Casio Pathfinder

[steve-in-kville]

I am looking to buy myself a watch and I am interested in the Pathfinder. I volunteer with a SAR team and train a lot in all kinds of temps and weather and such a watch would be useful to me. Can anyone comment on this watch? Or should I be looking elsewhere?

The other equation is I am also considering a GPS unit and some of those also can tell me the same info as the pathfinder.

I welcome all comments and suggestions!

 

[SRWeldon]

Plan on sending it in to a service center to have the battery replaced. There is a seal on the back that it is needs to be replaced everytime the battery gets replaced as well. I've had mine for a couple years and over the last couple of months the display just got lighter and lighter. I've gone to every place that sells watches in my area and no one will touch it. I even called a place that has 2 full time watch makers working for them and they even said send it to the company. I guess if your the type of guy that has a couple different watches that you rotate through it won't matter that much but for me its my only watch. I guess other then that its been great.

 

[ROLEXrifleman]

There are a few versions available I myself own the PAG40:


I picked this up when I wen to the police academy 3 years ago because I thought it was what I was suppose to do. While I have beat it up and t has served me well i do not and have used any of the features on it as I thought I would have. The temp sensor on this thing takes about 15 minutes to adjust to extreme temperature changes. Having it on your wrist effects that as well.

The compass while good enough has never been needed on my end. i haven't gone anywhere that merited a compass anyway.

Stop watch and alarms, any $20 watch has those so it's not even worth mentioning as a feature.

This one has a barometer, that's nice.

My watch has an altimeter in it, it's accurate. But when I'm out shooting rifle at 800+ yards i have my Kestral that gives me all the info I need so again, a feature I don't use.

The watch in and of itself is a good rugged piece. It has a lot of nice features on it should you find yourself in a SHTF sitaution but from a practical standpoint in the real world you wont get much use out of it's many features. Your better off with a watch that has a nice big face and dials you can read. A bezel with military time is a plus and maybe the date on it.

If you need to know the temperature I'll give you some advice, if your sweating it's hot, if your shivering it's cold!

Clean and big dials, trust me on that. Here's what I wear on duty:





and btw, as far as gaskets go, $8 on ebay straight to your door

 

[cpd670]

I've been wearing the Casio 1100T for the last 6 years or more.
Solar powered and atomic time setting are the best features.
I've used the compass multiple times while at work and the altimeter function works perfectly like stated above.
Not being around the water I didn't care about the tide function on some of Casio's other models.

I would love to spend $5 - 7K+ on a watch and the Panerai with the metal band is my grail, I could never wear it at work though.

 

[AddictedToGear]

The Casio Pathfinder and G-shock are great watches and will stand up to hard use very well. I really like the pathfinder because it seem to have more functions. I use it when hunting or hiking.

 

[Idaho Jarhead]

I wore the same Pathfinder for close to ten years. It kept great time and I had zero complaints. The only reason I quit wearing it is because the band became unserviceable and because the watch is a European model, the replacement cost for the band was ludicrous for the age of the watch.

FWIW, I replaced the Pathfinder with a Casio Mudman and I despise it! Besides being incredibly uncomfortable, the crystal fogs up every time there is a huge temperature change, and has from day one.

ETA: While the extra features on the Pathfinders are cool, I found them to be more novelty than reliable and useful.

 

[23698012]

I own a Casio G-Shock Mudman G-9300.

Its comfortable, tough, not super heavy, and has a VERY accurate compass on it. I've been wearing it nonstop for the last 9 months and its doing great.

While it may not have all the same features as some of the pathfinder series, it is still very capable and much cheaper. At least worth checking out.

 

[ednemo]

I have the Casio Pathfinder paw1300t-7v. It has the solar battery in it and I have never had a problem with it over the past decade. It's nice never having to get batteries.