Cheap Timex as backup Bottom Counter

[Blue Moon]

...When you press a button on a WR watch you break the seal and it can flood. I figured I'd post just b/c I know i'm not the only one out there who has done it.

My Timex Ironman watch is as dependable as my yellow Lab…. I've been diving with them for years and have yet to have one fail, including hundreds of dives on the original Ironman that was only water resistant to 100 m.

Now I prefer the Ironman watch with the velcro strap because it fits perfectly over my wetsuit, flight suit or arm. I use it for all sports including flying aerobatics where I beat the heck out of it because I’m always throttling full up or full off with that arm, plus that same arm gets slammed against the side of the cockpit when I hard stop a left roll.

Besides the one that I wear flying, I also have a back up Ironman zip-tied inside my cockpit in my airshow plane because I take off with critical fuel levels on every flight when I’m flying aerobatics. To say that I depend on them in harsh environments is a bit of an understatement…

I have a couple of really nice waterproof watches including a Submariner but the thing weighs a ton plus you are supposed to service it every year if you dive with it… While I do service it every few years you can buy several Timex Ironman watches for the cost of an annual Submariner cleaning. Also, I never get hassled when I come back into the country wearing my Ironman but I often get asked by US Customs to see the receipt for my Rolex...

Final thoughts on time - always live in the moment. It is where life happens...

Blue Moon

 

[skynscuba]

For Timex, the instructions say that only the watches that say 200 meters on them can have the buttons pressed under water. I've had no problem with my 200M timex, but have only used it on maybe 50 dives, and only pressed buttons on 20 or so.

 

[Ed Palma]

Well, its a good thing I stumbled upon this thread, because I was all set to take down a watch that said it was good to just 50M. It didn't occur to me that moving my arm at depth would replicate pressure changes. (just into the shower? really?)
Time to just use that old Timex, I guess.

 

[in_cavediver]

However, the worst true waterproofing is 50 meters, or 164 feet, which is certainly outside the realm of recreational scuba. The water-resist rating that should be used for scuba watches is 200 meters. If you're diving to 200 meters (656 feet), you've got other things to worry about than the cheap Timex on your wrist.

This is a I guess a good time to remind everyone that Sheck Exley used several $30 timex watches on his record deep dives in Manta back in the 90's. He couldn't get some gear that was rated to the depths he was diving so he used what he could. Some were staged at diffenent depths, others he carried all the time. (His battery canister imploded at depth on 1 dive at around 800ft if I recall). Have to look that up tonight......

Mike

 

[jeckyll]

I figure if it's worth taking on a dive, it's worth taking something that's fully expected to make it back. I picked up a Citizen Ti Promaster off ebay for something like $80 or $90 new...

I've forgotten it once or twice and used my Ironman, and it did fine each time, but I never pressed the buttons underwater. I'd start the timer on the descent and just took note of the time when we surface (multi level dive). I'm not sure I'd want to try pushing on of the buttons when starting an ascent from 100'

 

[Toolbox-13]

My Wal Mart Timex Expedition has been to 125 feet in Lake Erie and it worked fine. I use it for a backup bottom timer and have had no troubles

 

[CompuDude]

Have you read the instructions that come with these watches?

I had a Casio many yers ago, and I read their interpretations of those ratings. As my age-enfeebled memory recalls, they said that the ratings do not actually relate to depth. They had a table in the instuctions. It said something like 50m = you can wear it in the shower. The deeper ones (like 200 m) could actually be used at recreational depths, but they were certainly not good for 200 m.

That is correct. The 50m watches are basically rated for swimming pools, and you should not push the buttons underwater even at those shallow depths. You can get away with a 100m watch for scuba (I know many who have), but again, pushing any buttons is risky... I know a couple people who have killed their 100m watches trying to turn the light on at 60'.

The 200m rated watches are great, however, and can be found for extremely reasonable prices (often < $30). Should be fully usable at any reasonable depth, even for tech divers, and will offer years of service before the battery goes. At that point, I usually just replace them rather than putting in a new battery. The cost is so low it's not that much more, considering the care that has to be taken to re-seal the things, and then you get a nice new watch that doesn't have the writing rubbed off.

 

[Guba]

The Armitron I use as a backup timer (described in a previous post) is only rated for 50 m, but I have used the buttons on virtually every dive and at varying depths. It has never failed. Not bad for a fifteen dollar watch. True, I've had three of them in the last decade, but at that price I can still buy a few more before reaching the price of even an inexpensive "true" dive watch.
And that doesn't count the hundreds of hours of pool use while teaching swimming, lifeguard cert courses and diving. That's a lot of pounding in, on, and under water, by the way. Hey, I'm not an Armitron salesman...just reporting on what works for me.

 

[serambin]

Have you read the instructions that come with these watches?

I had a Casio many yers ago, and I read their interpretations of those ratings. As my age-enfeebled memory recalls, they said that the ratings do not actually relate to depth. They had a table in the instuctions. It said something like 50m = you can wear it in the shower. The deeper ones (like 200 m) could actually be used at recreational depths, but they were certainly not good for 200 m.

If you ever find me at 200 meters, I won't be reading my watch.

Stan

 

[Ed Palma]

If you ever find me at 200 meters, I won't be reading my watch.

Stan

:lol:

Good one!