Isobrite Watch - by Armourlite

Armourlite Watches

Luminox Sentry 0200 Watch

 

Swiss Made

Constant glow for up to 25 years in any light condition
Size/Diameter:  43mm
Water Resistance:   100 meters, 10 ATM, 300 feet, individually tested
Movement:   Ronda 515 HH6
Battery/Battery life:  371/45 month
Case:   Carbon reinforced PC
Bezel:   Carbon reinforced PC, unidirectional turning bezel,
at 12h fitted with colored light tube with sapphire crystal
Case back:   Carbon reinforced PC
Crystal:   Mineral,  hardened
Crown:   316L stainless steel
Height:   14.06mm
Weight:   60g

Luminox

Casio Pathfinder PAW-1100

MSRP: $300

Pathfinder Home

TAWATEC Dive Watch

MSRP: $295.95
Tuff Writer

G-shock testing

Coleman 40-529 Watch

This is a great value watch that can be purchased in the store or online for an MSRP of $20. Yep, $20. Not too bad for what you get. Does it have it's potential flaws or possible improvements, of course. But it's a $20 watch.

Here are some of the features:

- Time - 12/24 hour format

- Day and date display

- Dayglow display

- Backlight

- Stopwatch

- 24 hour countdown timer

- 5 alarms

- hourly chime

My observations of this watch are as such:

- The watch is slightly uncomfortable due to the stiff, thick watch band. The band may or may not be durable because of it's thickness. I have yet to determine this. It is nice and thick, but it's stiff, which leads me to believe it'll crack over time.

- The face of the watch is plastic instead of glass, which will be more prone to scratching.

- The buttons stick out from the side and have a lip to catch on stuff. I'm afraid this may cause the buttons to pull off, as happened with a Timex watch I had which had the same type of buttons.

- The buttons stick out and are easy to press, which causes them to inadvertently be activated when you don't want them to.

Despite the somewhat flawed design for an outdoor watch it's actually pretty decent for the price. And, it does have a cool outdoors look, with it's large size, compass bearings, and tire tred band design. I will update this post regarding durability as I use and abuse this watch.

Nite MX20-201 watch

This watch comes to you from the Nite Watch Co. out of the UK and distributed out of Florida. The specific model reviewed here is the MX20 model. The version of this model with the Stainless Steel wrist strap is designated 201. There is also a polymer strap version.

Most times I prefer a rubber wrist strap over metal, so this was really one of the first metal strapped watches I've really worn. My reasoning behind the rubber wrist strap is that it can be easily adjusted to go over outer wear or adjusted for the wrists swelling. However, this watch band hasn't really bothered me too much in this aspect.

For initial sizing it's best to go to a jewelry store or jewelry dept of a dept store over adjusting it yourself. Adjusting for initial fit consists of basically pounding out a pin and taking links out until it's at the right fit for you. I suggest going to a jewelry store because if they break the band doing this they're responsible... where as if you do it you may have just broke your expensive watch band. Before you have this done however there is one thing I suggest doing. On the buckle attachment there is a pin that can be placed in 4 different holes. I suggest putting it in one of the inner holes before getting the watch sized to your wrist. This pin can be removed easily with a safety pin. The reason for this is that once the wrist strap is adjusted this pin will allow you to make very slight adjustments yourself if need be.

While I'm on the subject of the wrist strap I'll cover the rest of the features of this strap.
- Made of gunmetal PVD Stainless Steel
- The wrist strap has a double locking clasp. When removing the watch you'll need to squeeze buttons on both sides of the strap, then there is a locking bar that has to be raised in order for the strap to lengthen. This is super sturdy and I haven't had it come loose yet.
- The black coating on the strap is pretty durable but will rub off a little in high wear areas. I noticed this on the area where my arm would rub against a table when sitting. There is a little wear along the edges of a few of the links, but isn't noticeable unless you're looking for it. Along the same lines, if you look in the picture, when sweating the watch seems to turn your wrist slightly black. I wouldn't have expected this from a watch of this high quality, and it's not dirt collecting under the watch, it's discoloration from the watch itself.

For the actual watch itself, it's a fairly simple design, but is loaded with technology to make it very accurate, durable, and functional. The most noticeable feature which is what the company name is based off of is the tritium vials used to illuminate the face of the watch. Each hour marker has a green tritium marker except the 12 o'clock marker, which is orange. This helps to orient which markers are for which numbers. There is also a green marker on the 12 o'clock spot on the rotating bezel. Tritium generally lasts 10-20 years and glows non-stop, so no matter what light you're in, the tritium is illuminated. This also means you don't have to press any buttons to check the time in low or no light. One thing to remember on a tactical note is that if you need to have strict light discipline you'll want to make sure the face of the watch is covered by a sleeve or something else.

Covering the face of the watch is an ultra thick 3.2mm domed sapphire crystal with triple anti-reflective coating which provides high visibility, scratch resistance and dial protection. I can say I haven't been easy on this watch and there are no scratches to the face at all. Clarity of the face is excellent.

This watch features a screw in crown with double O-ring seals to give it water resistance up to 200 meters. I like the screw down feature as it adds durability and reliability to the watch. At first it rubbed on my hand (wearing it on the left wrist) when my wrist was bent a certain way but my hand got used to it and it doesn't bother me at all now.

The back of the watch is just as nice as the business side. It's laser engraved stainless steel and screws in to the watch to cover the 10 year factory installed battery.

When it comes to telling time this watch is by far the best I've used. I set it when i got it to the atomic clock in our house and it's been 6 months and it's still right on time. This is all due to the Ronda 715.Li.6 Swiss movement. Made in Sweden with swiss parts, this is the best of the swiss watches I've used.

The rotating bezel is a useful feature but I wouldn't rely on it as the sole purpose for timing when it comes to life and death instances like timing your air supply. The reason I say this is because it's rotates nice and smooth, which is a catch 22. It rotates nice and smooth with is nice because it's easy to rotate, but being easy to rotate it can catch on items or rub on your hand and moves easily that way too. But I've also had watches that are damned near impossible to rotate the bezel, which is just useless.

There is also a date window on the face. The only mechanical issue I've had was that the band fell apart when putting it on my wrist once a few days after having it sized. The pin where it came apart wasn't the one used to size the watch, but i believe the hammering from the sizing loosened it and once i got it hammered back together there haven't been any problems with it since.

I also did notice the tritium dial on the bezel is slightly canted. This isn't a huge issue, but more of an observation.

All in all I've really grown to like this watch. For being a digital watch guy I can say I've been glad to be able to test out this watch. I've worn it 24/7 for six months through all sorts of weather and situations. I haven't babied it at all and it's not skipped a beat....literally. The only thing I'd prefer be improved upon would be this black coloring that transfers to the wrist when sweating. Otherwise a great watch that will serve you well!!!

Dimensions:
Diameter: 1.77 Inches
Depth: 0.52" Inches
Weight: 6.06 Ounces

MSRP:$480
Available at AFMO

Update:
One thing I forgot to mention in the original review is that this watch will not be wuined like others when it comes into contact with "Off" bug spray or other chemicals. I've seen many watches that have plastic on them melt with use of these chemicals.

Timex Ironman Shock Watch - female version

Review by Jessi

I bought this watch on vacation in Pennsylvania because our new puppy ate my G-shock. I missed having a watch so I thought I would give this one a try.

First the watch has many features to use. The features are great and one thing you can do with this watch is customize the features by turning the modes on or off, so if you don't use a certain mode it can be turned off. The watch also has large numbers making it very easy to read. A excellent feature for runners, bikers, etc.

• 30-lap memory recall
• Durable stainless steel top ring
• 100-hour chronograph
• 24 hour countdown timer
• Customizable features
• 3 alarms with 5 minute back-up
• 3 time zones
• Golf score keeper
• Water-resistant 200m
• Forward or backward setting

I like the small diameter of the watch as I have a small wrist and I don't want something huge. However, it is very wide and I don't like that. If it was a little bit thinner it would be much nicer and probably even a little lighter.

The alarms are loud. You can hear them several rooms away. I am a hard sleeper and it wakes me up so that is also a good thing to have in a watch.

When I first started wearing the watch the band was stiff but once I had worn it for a while it loosened up and was a lot more comfortable. The watch also take a good beating. I work in a lab where I tend to bump into everything. I still do not see a single scratch or mark on the watch due to this which is a excellent feature for those of us that put our watches to the test.

Overall this watch is a good watch.

Price: $80.00

Update (01/02/09): The backlight has stopped working. My husband took apart the watch and checked to make sure the button was contacting inside and it is. He reset the watch and the backlight is still not functioning.

Visit Jessi's Blog

Freestyle USA Recon Watch

This watch by Freestyle USA has a lot of features that I really like in a watch. The Recon watch is a fairly rugged watch that's designed with an outdoor lifestyle in mind. The face of the watch has decent sized numbers so it's easy to see when on the move or in low light. The style I got is fairly subdued in nature.

Here are some of the features of the watch:

1. Time (12/24 hour), day,date display.
2. Second time zone with it's own date display.
3. Backlight which is reversed, meaning the numbers light up instead of the backgound. This gives less of a light signature if using this for mil/LE operations, and also saves on the battery. Once the backlight is activated it will remain lit as long as any button is pushed while the light is still on. This means that you can set different features in the dark and the backlight will remain lit until you stop pushing buttons. I really like this feature in a watch.
   
4. Stopwatch mode with 45 lap memory.
5. Countdown Timer with countdown/stop or countdown/repeat options. Max. time - 24 hours 59 minutes.
6. Water resistant to 100m.
7. Nylon or Polyurethane wrist strap option.
8. "Heat" timer which is a countdown timer with preset times programmed into it. I'm not quite sure what the reason is for this timer other than making setting the countdown timer a little quicker. For me it's a second countdown alarm feature.
9. 3 daily alarms. Each one has it's own alarm sound.
10. English, spanish, french language option.
11. hourly chime
12. option to turn button sound off.
13. Nylon or Polyurethane strap options.
14. Limited lifetime warranty
    

This watch is very comfortable and is mid sized. The band on the watch I tried out is the nylon band. The band is an ok band, but I'm more fond of a rubber band because the nylon has to dry when it gets wet and in the summer time it can retain body odor from sweating. This is a generalization of nylon bands, not anything particular to this model, just my personal opinion on nylon bands. The only problem I've had was that the velcro on the band started to come off. The velcro is a strong velcro, but the stitching ripped through the velcro material and the velcro started to come off. I contacted the company and they covered this under the warranty so I shipped it out to them. A few weeks later I got the watch back and so far the repair has held up.

Durability on the rest of the watch seems pretty good. The face hasn't scratched at all due to the glass crystal face and the raised rubber bezel. The case material hasn't shown any abnormal wear either. Water resistance is also good.

As I said before, I really like the features of this watch. The only thing I'd change would be to get the rubber banded version instead of the nylon banded version. Aside from that this watch has a lot of great features that I like in a watch.

Colors/Options:
Nylon band - Black or Blue
Polyurethane band - Silver/black or Grey

MSRP: $50.00

Freestyle Shark Classic Watch

Freestyle USA is a company that designs and creates watches that designed to withstand the riggers of sports such as skateboarding, surfing, etc. They have many different styles that range from stylish analog watches that are good for wear with formal attire to sporty styled watches and everything in between. One of there more basic of watches is the Shark Classic.

The Shark Classic looks kind of like your old school watch, but with a few extra features and so far has proven itself pretty durable. If you're looking for something basic in features and looks this watch will suit you well. The model that I received is the basic black model, but they have some pretty cool color combinations in their inventory. I have worn this watch for a while and my wife even wore it for a while and we both found it comfortable and easy to use. It's a little too basic for my likes, but that's not saying it's a bad watch, just a style I'm not into.

Here are its features:
- Water resistant to 100 meters.
-Rubber strap with a cool strap retention loop. The end of the strap is designed so that the retention loop will stay in place by fitting it between 2 raised areas on the strap (see picture).
-Time/day/date. This is one thing I'd like displayed differently. The date is not displayed on screen unless you press a button. Once you press this button there is about a 2 second pause and the date is displayed in place of the time for about 5 seconds and then the screen returns to the time. It's my personal preference, but I'd rather have the date there on the main screen with the time.
-Second time zone. The press of a button and the second time zone is displayed until the button is pressed again for the 1st time zone to be displayed.
-Hourly Chime.
-Daily alarm. One alarm for each time zone. This is kind of different but not a bad option.
-Stopwatch.
-Countdown timer. Preset times of 1, 3, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 45, and 60 minute timers. There is not option for any other times than these.
-Backlight. This backlight is a negative backlight, meaning that the numbers light up instead of the background. I like this design. If you press another button when the backlight is lit it turns off. I'm not a fan of this,but again, this is a basic watch.

One thing that is a little different with this watch that takes some time getting used to is the setup of the buttons. Normally the adjust button on most watches is on the upper left side. On this watch it's on the lower right. Not a big deal, but something that takes getting used to.

This watch is a decent durable basic watch. It's not over sized and fits well on the wrist. Comfortable as well. I will be letting my younger brother take this watch to do some further durability testing on it and he'll probably do his own writeup on it on his site (I will post a link here if he does).

MSRP: $50

Freestyle Cortez Watch

I really like this watch by Freestyle USA. The Cortez is a very rugged watch which works well for casual wear along with formal wear, yet it's hefty enough to be worn in more extreme environments.

One thing you notice when you first get this watch is that it's obviously not made of all plastic. It has a little weight to it. Not too much, but you definitely notice it when you first pick it up. It has a analog and digital time display, which can be set to different times for a dual time display if needed.

There aren't a ton of functions on this watch and the one thing that every watch review will get if the watch doesn't have it is the fact that it doesn't have a countdown timer. This is a feature I use a lot. But even with a lack of a bunch of bells and whistles I still like this watch. The one thing that's kind of different on this watch is the way you set the time. To get to the time setting feature you scroll through the modes and when you get back to the time it's in the setting mode. This isn't too much of a problem, but I can see the possibility of buttons being pushed on accident and then the time being accidentally changed. I haven't had this problem, but it's a possibility. For features here they are:

1. Time (dual, ana/digi), day, date
2. Backlight
3. Luminous hands. I've found after about a minute long charge the hands and number markings stay brightly lit for about 10 minutes, then dimly lit for about 45 minutes, after that, if your eyes are adjusted to the dark you can faintly make out the markings up to about a hour.
4. Chronograph.
5. hourly chime
6. Alarm
7. Solid Stainless steel case with screw down back. This means you'll have to take it somewhere to get the battery changed, unless you have the tools for this.
8. Polyurethane strap.
9. 100m water resistance.
10. An area on the end of the strap that will keep the strap retaining loop in place so that it doesn't move around. This means the end of the strap stays in place.

The only problem I've had with this watch is the placement of the small loop that retains the end of the strap when it's in it's proper place. It's only due to the size of my wrist in that it sets right on the wrist bone and will tend to occasionally dig into my wrist. I just move it down further on the strap and I'm good.

This watch is also covered with a limited lifetime warranty.

As I said earlier, this watch is just as nice out on the trail as it is in a formal or casual setting. I really like it and I like it's look. It's a larger watch and I really like that look.

Colors: black, silver/black

MSRP: $100.00

Freestyle Shark Buzz

Freestyle USA is a company comprised of surfers, skateboarders, and other sportsmen who, in the 1980s, started creating watches that were durable enough to stand up to these sports. Their watches are made to stand the abuse and maintain their water resistance, hence the first name of this particular watch. The second part of the watches name comes from a unique feature...a vibrating alarm.

The shark buzz has a cool look to it as well...kind of a techno shark appearance. The band, which is pliable and extremely comfortable has a kind of shark fin pattern and the side buttons are a shark grey (on the particular style I have). One thing that I noticed right off the bat is the convex face of the watch. It seemed like this would find every sharp edge and scratch up easily. Well, I've been wearing this watch daily for a while and the face is pretty resistant to scratches. The resistance to scratches along with the raised bezel help to protect the face. The display itself is large blocked numbers which are easy to read in low light and with just a quick glance at the watch.

Here are the other features of the watch:

1. Time (12/24), Day and Date display.
2. Backlight - The backlight here is a blue reversed backlight, meaning that the numbers themselves light up and not the background.
3. Alarm - This alarm can be set to go off daily, or on a particular day.
4. Hourly chime.
   
5. Vibrate feature - this watch beeps and vibrates when any button is pushed, at the end of the countdown timer, or at the alarm time. This is enough to feel, but I haven't had it wake me from a sleep yet. Although I have been laying in bed, just about to fall asleep and the hourly chime goes off and the vibrating startles me....so it is noticeable.
   
6. Countdown timer - Timer counts down and once zero is reached it alarms and then starts to count up.
7. Stopwatch with split times.
8. 100 meters water resistant.

The only thing I would do to improve this watch would be in the setting mode. When setting features such as the time or countdown timer you can only advance the numbers. It would be nice to have a button that can go backwards with the numbers as well. This is just a convenience feature that I have come to like in watches.

Overall I have enjoyed wearing this watch. It is very comfortable, durable and has the features that I like in a watch. Freestyle isn't a name you normally hear in the watch industry, but I feel it will become more popular as people start to hear the name and notice the quality of their products.

Colors available: Black, silver/black

MSRP: Black $75
Silver/Black $70