Hey all. I'm looking for a watch to wear on open-water swims. I'm mostly interested in the current temperature and the amount of time I've been in the water, so I don't need a smartwatch or GPS watch.
I'm currently using a Casio Pathfinder, which has a temperature function and is reliably waterproof. The problem is that I can't access the temperature while viewing the stopwatch, and vice versa. To check the temp you have to go back to the main screen, press a button, and wait a few seconds.
I'd rather just be able to glance at the watch and see the time and temp at a glance. Is there a good watch out there -- maybe a dive watch of some kind -- that does this?
What do the rest of you wear on your wild swims?
I am a SCUBA diver of many years, but relatively new to open water swimming. Water temp is not a metric I prioritize so I use either s swim watch or a GPS triathlon watch. For your purpose I do not recommend a SCUBA watch. The temperature sensors are notoriously unreliable and the watches are optimized for metrics other than stop watch or other normal swim metrics. However, you might be able to use a SCUBA style watch strap mounted thermometer on an ordinary sports watch. For example: www.amazon.com/.../ref=sr_1_4
Pyle makes a divers watch that does temp. My daughter got it for me as a gift after a ton of research. I like the watch, but would rather have a tide watch with temp than a dive watch. I have to agree with MSK, the temp sensor seems off. At some point I will take my pool thermometer out and test the accuracy. There does not seem to be a perfect watch for swimming. I do cold open water swimming so temp was an important feature.
My Pathfinder's thermometer seems accurate enough in cold water. (In air, the temperature of your skin throws it off, but when it's got cold water flowing past it all the time, it's accurate to within a degree when I've checked it against buoy temps and other thermometers.)
The problem with the Pathfinder is that you can't see the temperature without stopping, pressing a button, and waiting a couple seconds. If you're in stopwatch mode you have to press several buttons before you can get to the screen where you can check the temperature. It's just not that ergonomic for swimming.
An analog dive watch with a rotating bezel would work well for timing swims under an hour (or over an hour, if you can keep track of the hours in your head): Just rotate the bezel's triangle to the current location of the minute hand. Then whenever you're swimming, just look at what number the minute hand is pointing at: That's how many minutes.
So now I just need the temperature at a glance. Something like this could work, but if it were digital it would be better: www.scuba.com/.../Trident-Thermometer.html
You may not even need a temp gauge. Grab a cheap pool thermometer from Walmart and dip it into the lake for a bit before you swim. You're gonna go anyway, right?
If you are going to swim a triathlon - the organizers will let you know if you can wear a wetsuit depending on the water temp. .
YOU DID BRING THE WETSUIT? DIDN"T YOU ?
I almost always swim without a wetsuit! And I've never done a tri. Mostly I am interested in knowing the temp because 60 minutes at 53 degrees is a lot different than 60 minutes at 58, or 63. And the temp can be very different near shore than it is where I spend most of my time. Sure I can feel the difference somewhat, but it's also good for safety to know exactly how long you've been in and at what temp. Plus: good for bragging rights!
