National Geographic Dive Master Watch

[Schizlor]

I still can't get it to work above or below water. I've tried tilting it every which-way, and the light never seems to go on. I have been strapping it to the ballast on my can light, so that might be messing up some magnetic sensor or something, I'm not sure. I still need to find a way to mount the watch over my drysuit. I haven't had too much time to mess with it.

BTW, I dove with the watch this week. Eight dives in Michigan and Huron down to about 44*, most of the wrecks were between 110-130'. It was the only set of guages I had that survived the week. I had another timex flood, and two Uwatecs had battery issues. Good thing for spares.

Tom

I too cannot get it to work above water...haven't tried it underwater yet. Hopefully I'll get out Sunday and try it, I'll let you know if mine works.

Kaliber35, I got mine a week ago and everything worked fine. I've heard of buttons being stuck on other's watches, but the one I received worked perfectly. (Again, I have not had the dive mode activated yet) I put it in the bathtub for 15 min to test the seal, and it worked fine before/after. It was too shallow to activate dive mode, but it did register the water temp at 126 degrees. (Which seemed way too high for bath water, but Im only really concerned with elapsed dive time being accurate anyway)

gsk3, that sucks. I wonder if this button-sticking issue and various other issues caused a huge batch of these to be labled defective, and they just dumped the whole lot on distributors to sell for 80% off. If you get a functional one, it is a great $60 dive watch, but I understand you playing it safe and just wanting your $$ back.

BTW, I dove with the watch this week. Eight dives in Michigan and Huron down to about 44*, most of the wrecks were between 110-130'. It was the only set of guages I had that survived the week.

Good to hear

 

[Kaliber35]

I got it in the mail and sent it back within 24 hours. To me it seemed ok but I was looking for more. I became too interested in the Gekko to "settle" for a mere watch.

My open box opinion: It appeared and felt like a very sturdy and well-made watch. The ambient temperature reflected accurate. The watch fit snug on my wrist (skinny ones). The light was nice. I didnt try the auto activation though.

The only concern I would have is the buttons. They seemed very loose when pressed...as if the seal was not dependable. I know they advise not to press buttons under water, but that should say something about the overall integrity.

I would buy it for the price. Its a good watch I think considering the cost is cheap and the features are nice.

 

[Schizlor]

Ok, I took the watch on a dive yesterday to a wreck off the NC coast. I went to 70ft for 14 min before my buddy hit 500 psi (and sucked-dry at 40 ft, requiring us to do an air-sharing ascent which was not well executed, but that's for another forum. btw, I am now a firm believer in the long-hose primary and necklaced octo, but I digress) The watch performed great in dive mode, but I am now thoroughly convinced the wrist motion activation of the light does not work. I tried it in the pool on Fri before the dive, and again yesterday, and it simply does not work. Possibly one of the reasons this watch went straight to video. Still happy with the purchase.

 

[gsk3]

Ok, I took the watch on a dive yesterday to a wreck off the NC coast. I went to 70ft for 14 min before my buddy hit 500 psi (and sucked-dry at 40 ft, requiring us to do an air-sharing ascent which was not well executed, but that's for another forum. btw, I am now a firm believer in the long-hose primary and necklaced octo, but I digress) The watch performed great in dive mode, but I am now thoroughly convinced the wrist motion activation of the light does not work. I tried it in the pool on Fri before the dive, and again yesterday, and it simply does not work. Possibly one of the reasons this watch went straight to video. Still happy with the purchase.

Now you're making me wish I'd ordered a replacement! Would have been worth it just to put off buying computers for another season....

 

[b1gcountry]

I got it in the mail and sent it back within 24 hours. To me it seemed ok but I was looking for more. I became too interested in the Gekko to "settle" for a mere watch.

My open box opinion: It appeared and felt like a very sturdy and well-made watch. The ambient temperature reflected accurate. The watch fit snug on my wrist (skinny ones). The light was nice. I didnt try the auto activation though.

The only concern I would have is the buttons. They seemed very loose when pressed...as if the seal was not dependable. I know they advise not to press buttons under water, but that should say something about the overall integrity.

I would buy it for the price. Its a good watch I think considering the cost is cheap and the features are nice.

It kinda sounds like you decided to send it back before you even got it. I've got over a dozen dives on it now with no issues. Down to 110 yesterday. Backlight still no go. I'm looking for a wrist extension for my drysuit.

Tom

 

[Thalassamania]

It's kind of strange, Natl Geo is a flagship magazine, great stories, the best in photography and well above average production quality ... but they have a long history of rather strange product partnering with second and third tier suppliers ... go figure?

 

[b1gcountry]

It's kinda like when Michael Jordan decided to play baseball. Just because you're good at one thing...

 

[Kaliber35]

And I did. As I said, I became too interested in a dive computer versus a watch. Once I got it I decided to go ahead and open the box to at least see what I was passing up. I then decided to leave my first impression. If I had the money to burn I would have kept it.

It kinda sounds like you decided to send it back before you even got it. I've got over a dozen dives on it now with no issues. Down to 110 yesterday. Backlight still no go. I'm looking for a wrist extension for my drysuit.

Tom

 

[Schizlor]

2 dives at Dutch Springs this past Friday and the watch worked great....still no backlight though. Even in the crappy quarry viz it was easy to read, so the light for me has not mattered much anyway. I end up using this for depth as well, so I don't have to keep grabbing the guages. Great purchase so far. I feel the no-button pressing might have been the issue that pushed this to the liquidation department. Once real divers started using it and realized, unlike any dive computer you're used to, that you cant touch the buttons underwater, it was given the two thumbs down as a serious dive watch, and they realized it would never grab $400 like actual dive watches / computers would. Thier loss, our gain!

It's kind of strange, Natl Geo is a flagship magazine, great stories, the best in photography and well above average production quality ... but they have a long history of rather strange product partnering with second and third tier suppliers ... go figure?

It is strange. Perhaps not an avenue the company has traditionally had any interest in, but could be they got tired of passing on offers of good compensation for having their name applied to various products. Seemingly their name and reputation has remained untarnished by the numerous "blunders" in that particular arena, so they see fit to continue the practice.

 

[b1gcountry]

I would also point out that every other watch I've ever owned said not to push the buttons underwater. This includes the Timex and Casio watches that other folks have had good luck with as timing devices down to 130+ feet (while pushing the buttons.)

Tom