If you often find yourself in challenging situations, you’ll need a watch that can keep up. This is the time to start looking at tactical watches.
A tactical watch is designed specifically for people in the forces or those undergoing extreme sports. There isn’t one perfect tactical watch as everyone has different requirements. Here’s a look at five great options for both analogue and smart tactical watches.
Timex Men’s Expedition Classic
First up is the bargain option. It has a casual look and feel and goes well with outdoor gear to let people know you’re serious about your missions.
It has a 39mm case made of scratch-resistant, resin-coated material, attached to a leather/nylon mix green band with a buckle clasp. At 3.2oz it’s an average weight for this kind of timepiece.
It has a Japanese quartz movement that shows the day and date, along with a stopwatch, a countdown timer and alarms. The display itself has a backlight so you’ll be able to see it in the dark.
The Timex Classic Expedition can resist water up to 99 feet deep. This means it’s perfect if part of your adventures involves white water rafting or snorkelling. Its durability won’t let you down.
Garmin Instinct 2 Tactical Solar
On the opposite side of price spectrum from the above Timex, we have the Garmin Instinct 2 Tactical. This is a rugged GPS-focused smartwatch made to withstand the extremes with the added bonus of solar charging abilities. It stands out among analogue and smart as it was developed to US Military standards for shock, water (100m) and thermal resistance.
Military employee or not, any fan of the outdoors can take advantage of sensors like a barometer, altimeter, compass, and multi-satellite navigation systems. The Instinct 2 Tactical also includes Garmin’s dual-grid coordinate system, giving you the most precise positioning. You can even utilise the Tracback feature which will record your movements on your route so you can find your way back.
And as it is a smartwatch, the Instinct 2 Tactical keeps you connected. You can receive notifications from your phone, use Garmin connect for enhanced safety features, and stay in control of your music.
As a solar charging multisport watch the Instinct 2 essentially has unlimited battery life. As long you get some sunlight throughout the day, it will soak it all in as power.
Read our review here of the entire Instinct 2 Series from Garmin.
SUUNTO Core All Black Military
This device is perfect for understanding your surroundings. This altimeter monitors your movement. The barometer tracks air pressure around you. The compass leads the way.
It also monitors the weather, including the position of the sun. It’ll operate in extreme temperature conditions. If there’s a storm coming, it’ll alert you so you can take cover. It has the sunrise and set times for over 400 locations.
It comes in a handful of different designs. The face can be customised to show the data most important to you. It’ll sync with an Android or iOS smartphone to deliver your all-important notifications on the go.
Casio Men’s Pro Trek PRW-6000Y-1ACR
You can never go wrong with a Casio. This high-end tactical offering ignores flashy smartwatch features and focuses on being a sports watch that has both a digital and analogue display.
You might be concerned that having an analogue display will get in the way of the digital window, but there’s an auto-hand function that will automatically hide the hands so you can look at the digital window when you want to look at the data.
It has a rechargeable solar-powered battery. There’s a panel on the face that does all the hard work for you. Your Casio will perform seamlessly for anywhere between five and 34 months without seeing a hint of sunlight – amazing!
It has ABC features plus a thermometer and world time. It’ll also let you set five alarms every day. You can dive in this watch, too, with an ATM rating of 100m.
Luminox Men’s Recon
The first thing people tend to notice about the Recon is the number of markers surrounding the face. It’s easy to be daunted by all the numbers and lines but it just takes a bit of getting used to.
The Recon has an analogue display showing the date and the dial is black and has luminous hands and big, bold Arabic numeral symbols. The other markings are the walking speed tachymeter. This tells you how fast you’re going.
There’s also a navigation function that has a magnetic compass including a rotating navigational ring. There’s a lot of tech in this watch, but not the smart or multisport kind. It takes a real enthusiast to appreciate this beast.
Casio G-Squad GBD-H1000
The new GShock watch is designed to be a genuine competitor to the most renowned Garmin watches on the market, but with Casio’s famous bulky stylings. It’s a superb competitor in this list of tactical watches.
The GBD-H1000 is available in a range of gnarly colours, so check them all out before deciding.
These G-Shock versions are tough, as expected, and have a built-in heart rate monitor and GPS, as well as the ability to be charged by the sun.
If you simply want to use this watch as a fitness tracker to receive alerts and step counts, you’ll only need to charge it once a week for two hours (or 8 hours under fluorescent lights).
If you use the USB charger, it will operate for 14 hours, according to Casio, giving it long battery life.
There’s also compatibility for the GLONASS and MICHIBIKI satellite systems, allowing you to travel across the world with your G-Shock and have complete navigation assistance.
A compass, pressure, thermometer, and accelerometer are among the other sensors that provide basic step tracking. The watch is powered by an LCD screen, but unlike Casio’s Pro Trek smartwatches, it will not display Wear OS since it is not based on Google’s smartwatch operating system.
It does, however, utilise Bluetooth to connect to Casio’s own dedicated app, which allows you to examine monitoring data such as trip destinations and delve deeper into fitness tracker insights.
The best tactical watches – Summary
Tactical watches are a boon for people with an outdoor lifestyle. Maybe you’re in the forces or enjoy intense outdoor adventures. Either way, you need a watch that will be a faithful and robust companion, not one that gives instant access to social media or texts. You need something that will withstand the elements and survive some rough and tumble. The material your tactical watch is made of is really important here, as is the ATM rating.
Check out these 7 offerings – one of them is capable of meeting your requirements perfectly.
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Last Updated on April 1, 2022
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