issue. Only thing I can add is to pick one you're not afraid to break.

[Xanatos]

I've got one that's water & shock-proof, has an 3-second illumination, alarm, countdown timer and compass. Only cost like $70 too. Lots of neat features that could come in handy for an op.

[Sleven]

Voice recording feature is interesting. Use for field notes... and or, recording conversations in public...

You probably already know! But when on an Op, wear the watch so the face is on the inside of your wrist. Helps to mitigate light reflections, etc, etc, etc.

And with proper watch etiquette, wear the watch on the opposite hand to your dominant / action hand.

[Intruder]

Keep it barebones. Get a G shock that can take a hit with a good backlight and a solar dial so you don't have to keep it going. Better for the water and saves you pulling out phones. The general idea is you want something that tells strong accurate time if only so you can keep a good idea of how long you are in. Maybe lights turn off at 2am etc. It's never bad to have good timetelling. Mine had compassing and that's useful for actaully remote areas. Most of the time you want to keep it plain. Get a DW or something like that. Solar. Basic. Plain. Water and shock proof.