Tested: The 8 Toughest Survival Watches For Off-Grid Adventure

With the exception of hardcore bushcrafters, most folks look at survival situations as dire experiences best avoided. Of course, a smart outdoorsman knows it’s better to prepare for the worst than face the consequences. That being said, watches are still not always a consideration. They should be, however, as they can be invaluable in emergencies — especially away from civilization.

And while an intrepid explorer can use a standard analog watch as a navigational tool, there’s no reason not to take advantage of modern technology. In fact, there are actually a wide variety of more comprehensively equipped timepieces that could certainly be considered survival watches. We’ve rounded up our favorites for following guide where we tested the best survival watches that money can buy.

How We Tested

While similar in many ways to outdoor watches and tactical timepieces, survival watches are typically robust, over-engineered items that are built extremely tough. This rugged nature also tends to be coupled with a myriad of useful sensors, features, and resources — many of which are unique to the survival watch segment. This fact makes shopping for a survival watch a little tricky — especially for the uninitiated. Well aware of this reality, we’ve aimed to simplify the space, breaking down half a dozen of the must crucial areas to consider when in the market for a survival-style timepiece.

To make our guide, we first surveyed the landscape to come up with a shortlist of contenders. We spend a lot of time in the watch and EDC space and have our favorites but we also wanted to dig deeper to see what other watches were being talked about in terms of toughness and survival. We looked at material, water resistance, strap material, movement, size, and features like compass, barometer, and altimeter. From there, we sourced our samples for testing. We spent time with each of the watches to see what we liked and didn’t like about them. The results are detailed below.

What To Look For In A Survival Watch

Case Size & Material: As the primary component of any watch, the case is of extreme importance. Because survival watches are engineered to handle ample abuse, these items tend to be crafted from fairly hardwearing materials such as metal alloys, composites, and proprietary resins. What’s more, in addition to a case’s thickness, the overall size of a watch — typically measured in width in millimeters — also plays a major role in the watch’s overall character, as well as its weight.

Durability: While this area is largely owed to the watch case’s construction, there are several other areas that can play a substantial role in a survival watch’s overall durability. This includes whether the watch is equipped with bumpers or any type of shock-absorption system and the material used to construct the lens and caseback.

Movement: As the heart of the watch — and the element that’s responsible for its timekeeping — a survival watch’s movement is also a key area to review when shopping. While some of these items are of the smartwatch variety, most of them tend to feature automatic, mechanical, or quartz movements — the latter of which is by far the most affordable, while also being the most accurate.

Waterproofing: As ultra-tough timepieces, the vast majority of survival watches will feature robust waterproofing ratings, with even the more meager-specced watches offering at least 100’ of water resistance. It is also worth noting that, if you don’t plan on diving with your survival watch, practically any model on the market will be capable of withstanding even the harshest of weather conditions.

Band, Bracelet, Or Strap: Just like the super durable cases used on survival watches, the band, strap, or bracelet that they’re paired with also tend to be equally hardwearing. As such, most watch manufacturers in this space opt for bands or straps made from more rugged materials like heavy-duty rubber or ballistic-grade nylon. And, like any watch, a survival watch’s bracelet or band can easily be swapped out for an aftermarket item of the same lug width.

Survival Features: As already touched on above, survival watches tend to boast numerous survival-specific features such as onboard sensors, calendars, digital compasses, connectivity to smartphone apps, integrated GPS systems, two-way messaging, emergency SPOT beacons, and health and fitness tracking features, just to name a few.

SUUNTO Core

Best Budget Watch: Weighing just 23.26oz, the SUUNTO Core is an incredibly rugged, minimalistic outdoor smartwatch that’s brimming with features and amenities that are typically reserved for markedly more expensive items. This includes an onboard altimeter, barometer, compass, and thermometer, plus a storm alarm, sunrise and sunset timers, a depth meter for snorkeling, electro-luminescent backlighting, weather functions, and a user-replaceable battery affording up to a year of battery life. Water resistant down to 30 meters, the Core All Black that we tested is constructed around a 49.1mm composite case that’s been paired with an aluminum bezel, an elastomer strap, and a mineral crystal glass lens.

For those familiar with Suunto’s lineup, you should know first of all that the Core is not a smartwatch. It uses sensors to read the temperature, elevation, and barometric pressure but it doesn’t have smart applications like other models such as Suunto’s Vertical Adventure Watch. Extremely lightweight despite its size, the Core also benefits from a large time display that’s easy to see at a quick glance. There’s a smaller display underneath that can be changed to reveal the date, seconds, temperature, sunset time, stopwatch, or countdown timer. The digital display is pretty dim and I thought I wouldn’t be able to read it well in the sunlight, but that turned out not to be the case.

Once you get the hang of the watch, its few functions are somewhat easy to use, albeit the menus can be annoying to scroll through. Also, there’s no “back” button, so if you’re deep into the menu options, you’re only choice is to exit to the home screen. The Core features altimeter and barometer functions but you can only display one at a time. In order to go from altimeter to barometer, you have to head into the menu to change the display. I wish there were some way to display both or a quick toggle between the two. Likewise, the barometric arrow up top can be hard to see; it looks like a scuff on the screen at quick glance. Speaking of which, the crystal itself smudges easily with oil from your skin. The first day I had it, I’d already thoroughly wiped the face twice by noon. In terms of the watch’s comfort, I didn’t love how the wide silicone strap felt on my wrist. Likewise, the material seemed a little cheap, which was especially noticeable upon taking off the watch.

Verdict: If you take the time to get to know the Suunto Core, you’ll undoubtedly utilize the features to their full extent, especially if you’re a serious hiker or outdoorsman. Despite a dim dial display and painstaking menu toggling, this is a lightweight model that will serve you well even as an everyday wristwatch.

Timex Expedition North Tide-Temp-Compass Watch

Best Compass Watch: The Timex Expedition North Tide-Temp-Compass Watch is a modernized take on a beloved outdoor timepiece classic that was designed specifically for adventure in coastal and marine settings. Offering 100 meters of water resistance and an onboard tide tracker system, the watch also features an adjustable declination angle, an analog compass, and built-in digital air and water temperature thermometers. Kept ticking via a quartz movement, this Timex watch is pieced together around a gunmetal-colored 43mm 316L stainless steel case with a brushed and bead blasted finish. Paired with a brown Ecco DriTan leather strap, the case also houses a green dial with a fourth indicator hand, INDIGLO backlighting, and a date window at 6 o’clock.

A tool watch in the most traditional sense of the phrase, the Timex Expedition North is actually an incredibly cool timepiece. Not only does it have some fantastic features, and for just a couple hundred dollars, but it’s sort of a throwback to ’70s-style divers with its thick steel bezel and overall design. It’s not the lightest watch on the planet but feels firm on the wrist and brings a heck of a lot of wrist presence to your overall ensemble, if that’s what you’re going for. Although it can be a bit finicky, the brand’s proprietary INDIGLO backlight, which it’s been using now for decades, gives a uniform glow across the dial. Some may not love the friction bezel, which eschews clicks in favor of a free-sliding function. However, the bidirectional contraption strikes a balance here between smoothness and resistance.

I was rather impressed by how well all three of the extra features –– thermometer, compass, and tide timer –– were able to work without being too confusing. They’re set and/or triggered with the help of the crown and the three assigned pushers, which are admittedly difficult to press at times. However, it will definitely take some extra research to figure out how to use these features. The watch didn’t come with explicit instructions so I had to take to YouTube tutorials. But after about 15 minutes, I had the features down. This could be problematic, however, if you haven’t used, say, the tide timer in a while and you forget exactly how to set it. There’s also a caveat inside the instruction manual. It declares that this watch is not a diver and no buttons should be pressed underwater. Another thing to point out is the built-in thermometer is less accurate if you’re actually wearing it. So to test the temperature of the air or water accurately, you might need to take it off.

Verdict: An impressive analog watch with tactile pseudo-smart features, the rugged Timex Expedition North Tide-Temp-Compass has built in sensors that makes adventuring more fun and more hands-on, literally. The learning curve is a bit steep since the model didn’t come with instructions but once you get the hang of it, you won’t want to stop using it.

Casio Pro Trek PRW3500-1

Best Digital Watch: You may know Casio as the experts when it comes to affordable digital watches, but its Pro Trek holds court as the lineup’s pièce de résistance since its debut in 1995 and also happens to be at the high end of the Japanese brand’s range (not including those part of the G-SHOCK sub-brand). An easy to read digital screen and a chunky compass bezel give the impression that this wristwatch were made for the field, but it can also transition to be your go-to everyday watch with ease. With ABC functions (altimeter, barometer, and compass), multiple time zones, a thermometer, a stopwatch, 200m of water resistance, and solar charging, the Pro Trek also benefits from a distinct design language that’s only been imitated but never duplicated by other brands.

The biggest roadblock with a lot of these adventure-focused watches is their user-friendliness, but the Pro Trek is one of the easiest to use. It sports an intuitive button design with actual symbols that tell you what each one does. I love how most of the buttons only do one, maybe two things. The main issue other watches have is they assign too many functions per button, which often leads to convoluted and confusing menu options. However, you won’t have that issue here. There’s also the look of the Pro Trek, which is still rather appealing after all these years, especially as ’90s aesthetic makes a strong comeback today. In terms of clarity, this one had one of the most legible dials when under direct sunlight. And in the dark, the “LIGHT” button gives a nice glow across the whole dial. Although, it would be nice if the light stayed on for longer than one or two seconds. Even when I held it down longer, the light wouldn’t stay on.

My main issue with the Pro Trek is that, at 53.4mm across, it’s rather heavy, which caused it to fall down my wrist a lot –– an issue that was compounded by an annoying band function that locks into place at a specific position, making it difficult to adjust quickly (I’ve never felt the need for a feature like this on any watch I’ve ever worn, and it added nothing here). The buttons are also really difficult to push, especially for right-armed watch wearers; the right-side buttons were especially stiff. And although, fortunately, it’s bidirectional, the compass bezel rotation comes with a lot of friction and isn’t terribly easy to do on a whim, which affects its usefulness. A click function may have been more appropriate here help you navigate on the fly.

Verdict: Comfort issues aside, the Pro Trek was one of the most user-friendly survival watches we tested, with an incredibly intuitive button design and an easy-to-read display, even under the sun. While the strap could be easier to adjust and the pushers easier to push, Casio’s flagship adventure watch is still a clear winner.

G-SHOCK Master of G Mudmaster GWGB1000-1A

Best Digital-Analog Hybrid: Although it doubled the price of its King of Mud Resistance, G-SHOCK brought with the new Mudmaster a slew of new features in this generation, blending the greatest hits from the GWG-1000 (which this replaces) and the more premium GWG-2000. The GWG-B1000 is the first watch to combine three of the Casio sub-label’s signature features: Tough Solar power, Triple Sensor (with altimeter, barometer, compass, and thermometer features), and a Bluetooth link to your smartphone. While still operating as a bare-bones GPS option, with smartphone connectivity that allows you to track and log your location, the analog-digital hybrid timepiece also comes with two new subdials: one that tells you the altitude and barometric pressure differential, and another that points to a specific location recorded on the Bearing Memory feature via the phone app.

If you’re daunted by the busy dial, don’t be. Once you read through the first couple pages of instructions, you’ll get how to toggle through the Mudmaster’s features and operate its various functions. And once you’re able to properly use the watch, you’ll feel like you’ve mastered some ingenious contraption with all its subdials and kinetic dial activity (the hands are constantly moving when navigating). In terms of setting up the waypoint on your phone, the process is pretty easy, although your app will solely exist for this function, if you’re okay with that. Like most G-SHOCKs, the Mudmaster feels really light on your wrist despite the massive size and the soft resin band helps. Thanks to its sensors, the timekeeping is highly accurate but needs to calibrate overnight when sitting by the window, unless you want to set the time manually (which won’t be as accurate).

On top of the steep learning curve, the hands sort of do their own thing at times. There’s no real rhyme or reason to when or why the main hands move out of the way when you’re trying to read the bottom digital subdial; sometimes they move aside but other times they’re obstructing what you’re trying to read. Like some other G-SHOCK watches I’ve tested, the buttons can be somewhat difficult to press, perhaps due to the button guards which bolster their resistance to the elements. Also, I’ve never been a huge fan of G-SHOCK’s Super Illuminator LED dial light, which illuminates one corner of the watch more than the others and could certainly be better. For instance, the Casio Pro Trek (from the same parent company) has its light on only one side of the dial as well, but it distributes its glow much better.

Verdict: In terms of literal surviving, no watch will do the job better than one from G-SHOCK. Virtually indestructible and long-lasting thanks to solar charging, this Mudmaster is the most reliable on that front. However, with a steeper learning curve in mastering its features, the tool watch takes some time to get used to. But once you do, it won’t just be incredibly useful but fun too.

Garmin Instinct Crossover Solar

Best Hybrid Smartwatch: Essentially an updated version of the brand’s already capable Instinct 2 with an added hand-set, the Garmin Instinct Crossover Solar is a hardwearing hybrid timepiece that combines the best elements of digital and analog watches, with a luminescent analog hand-set positioned over a high-resolution digital display. Crafted around a 45mm fiber-reinforced polymer case equipped with a dual-layered fiber-reinforced polymer and stainless steel bezel, the Garmin Instinct Crossover Solar is incredibly feature-laden, coming loaded with smartphone connectivity, Garmin’s Revodrive technology, a rugged Power Glass lens, a silicone strap, email and text alerts, multi-GNSS support with GPS, GLONASS, and Galileo, dual-grid coordinates, kid activity tracking, a VO2 max sensor, an onboard barometer, a three-axis electronic compass, a heart-rate monitor, sleep and health tracking functions, a plethora of golf-specific features, ski, snowboard, and mountain bike metric recordings, weather monitoring, onboard solar charging that allows for infinite battery life, and built-in incident detection with the ability to automatically send out emergency alerts with live location info to preprogrammed contacts.

While Garmin’s smartwatch range is not only the most nuanced but filled with some of the most impressive models around, the brand’s Connect smartphone app that accompanies these watches is what helps set it apart. Easy to set up, the app gamifies the fitness experience and is fun to use. Garmin’s value proposition is its dynamic activity, sport, and lifestyle features, which this watch definitely utilizes well. Even more, you can toggle these activities on and off easily on the watch itself or the app. I was a fan of the brand’s Body Battery feature this time around, which I’d never really used before. And while I’m not entirely sure exactly how accurate it is, it’s fun to see how much “battery” you have each day, which can help determine which activities you choose to embark upon.

Like Garmin’s vivomove, the Instinct Crossover is a hybrid smartwatch with an analog time display over the digital display, although some may complain that here the display is always on, making it less discreet than the vivomove (although better in a lot of ways). Most of the dial options are quite busy but you can customize this for simplification if you’re not using, say, the barometer or altimeter functions at the moments. Perhaps one of the best things about the Instinct Crossover is that you can swap dials based on activity or lack thereof (e.g., hiking, fitness, everyday, etc.) so it only shows you what’s necessary. Some may not love the black-and-white MIP display, which isn’t as crisp as the product images on the website. However, the backlight is sufficient enough and automatically turns on whenever you’re scrolling (although it took some time to find how to adjust its brightness).

Verdict: Garmin is the king of the smartwatch world for a reason, and this mid-level Instinct Crossover is proof that they don’t just do well on the high-end side. Lightweight and comfortable but deceptively rugged thanks to a fiber-reinforced polymer case, the hybrid smartwatch may not have the crispest dial display but it benefits from a customizable face an the ability to be utilized however you need to utilize it. Oh yeah, did we mention it has a 70-day battery life with solar-assisted charging, which is great for going off-grid.

Garmin fēnix 7 Sapphire Solar Edition

Best Solar-Powered Watch: Tested to U.S. military standards for thermal, shock and water resistance, the Garmin fēnix 7 Sapphire Solar Edition is an ultra-tough outdoor-specific solar-powered smartwatch that boasts just about every feature one could possibly hope for. Pieced together around a 47mm fiber-reinforced polymer case with a titanium bezel and a Power Glass lens, the fēnix 7 Solar Edition features a 1.3” sunlight-visible display, multi-GNSS support, multi-continent topographical maps, Skyview and Nextfork maps, mountain bike and ski dynamics, and a pulse OX sensor. And, with solar charging that allows for up to three weeks of battery life, you can spend extended periods off-grid without ever having to charge the smartwatch. However, with the watch also coming loaded with a slew of built-in sports apps, Garmin Pay contactless payments, a stock market tracker, Spotify, multiple surf features, golf course maps, text and email alerts, and sleep, hydration, and respiration tracking, Garmin’s fēnix 7 also makes for a great everyday wear smartwatch as well.

In terms of smartwatch functionality, the fēnix benefits from both touchscreen and a push button selection options. Sometimes the push buttons can be a pain when toggling through menu after menu, but the touchscreen streamlines the process and obviates any confusion when it comes to button assignment as well. If you do want to use the buttons, there is small, albeit hard to read, text next to each one to let you know what they’re for. Likewise, the menus are incredibly intuitively laid out. When setting up the watch, it gives you a list of its dozens of activity modes (organized with dropdowns to make it clearer), which you can select/deselect so your menus don’t get overcrowded with snowshoeing or disc golf.

Once you setup the Garmin Connect app, you’ll be able to look at your history, setup workouts, and receive alerts. However, what makes the fēnix a great choice is how functional it can be without your smartphone. The Garmin Connect app is pretty solid but once you start adding the brand’s extra apps, like Explore or Drive, which are fine on their own, you may struggle to stay organized. After all, the point of this newfangled technology is to make things easier. As an $800 smartwatch, there’s nothing much to complain about the fēnix itself. Perhaps the “up” and “down” side buttons could be better positioned. Rather than the instinctive position of other smartwatches (i.e., at the top and bottom of the case), they’re next to each other on the bottom of the case, which is confusing for first-time users used to other watches. Of course, this is a minor quibble to an otherwise superb smartwatch.

Verdict: Garmin hits another one out of the park with the fēnix 7. Lightweight due to its polymer and titanium structure, the smartwatch also has an incredibly comfortable band that’s easy to adjust on the fly. You get tons of sports modes and both touchscreen and push-button functionality. This is a few hundred dollars cheaper than Garmin’s similar tactix 7, but will have enough features to opt for this as a viable lifestyle or everyday watch.

MTM STATUS Smartwatch

Best Titanium Watch: The MTM STATUS Smartwatch is a cutting-edge tactical smart timepiece that’s overlaid with a traditional analog handset and outfitted with a wealth of features that allow it to lend itself to survival use. This includes a Lithium battery rated to offer three years of life, a digital Compass, preprogrammed time zones for 58 locales, a locking screw-down crown, the ability to program up to 5 alarms, and a multi-year warranty. In terms of its traditional watch elements, this MTM timepiece sports a 45mm case crafted from solid titanium and an EL-backlit split carbon fiber and matte brass dial with luminous indices and hands — the latter of which are powered by an onboard Swiss analog movement. In addition to the above traditional watch specs, this item’s WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity and the ability to pair of the dedicated MTM Connect smartphone app, also make this smartwatch a solid choice for everyday use, as well.

Thanks to recent technological advancements, working with titanium isn’t as expensive as it used to be, which is why we’re seeing much more titanium watches these days. The material is also more favorable over stainless steel for its lightweight and corrosion-resistant properties. With a rugged, lightweight titanium build, an analog all-terrain compass feature, and smartphone-assisted navigation, it would seem as though the MTM fit the mold perfectly for a survival watch. And you might be right about that. You wear this thing on your wrist and you feel like you can stop bullets. I also like how non-reflective the sapphire crystal is. A lot of watches claim they’re non-reflective, but a lot of times this isn’t totally true, or it just means that there’s some weird tint over the glass. That’s not the case here.

My biggest gripe with the Status, however, isn’t as much the watch itself as it is the accompanying smartphone app. Setting up your profile is not fun –– when oftentimes this is one of the best parts. There’s no dropdown menu for entering your birthday, so you have to scroll month-by-month backwards. And then when it comes to the navigation portion, which feeds into your watch, the location listings come up as white text against a white background, making it impossible to see what you’re searching for. With smartwatches, calibrating the time often requires some sort of response procedure on the phone app. But with the MTM app, it was inoperable and I couldn’t get the time to sync properly. It’s important to note that I have an Android phone. One of my coworkers, who has an iPhone, said the app worked much better for him, and he was actually a fan. Additionally, there’s a weird blur with the digital smartwatch text at the bottom of the dial that’s not pleasant to look at.

Verdict: One of the sturdiest watches we tested, the titanium-built MTM Status feels incredibly indestructible and the thick rubber band is far more comfortable than the stubborn NATO strap this watch can also come with. It boasts 100m of water resistance, a cool analog compass feature, and smartphone-assist navigation. Unfortunately, the MTM’s smartphone app is a pain to work with, on Android OS at least, but if you have an iPhone, it sounds like you might have better luck.

Luminox Bear Grylls Survival Outdoor Watch 45mm

Best Chronograph: The Bear Grylls name is synonymous with outdoor survival and off-grid exploration, so it probably won’t come as a surprise to see a Bear Grylls x Luminox watch earn a spot on this list. Made in Switzerland, the Luminox Bear Grylls Survival Outdoor Explorer is an ultra-rugged chronograph that’s been engineered from the ground up specifically for survival use. Constructed around an incredibly strong yet lightweight 45mm case crafted from CARBONOX forged carbon fiber composite, the watch features a protected, double security gasket, screw-down crown and a screw-in 316L stainless steel case-back that earn it a generous 300 meters of water resistance. Beneath an AR-coated sapphire crystal lies a date window-equipped chronograph dial that sports always-visible lume that glows brightly for a whopping quarter century. Powered by a Swiss-made Ronda 5030.D quartz movement with a 50-month battery life, the watch also comes paired with a rugged rubber 24mm strap complete with an analog compass and 316L stainless steel hardware.

The Luminox Bear Grylls Survival Outdoor Explorer is for people who love their tactical watches. Likewise, most outdoor watches don’t have triple-register chronograph functions like this one has. Curiously, the chronograph seconds is kept track by the center seconds dial rather than the 3 o’clock subdial like on most chronos. It took me a moment to notice the swap but upon using it, I realized I liked being able to see the precise seconds in larger detail. The hour notches alternate between flat or pointed, which makes it easier to read the time at a glance and is a good alternative to having larger numerals which would have only made the dial even busier. The numerals are still there, but they’re very difficult to see and almost a non-factor. In fact, the 24-hour markers on the inside track are more visible. I also liked the bezel, which has a satisfying sound when you click it. If you know how to use the bezel as a compass, there are directional markers on the dial. Otherwise, there’s an actual compass affixed to the strap.

Anyone who’s spent time with Luminox watches can attest to their insane durability. You hold one of these pieces in your hand and you can tell it’s not ever going to break. However, wearing this Bear Grylls edition on your wrist is a different story. Despite the carbon fiber-based case material, the watch is incredibly heavy and can be a nuisance to wear all day long, especially when you’re combating the elements. The heft may not be an issue for some but my wrist was getting irritated by how it was pressing against me. I tried loosening it, and it just fell weirdly on my hand. If you’re used to heavy watches, you may have a different experience. It’s also important to note that the 6 o’clock subdial was offset at the 0 position. I’m not sure if this was just my test model or if they tend to have this inconsistency.

Verdict: Not for everyone due to its heft and its busy dial, the Luminox Bear Grylls Survival Outdoor Explorer is still a great pick-up for anyone who wants a true survival watch designed in part by the man synonymous with outdoor survival. Although it’s quite pricey for a quartz watch, it sports dual compass functions, 300m of water resistance, a long-lasting lume, and a triple-register chronograph quartz movement.

Survival Watch Comparison Chart

What Exactly Is A Survival Watch?

As the monicker suggests, a survival watch is a rugged type of timepiece that’s designed for use in outdoor and survival scenarios. As such, these watches are not only incredibly rugged — boasting ample protection against bumps, shocks, scratches, extreme temperatures, and the elements — but also often come loaded with other survival-focused features. On top of basic timekeeping duties, this includes featuring onboard sensors such as altimeters, digital compasses, barometers, thermometers, gyroscopes, as well as other useful amenities like integrated GPS units, emergency beacons, calendars, optical heart rate monitors, and other health tracking features. Designed specifically for extended off-grid use, most survival watches also boast impressive battery life (or power reserves), with some even being solar-powered and very seldom needing to be charged.

What Is an ABC Watch?

You may see the term “ABC watch” floating around when talking about tool watches for the outdoors. Simply put, ABC stands for Altimeter (measuring altitude), Barometer (measuring barometric pressure), and Compass. When a timepiece has all three, it’s an ABC watch.

How to Use Your Bezel as a Compass

While a lot of the watches in this guide have built-in compass features, you can actually use your bezel as a compass whether or not it was designed that way. You simply point the hour hand to the direction of the sun, making sure the 12 o’clock position on the dial is facing towards your left. The halfway point between the hour hand and 12 o’clock is true south. If your bezel does have a rotating compass, you can set “S” in this middle position for better on-the-fly navigation.

Honorable Mentions

Marathon already makes some of the best budget watches on the planet, and with a knack for adventure. But this GITD Clip Compass model may take the cake in terms of cheapness at $25, with a 24hr dial, dust- and splash-resistance, and a compass on the band featuring a glow in the dark bezel.

Similar to Timex’s Expedition North watch above, this robust Eco-Drive Promaster Land Altichron from Citizen has the compass and altimeter, but I couldn’t justify including it over the Timex, which is also a couple hundred bucks cheaper and a classic in its own right –– although it lacks solar charging.

The Alpina Alpiner X is a nifty hybrid smartwatch with both digital, analog, and smartphone connected features, but lackluster reviews kept us from putting it on our shortlist. Plus, $100 more dollars will get you the Mudmaster, which can’t be bypassed.

Like the Alpina above, the competition at the Coros Vertix’s price point is too stiff to justify including this over the Garmins above. However, the Vertix 2 is a solid sports smartwatch that will earn it some fans for its user-friendliness and impressive feature set.

More expensive than the Garmin above, this relatively new Suunto Vertical is an impressive adventure watch but won’t be better than the Garmin. We also got hands on with this for a previous guide and felt it could have been better.

Richard Mille’s crazy cool RM 25-01 might be the most insane adventure watch on this list (a tourbillon chronograph?), and was even cosigned by Sylvester Stallone. But limited to just 20 pieces, the timepiece is virtually unobtainable for mere mortals.

Tested: The Best GPS Hiking Watches for Exploring

If you’re looking for more adventure watches, check out our recent guide where we tested the best GPS hiking watches for the outdoors.