When it comes to outdoor survival, navigation and spatial awareness are important skills to have. Having a survival watch with compass will ensure that you’ll have a navigation tool on hand in the event of an emergency. A survival watch is not only useful for telling time, but can also help you find your way if you get lost in the wild.
This article will outline the factors to consider when investing in a survival watch and give product reviews of the most popular compass survival watches on the market.
Factors to Consider
Compass
A compass is one of the most important pieces of gear to have for outdoor survival. If you find yourself lost in the wilderness, a good compass can help you find true north and get you back on track. Survival watches can either have a rotating needle or digital compass. You’ll find that digital compasses will be more common to accommodate other survival features. Prior to taking your survival watch out for an adventure, be sure to become well-versed in how to use a compass properly.
Durability
A survival watch should be well-constructed and capable of withstanding various outdoor elements. Important features to look out for are: water resistance/waterproofness, shock resistance, heatproofness and low-temperature resistance.
Look for watches that are made with durable mineral crystal. Some will be made out of crystal plastic which can be scratched more easily. Having a durable wrist band is also important, so opt for strong materials, such as silicone rubber or paracord. Veer away from metal and leather bands because they don’t hold up in extreme weather conditions. Also, look for durable bezels made out of high-grade plastics, carbon fiber or titanium.
Readability
The ability to read the time and compass is important during the day and when it’s dark. Having a negative display with a black background and white text allows for better readability while out in the wild. An illuminating backlight is also useful when you need to read your watch or compass at night.
Power Source
For trips out into the wild, it’s important to have a watch that will not die when you need it the most. Quartz movement watches are battery-powered and you run the risk of being stuck with a dead battery. If you choose a Quartz movement watch make sure that you can easily replace the batteries yourself and that you pack extra batteries. Some watches will also be compatible with solar rechargeable batteries. Solar power and mechanical watches will be your most reliable power options.
Additional Features
Apart from a compass, it’s also nice to have other survival features to assist you on your wilderness adventures. Other useful features include: a Global Positioning System (GPS), thermometer, barometer, altimeter and sunrise/sunset times.
Product Reviews
Now it’s time to take a look the 7 best survival watches with compasses available on the market.
Lad Weather German Sensor Digital Watch
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LAD WEATHER’s German Sensor Digital watch is ideal for outdoor activities such as climbing, trekking and hiking. It has a positive display and an electro luminescence backlight for readability at night. This German Sensor watch has a number of survival features, such as: an altimeter, track mode, barometer, digital compass, thermometer and chronograph. The watch also allows you to go into power saving mode, dual time mode or set a timer, alarm and the day and date. The watch can be set to the metric or imperial system.
Pros: wide range of survival features, illuminates for night use, metric and imperial readings
Cons: plastic screen susceptible to scratches, water resistance unknown
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Sun Road FR800NA2 Outdoor Sports Watch
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This Sun Road outdoor sports waterproof watch incorporates a digital compass. It also has a wide range of survival features, such as: an altimeter, barometer, thermometer, LED light, sunrise/sunset times and air pressure and altitude trend tracker. This sports watch is useful for a wide range of activities with its alarms, countdown function, stopwatch, pedometer and recorder for calories and distance travelled.
Pros: wide range of survival features, illuminates for night use, waterproof
Cons: n/a
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Sun Road FR8204A Outdoor Sports Watch
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This Sun Road watch is highly recommended for avid outdoors people. The watch has a digital compass and a compass bearing tracking feature to help you with navigation. Its other survival features include: an altimeter, barometer, thermometer, waterproofness to 3ATM, backlight with 10-grade LCD contrast adjustment, sunrise/sunset times and air pressure and altitude trend tracker. This outdoor sports watch also has an alarm, battery level reminder, countdown function, stopwatch, pedometer and recorder for calories and distance travelled.
Pros: wide range of survival features, illuminates for night use, waterproof, compass bearing tracking
Cons: battery powered
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Sun Road FR822B Outdoor Sports Watch
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Sun Road’s outdoor sports watch is made out of plastic and polyurethane and powered by a button battery. The watch has a wide range of features, such as: a digital compass, altimeter, barometer, thermometer, waterproofness to 3ATM, backlight with 10-grade LCD contrast adjustment, sunrise/sunset times, world time function, air pressure and altitude trend tracker, alarm, battery level reminder, countdown function, stopwatch, pedometerand recorder for calories and distance travelled.
Pros: wide range of survival features, illuminates for night use, waterproof
Cons: battery powered
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Timex Expedition Shock Compass Watch
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Timex has made the Expedition Shock compass watch with a durable resin case, a nylon strap and buckle closure.It’s water resistant up to 200 meters/660 feet, shock resistant to I.S.O. standards and designed to pass Outdoor Torture Tests conducted by Timex.
The Expedition Shock watch features: a digital compass, negative display and Indiglo light-up watch dial for better readability at night.
Pros: high-degree of water resistance, illuminates for night use, shock resistant
Cons: wrist band could be more durable, limited number of survival features
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Casio SGW100B-3V Watch
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This Casio watch is made with a protective mineral crystal for scratch resistance, a resin case, metal bezel, buckle clasp and nylon wrist band.
Its survival features include: a stop watch alarm, compass, thermometer, reverse backlight, world time feature and water resistance to 200 meters/660 feet. The watch runs on a Quartz movement and requires a battery.
Pros: high-degree of water resistance, great readability
Cons: limited number of survival features, battery powered
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Bounabay Multifunction Sports Watch
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Bounabay’s multifunction sports watch is made out of polycarbonate, polyurethane, Hardlex acrylic crystal, stainless steel, a silicon rubber watch band and buckle closure. The watch it not only shock-resistantbut also water resistant to 50 meters/164 feet. It has a number of features, such as: a compass, world time, LED display, backlight and an alarm. Bounabay’s multifunction sports watch uses a long-lasting battery. The watch can be worn for a wide range of activities such as running, climbing, cycling and other outdoor sports.
Pros: shock-resistant, illuminated for night use, durable, yet comfortable
Cons: limited number of survival features
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Final Thoughts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfGepJHvACo
When investing in a survival watch, be sure to find one that has a compass. They’re great to have in emergency situations where you find yourself lost and unable to find your way back to base camp. To find the best survival watch for your needs, be sure to assess your outdoor lifestyle and the wild places you intent to explore. This will help you gauge what model of survival watch will be your next outdoor companion.
