Recommendations for an "Adventure Watch"

My favourite watch will forever be the original explorer two. Maybe one day....

But I also like the Breitling Emergency. Wish I had one of these too, but they get good write ups. Ben Fogle has one

Lorier Falcon and/or Hydra.

The money saved, put it towards a baller satellite phone...👀🤏🏻😂.

I may be biased but the Explorer 2 with the GMT and date is slightly more adventure orientated IMO. Would possibly be nice to know how many days you've been lost and if it's day or night above ground....

Rangers a good shout but if you want an explorer then the BB Pro is a better option as you can actually buy one and not go on a wait list

Feel like if I got and explorer or and explorer 2 I’d never wear it as a field watch or a travel watch because I’d be 2 scared to scratch it or ruin it

Let's get this straight, you want a luxury watch to wear while you are doing something adventurous. May I respectfully suggest you get something a lot cheaper that you can wreck. I would suggest a Dryden Heartlander, or a San Martin SN0131

A much more affordable alternative, and a type that’s been on many more adventures

İn every aspect casio g shock will be best choice

220.10.41.21.02.001 put on a Nato.

Metas Certified, Awesome Color Combination, can be had quite cheap, definately is durable, and does not wear large!

Also, if you are not shy of wearing something larger, a Planet Ocean. ;)

I'd go with the #christopherward Sealander to scratch that itch, which would leave you plenty of spare cash (over these others) to get a #gshock Solar that will maintain the correct time across your journey; just saying 🤷‍♂️

Sounds like a brilliant thing to do though, enjoy every second of it.

They're not really "designed to take a beating" in the way that, say, a G-Shock is. These are still automatic watches. Bang them hard enough and you will $%# them up.

There's nothing different about these watches that will magically protect them from "taking a beating" any more than a $100 AliExpress special will take the same before breaking.

Marketing has a lot to be responsible for.

Hey Aaron,

Advanced happy 40th birthday!

I think the Rolex Explorer would be the perfect adventure watch BUT it has two issues with it:

1. You’ll have to go on a waitlist and depending on how close you are to your bday/planned trip, you might actually not have it by that date.

2. Ironically, the Explorer’s popularity makes it a poor choice as a field watch. If you’re hiking across the Gobi desert the last thing you want is an ostentatious piece of jewellry on you. For personal safety reasons (not to mention, watch safety reasons).

That’s the irony of the Rolex Explorer. It looks tough (and might even be built tough) but it’s not a good tool watch because it’s quite pricey, it catches unwanted attention and it’s hard to replace even if money was no object because of the whole Rolex scarcity thing.

With this in mind, my suggestion would be to buy 2 watches. A Rolex Explorer (if this is what you really want) and a G-Shock or a Traska Summitteer or a Sinn 556A. The Traska has hardened steel which gives extra durability. Both the Traska and the Sinns also have Explorer-style looks so that’s good as well.

Rolex Explorer (I or II) then the Tudor Ranger. Outside of that, maybe an Omega Railmaster.

I voted explorer 2 but mine would be a g shock 🤣

Explorer II👍

I’m an owner and heavily biased but for a longer hiking trip a date is handy to have. For my longer backpacking trips in mountains, I set the date to “1” on the first day so I know how many days have passed.

Don’t listen to people who say “Buy G-shock! Those luxury watches can’t take the beating!” Sure G shock is more robust but if you really take a beating bad enough to break Explorer 2 you should be worried about your body, not the watch😂

I will keep on wearing Explorer 2 on my adventures until someone with real experience of breaking one tells me not to.

Also I don’t fully trust anything on battery because they can’t handle extreme temperatures as well as mechanical. (I do wear Garmin on my right wrist while backpacking. It never died on me at -20c but I always wear a mechanical too as the last resort.)

Having said that, I will be more mindful of populated areas you go through, if it is safe to wear anything expensive.

Enjoy your adventure, be safe!

In what style are you planning to do the crossing?

If on foot: the lighter the better. Why carry a heavy piece of steel?

I'll definitely get one along the road. Maybe for my birthday, it's between a Laco Atacama UTC and that

They use the same steel finishing techniques as Grand Seiko.

I owned the same watch, and said something similar when I reviewed it on my YouTube channel. In fact Seestern make one for $200 which is probably better than the original as well

Yeah, but looks horrible

But not if you don't want something the size of a diner plate and looks hideous

Casio g shock has many models with reasonable size. All has carbon core and water resistance. Also as affordable as not to be so sad in any bad scenario.

My "Grail" was the Rolex Explorer II (Polar Dial) 226570 and I find it much more "low profile" with a variety of leather and rubber straps. It definitely slips below most folks radar with the straps, but can be dressed up or down easily using quick release pins. This is one of my favorite straps, from The Strap Tailor (UK).

Here's the same watch, but using a VGreen blue Nubuck crocodile strap.

A padded black leather strap, also by The Strap Tailor (UK).

I love the Black Bay Pro, but have a 7.5+ wrist and I like 42mm sized watches or larger, so the 39mm of the Pro is a bit smaller than I prefer. Beautiful and practical design though. If I hadn't stubbled into a new Explorer II Polar in stock at a Rolex AD in Aruba, I may very well have bought the Tudor!

Maybe the Hamilton expedition at 41 is an option too and relatively cheap to actually wear for what it designed for

The Seestern does not have the Swiss movement though if I recall correctly - and 1/3 of the water resistance. And their QC and Customer Service pales in comparison to Steinhart.

That SM is so cool. I was looking at videos of it the other day and it made me wanna “add to cart”

Sinn 105 utc. Not too expensive, robust, doesn’t draw attention.

RE post from newly unbanned me. Was MIA when I answered last week!

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No surprises from me!

I’ve got a $500 and a 5k option

Look for lightness, a robust movement, all night lume (in my experience, this rules out swiss watches 😥) and a date function. These are my preferences for off grid camping and hiking. Don't depend on phones since they depend on charging. My phone charging solar panel doesn't work on dark cloudy days.

Seiko Alpinist and or Seiko Prospex LX (a case hardened grade 5 Ti spring drive Seiko with lume that will crush any Rolex). Bomb proof movements, 200m or 300m WR, and both are 100 grams all in on rubber watch bands.

https://www.ablogtowatch.com/watch-review-seiko-prospex-lx-snr031-titanium-diver/

Zero coolness status (boo 😕), or theft danger (yay🙂 !).

Sinn U50 is admittedly a great option as well, but the worse lume would bug me, and is why I don’t own one yet.

Oh, more thoughts. - gobi is extreme heat perhaps? Temp extremes call out for Ti and ceramic (or more boringly - plastic)

So a hardened Ti diver on rubber strap - light and tough!

Also… is gobi extreme dust? If yes might be reason to go for no timing bezel. I love having a timing bezel personally so think useful on any adventure watch, but I’d be concerned if it was exposed to constant dust or fine sand.

Happy 40th buddy!