interesting thread to read. My experience with watches was similar to other military personnel in the thread. When I joined in the early 1980s my mentors were Vietnam or Beirut veterans. Their advice was buy the best quality knife, watch and kit you can afford. When the $h!t is getting real it won't fail. As a young Marine I had a Bulova purchased at the MCRD PX, used it for the first 3 years, then I upgraded to a Seiko Automatic Dive watch, first of two I used through desert storm, central America and the rest of the 90's. I always carried two watches, one on my wrist and one on my LBE, doing demo I preferred the stopwatch on a G-shock but didn't like noisy alarms when patrolling so the Seiko was on my wrist. Coincidentally while I was just a straight up Marine grunt and combat engineer, I also liked good quality knives, had a couple of Randall's over the years a model one and a 14 attack with the border patrol handle but ultimately went with a custom blade from Allen Elishewitz traded from a SF buddy.
When Iraq kicked off I purchased a good Longines Hydro Conquest automatic. Served me well for the rest of my career seeing service in Iraq and Afghanistan x2. When I retired I received my Rolex, a date just, because my wife said I wasn't allowed to wear a military watch anymore! I wore it everyday for 10 years but currently it sits in the safe, I purchased an Omega Speed Master because it is a the watch that NASA trusted and it is pretty damn cool. My watches have been and always will be worn regardless of what I am doing hunting, forging blades, building fence, working colts, BBQing, I own them because they are dependable and still meet the advice I received over 40 years ago, buy the best quality knife, watch and kit you can afford. When the $h!t is getting real it won't fail. PS why I still have, carry and love my SIG P226 I purchased brand new over 25 years ago.
" 
