G-Shock Rangeman GW-9400

The Casio Rangeman watch is a tricky product for me to review. Don't get me wrong: It's highly functional and robust, well-conceived, and most of what it does it does quite well. What makes this tricky is that the Rangeman poses a philosophical dilemma, for somebody like me who collects watches: Do I really need anything more than this? What is the appropriate criterion for judging a watch like this? I'm writing this review in part to try to answer those questions.So first off, I bought this watch with several specific use-cases in mind. I wanted a light-weight, shock-resistant watch for running with, and I also wanted it to be easy to read, and to have the ability to function as a stopwatch. I also wanted a "field watch" for hiking, kayaking, and other outdoor activities away from civilization -- hence no smart watch or fit-bit. I liked the idea of solar power, so as not to need to change the battery out for 10 or 15 years, at least. And finally, because I do have some other mechanical watches, I also wanted an "atomic watch," something that would always be synced and accurate and that I could use as a reference to set other time-pieces. So those are the reasons why I picked out the Rangeman to try.This was not my first experience with a Casio G-Shock, by the way. And my previous G-Shock was not a success -- I got a GX-56 "King," with the primary aim of using it to time myself during a mud-run obstacle course. Unfortunately, I bought one with a "reverse" LCD display -- i.e., where the numbers appear white on a black background, instead of the other way around. That turned out to make that watch difficult to read, even in bright sunlight. And I learned the hard way that if I can't easily read the face of a digital watch, then it's useless to me. Which added another demand to the use-case for my new Rangeman: it had to be very easy to read the time, regardless of the ambient lighting or the angle of my wrist.So here's the good news: It turns out that the Rangeman is quite good for all of my use-cases. It's easy to read, light-weight and good for running, good as a field watch, with excellent atomic time-keeping. If anything, I find myself using this watch for more situations than I expected to. On a recent business trip across country, for example, I kept the Rangeman with me, because it's world-time function made it easy to switch time zones, while still keeping track of time at home. Plus the basic home screen display, which shows the time, day, date and month (based on a perpetual calendar through the year 2100) is incredibly functional and useful. So yes: by comparison with most mechanical watches, the Rangeman is almost ridiculously functional, even just in terms of the basic display that you get without pushing any buttons at all. Did I mention that (in the U.S.) the Rangeman will automatically keep track of daylight savings time, and make the adjustment without you even having to think about it?So this led me to the existential question, do I really need any other watch, now that I have this one? After thinking about it for several weeks, I've concluded that the answer still is yes, at least for me. And the reason why goes to specialization: namely, a watch designed to do one thing can be tailored to that purpose, whereas a watch designed to do many things necessarily involves some compromise. And sometimes, I really do want the specialized watch. So for example, I have an inexpensive mechanical dive watch (similar price point to the Rangeman). My diver is a better watch for swimming than is the Rangeman. Even though the latter is supposed to be water resistant to 200m, I simply don't feel confident in this to the same degree that I do with my mechanical watch. (Look at the reviews on Amazon -- 19 out of 20 people love the Rangeman, but the remaining 1 out of 20 gets a lemon, often to do with faulty water resistance.) Likewise, my mechanical dive watch is actually better for sleeping with -- it has glow-in-the-dark lume on the hands, which means you can easily see the time with a glance even in a pitch-black room, or under the covers. The Rangeman can also light up in the dark, but you either have to push a button for this, or else set the watch so that it automatically lights up every time you move your wrist when in the dark -- and neither of those options is as good for sleeping with as is a traditional mechanical dive watch.Getting back to my recent trip across country: I sat next to another passenger who was wearing an expensive watch on the plane, I believe it was a Tag Heuer Carrera -- a racing-inspired sports watch on a leather-band, the kind of thing you might wear out for an evening with on the town with friends, when visiting Monte Carlo. By comparison, my Rangeman looked almost like a toy. Don't get me wrong -- I very much like the bulkiness and the tactical look of the Rangeman. But it's certainly not a watch that slides easily under a dress shirt cuff, or that fits in well at the office. Which is just another way of saying, as versatile as the Rangeman is, the design is optimized for some uses and settings, but not others. Camping? Yes. Covert ops? Yes. Going to your best friend's wedding? Probably not.In sum, I still give the Rangeman 5 stars. It is very well designed for what it is, and it does many things well. I've had it for a month, and I am enjoying it a lot. Even though it won't replace other watches for me, I certainly wouldn't give it up, now that I've experienced it. So there!

When I was a kid and G-shocks were new, I wanted one from the time I first saw one. After I got my first one, there was never a time when I didn’t have one on my wrist all through my school years, my construction years after school, then onto boot camp and nine years in the army. After the military I went on to law enforcement and the G-shock stayed with me. Unbelievably tough, the only excuse I ever had for buying a new one was just because I wanted a new model. They never failed.As I got into my late 40’s early fifties, I discovered auto movements and different styles of watches and as I developed an affinity for them and started wearing them all the time right up until the present. Thing is they weren’t nearly as rugged and found myself breaking quite a few. I’m now 61 and again found myself missing the ruggedness, looks, and features of the G-shock for everyday use. I’ll still wear an auto on occasion when I want to dress up, but I’m back for good I think.The GW-9400 is a beast. Thanks to the NM sun, it never needs winding. And thanks to the atomic time clock in Colorado I never have to set it either. It’s got a bunch of cool features like a compass, an altimeter, a barometer, etc, and they do actually work pretty well. But the greatest thing about it is its ruggedness. I’m pretty tough on my gear and I’ve broken several lesser watches in the past while camping, riding my motorcycle, or just putting around doing what I do, but in my entire life, I’ve never managed to break a G-shock, which ultimately is what really brought me back to them.Good looking, great product I can’t recommend enough. And at even its current price, it is an incredible value. If you’re on the fence, don’t even think about it. You’ll quickly find it’s a no brainer.

This is the second G Shock that I've owned, the first being the GA-100 military (black). It was an OK watch. Definitely bulletproof and after a year since it's last battery change it's only a minute fast. But its hard to read, plain and the fact that 1 in 5 people seem to have it kind of turned me off of it. So I moved on to a nice mechanical field watch. The problem that I personally had with the mechanical watch was that it did not keep exact time and my OCD had me adjusting it several times a week. The more I messed with it the more it bothered me and the more opportunities I created to damage the watch. And I did. Three times.So giving up on the mechanical and not wanting to wear the GA-100 as my daily wearer I had a few requirements for my next watch. 1. Had to be able to handle every day wear and occasional hard use sometimes for extended periods (military deployments). 2. Quartz movement for more accurate time keeping vs. A Mechanical watch. And finally 3.quickly and easily read.So I performed a few Google searches for best tactical/military watch (military watches are generally designed with my 3 requirements in mind) and I kept seeing the Rangeman on every single list. A little more research and I found that the Rangeman met and exceeded all of my requirements so I bought it.It's day 3 now so here are my thoughts on the G-shock rangeman:Pros:-bang for buck- cheaper than the other watches in the Masters of G collection yet get nearly all of the same perks offered in the other watches.-Atomic time keeping- so far it has synced every night with the Atomic time signal... This is a major perk for me after owning a mechanical.- backlight- evenly lights up the display and can be set for 1.5 sec, 3 seconds and auto. Major improvement over the GA-100.- solar charging- the main hesitation for me on getting a quartz watch was replacing the battery... Most companies void the warranty if you open the watch or have a random jeweler do it for you. Plus at a certain point I would wonder when it was going to fail but feel like I was being wasteful for replacing a battery before it died. I don't have to worry about that now. Watch arrived full charge and leaving it in a windowsill for half a day in sunlight once a month maintains the charge. Not hard at all, and the battery will last a decade or more.- toughness/looks- its a G shock so I won't have to worry about durability the way I did with other watches. To me it looks better than most g shocks and is roughly the same size as the GA-100 so I knew it wouldn't look oversized on my wrist.-triple sensor- not really going to use them so they are icing on the cake and neat to play with and if I do end up needing them they are there.Cons- Atomic time keeping is great if you live in an area covered by it... And most places are. But the further you live from the transmitter, geography, tall buildings etc. Effect the watches ability to receive the signal. So keep that in mind and do a little research if you are counting on this feature. It won't work in Hawaii, Alaska or in the middle of a big city that great. Also make sure if you intend on using this feature to turn the storm warning off... It overrides the auto sync.-it's not the biggest Gshock out there but it isn't small and may make you look like you are over compensating if you have a smaller frame.-a lot of people complain about the triple sensor and that's because largely people don't really understand what they are getting.-- barometer and attitude need calibrated/reset a lot to be useful and in general should always be used against another reference. Remember the saying 2 is 1 and 1 is none? Same principle with this watch. They are only accurate to an extent and if you aren't moving. The watch calculates altitude off of absolute pressure and gets its info from the barometer. Changes in weather affects it easily. So recalibrate often if you need to use it and otherwise it's just a neat feature reference. If you can't be bothered to stay in one place and calibrate often then don't get mad that it isn't accurate.The compass can be affected by your house, wifi signals, your phone etc. Keep it away from stuff and calibrate often for accuracy.Temp- saw a lot of people complain about this as well... It can be calibrated for use on your wrist to compensate for your body heat. Get an accurate reference and calibrate it.-weight- the Rangeman is not a light watch. I was used to very light watches before so I really noticed this on the wrist. It's day 3 of wearing it and it's just now getting to the point where I forget it's there. So keep that in mind.Overall I really enjoy this watch, and with proper care I think I'll be wearing it for a very long time. I absolutely would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone who is interested in it.