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?
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
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
