Old Survival Aids Catalog Item Watch/Compass

[Monk]

Curious to know, in an old Survival Aids catalog early 80s I believe they offered a watch with a compass..the watch I think swung out of the way to reveal a compass underneath and as far as I recall, it was EXPENSIVE! I lost the catalog and have not seen that for years. Can anyone recall this item?
Also, has anyone used one of these watches with a compass, they have digital ones nowadays, any experiences?
Monk

 

[ANDYLASER]

I remember that item. It was expensive. I have a timex expedition watch with compass (digital). It is quite accurate, but it looses its "bearings" after a while and needs to be re-calibrated. This is achieved by rotating it twice. It cost around £25-30 IIRC. A good tough watch.

 

[Monk]

ANDYLASER,
glad that you recall ithat item! Can you recall any info on it such as when roughly you remember they had it? I thought it was a novel idea but did not think much of it until YEARS LATER then I had lost the catalog!!
Monk

 

[JFW]

Monk,

I saw this in Nauticalia's catalogue the other week.
http://www.nauticalia.com/uk-info/flip-lid_compass_watch/4570.html
Its not cheap but I think its what you are looking for. There are other options for compass watches, you can get a compass that fits on a watch strap or buy a digital watch with compass, I have a Casio prg 40 or something like that with compass, altimeter, barometer and thermometer - it also has a watch. I have never had a problem with it in the last 6 years or so. It appears to be reasonably accurate but I always use a manual compass for serious navigation.

Casio do a number of different models with varying features, I think they do one with just a watch and compass option. Downside of these are that when the battery fails you lose your compass.

Cheers

JFW

 

[ANDYLASER]

MONK
IIRC we are looking at 10 years ago. It looked like a good item, but expensive. I think it was Swiss Made.

 

[Fatbloke]

Hi Monk,

I'm sure I bought one of those from Survival Aids in the '80s. If it is the same one it was made by Timberland, grey bezel, clear face, waterproof and with a brown leather strap. Cost about £400 even back in the early 80's. Great looking watch, the compass popped out of the mounting to give a more accurate reading. I never really used it 'in extremis' but it was definately better than the little button compasses you can get - lot more expensive as well!

Mine came to grief in a motorbike accident and is sadly no more.

Hope this helps, Fatbloke.

 

[tedw]

I use the Suunto Vector watch regularly on the hills and have been very pleased with it. It has a digital compass that I use as a quick reference or back-up. I stick with the Silva Explorer for serious navigation. The altimeter on the Vector is a great aid to accurate nav, however, and the logging function is superb for filling in the BMC Log-book after the trip.

Ted W

 

[Chopper]

I have a 1993 catalogue and I have just had a look and no watch of this description, although they did sell the Swiss Army range of watches, and I am sure that they made a watch like the one that you are refereing to.

 

[Brynderi]

Wenger (who are the other manufacturer of real Swiss Army knives) make one called the Field Compass, if I remember rightly this was the one in the old Survival Aids catalogue.

http://wo.wengerwatch.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/WengerWatch.woa/wa/watchesOverview