Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire How many of you wear a wrist watch?

My first wristwatch...and a memorable lesson--

Back in the 50's, at 13, I started working, full-time, during my school summer vacations. I had never needed a watch, before. But, working by the hour, and with important start/stop times, I bought one from a guy who showed up on the job site who was selling out of his car trunk. It was a very cheap, but flashy, dress watch. I couldn't see the need for a pocket watch, like ALL the other OLD operators carried (where was the sense in that?).

The hand control levers on an old 3/4-yard Northwest diesel shovel are forged steel (about 4' long, 60-70 lbs), the large grip knob integrally forged. Some of these "hand" control levers can also be operated by foot, and have a large pedal integrally forged. When the machine is running near its potential speed, these levers are often being moved at very high speeds, with both hands and both feet thoroughly occupied, quickly releasing heavy pressure on one before instantly applying pressure on another.

Well, that fancy wristwatch didn't last through its entire first day on the job before one of the flying levers smashed its crystal and face.

That week I went out and bought a new pocket watch.

Is a Merkel shotgun? Is a Les Baer 1911? Some of us appreciate high quality equipment of the sort that just doesn't let you down and we don't mind paying for it. Others are happy to go to Walmart and shoot a Mossberg.

I got my Rolex 45 years ago this past June. At the time, it was important for me to have a reliable and pretty much indestructible timepiece. It has never let me down. Over the years it's been in and out of salt water too many times to count, it's been exposed to all sorts of chemicals, been through two motorcycle crashes I can remember, been through the reduction rooms at Alcoa and Reynolds where the electromagnetic impulses will wipe out your credit cards and shut down an ordinary watch. It's seen me through two ex-marriages. It's been back for service three times in all those years which is a better track record than any of the motor vehicles I've ever had and they don't keep running 24/7. I look at that watch and it brings back a lot of memories, good, bad and ugly.

But, to each his own.

Rolex is a fantastic watch, but the current price for a new Rolex is about the same as a decent used truck; I just don't have that kind of coin. And these days, a watch is just obsolete by my reckoning. I don't know how long Rolex will hold out, probably always exist in some small way. But just like companies who print hard copy magazines and newspapers; I wouldn't buy stock in Rolex. At best it's a dying industry, at worst it's already dead.

Still, always thought the Rolex Submariner was about as cool a watch as could be had.

If I'm not in the shower, I've got a watch on. If I've got clothes on, I've got, at a minimum, two knives on me.

My work and hunting watch is a Casio Forester, my other watches are my grandfather's self-winding Hamilton, a Casio that syncs with the atomic clock that belonged to my Dad, a Citizen Titanium Chronograph, and a Seiko Chronograph. Had a Lumi-Nox that I dearly loved, but it disappeared in a divorce.

I've got a drawer full of knives and the ones that get carried get changed according to my whim of the day, but generally at least one is a Cold Steel folder of some kind, because they're virtually indestructible and easily replaceable if you DO kill it. I've never broken a blade on a Cold Steel, but have broken several of their pocket clips. Today they're an older Cold Steel Medium Voyager and an old Victorinox Classic SD.

The only "jewelry" I wear is my wedding band.

I bought the same one about 2-3 years before that and it runs perfectly, only had it cleaned once and I wear it everyday. I don't think I'd cough up the coin for another at today's prices which are about 7-8 times more than I paid back in the day.

I wear one most of the time. Need for documentation of progress and events has demanded it.

In the nuke powerhouses, cell phones are not allowed, and in the fossil fueled units they are quickly destroyed.

Been 18 months now since I stopped working powerhouses, but the watch stays...

I wear an ironman as well. I don't wear it for jewelry, it's function only. Use the countdown timer a lot in training. Mine is beat to heck. The plain plastic band doesn't hold stink and lasts forever. I use the alarm a lot when I travel.

Can't get by using a cell phone for time here as we're right on the CST/EST line and may get a different time from one end of the house to the other depending on where the tower is located.

Of course, a man wears a watch and carries a pocket knife, but I dont wear froot of the looms.

Quit wearing one when it got to be such a PITA taking them through metal detector at work. Just use pager for that now.

I have a hard time understanding a "man" who doesn't wear a watch, a belt, and a pocket knife. All three are basic, necessary items.

Haven't worn a watch since I retired in 2004. I carry a watch when hunting so as not to violate the shooting hours regulations. It's usually strapped around the pivot on my IF binos.

Wear a watch when I leave the house except to exercise. Currently a Luminox. Look at it often and use the rotating bezel several times a day.

RS

I wear a watch and a belt. My grandaddy told me that a man who would go around without a timepiece or a belt on, was nothing more than a slouch. Oh, and he also told me to always carry a knife.

He was cranky like that....

I reckon I was raised the same way.

It kinda depends on what type of work one does.

I don't wear a watch or a wedding ring.


Cell phone or radio in the pickup/equipment works well enough for me.

Wonderful choice Scott, functional, with a graceful elegance. Chanel 5 is classic, soft, feminine, and timeless. You have very good taste Sir. I am sure Jennifer will be extremely pleased with your choices

To quote my wife: "What kind of man doesn't carry a knife?"

When I entered the workforce a a few moons ago, I was literally dumbfounded when I saw how many men dont carry a knife. I view a watch the same way, as I do a belt. I have worked in jobs where safety dictated I not wear a wedding band or a watch, but both were always worn to work, put in my locker, and put back on as soon as I clocked out.

how many here can say "Irish wristwatch"? ...........................without getting tongue tied?

I wear a wristwatch daily, plus I have a knife clipped to my pocket.