Timex Intelligent Quartz Depth Gauge Watch
How deep did you dive and how cold was it down there? The ’s dials record maximum depth (in meters) and minimum temperature (in Celsius, which requires you to be intelligent, too). We loved the classic Indiglo night-light but not the cramped temperature dial, which was hard to read at a glance.
Luminox Colormark Chronograph 3183 Watch
Belying its light-on-your-wrist feel, the ’s carbon-reinforced bezel is made to scoff at the elements. The watch’s mineral-crystal face is highly scratch-resistant, it’s waterproof to 200 meters, and the chronograph uses three dials to display elapsed times of up to 12 hours. Plus, our favorite Luminox feature: All the dials and markers automatically glow when the sun goes down.
Tsovet SVT-PX87 Watch
The face takes up a lot of real estate, and it looks best on guys confident enough to sport a watch this hefty. And while the gray-on-black color scheme has an understated cool, the is made from a burly composite that can take as stern a beating as sportier-looking watches, like Casio’s classic G-Shocks.
Garmin Fenix Watch
With an altimeter, a barometer, a compass, and Bluetooth (it pairs with Garmin’s heart-rate monitors and cadence sensors)—as well as TracBack, a feature that guides you back to your campsite— is a workhorse. The interface could be more intuitive, and while the battery lasts up to 50 hours in GPS mode, that still limits its use to shorter adventures.
Momentum Vortech GMT
Momentum quietly proves less is more with . The GMT refers to the yellow hand, which can be set to a second time zone. The alarm feature—controlled by the prominent yet somehow just-right red button—is made to be extra loud, to wake you from even the worst jet lag.
Wenger Sea Force Watch
As the name implies, this watch was built to withstand the rigors of an ocean environment—it’s water-resistant to 200 meters, and the prominent, luminous hands are easy to read underwater. But we found (the only other feature is a date window) to be tough and reliable on landlocked adventures as well.