Reliable, cheap watch?

[Pb]

My Timex Expedition has started losing time.  This is the 3rd one in about the past year and a half, so I'm certainly not buying one of these again.  Can anyone recomend a good, cheap (~$30) watch?  I can't afford a $100 one.

[charby]

ebay

get a wenger

wait until you win an auction

[Lennyjoe]

I had a Timex Indiglo that lasted me 10 years.  I just replaced it last fall with the exact same watch.  Cost was $29.

[mfree]

I have a bad habit of shattering bezels or ripping watches off my wrist, breaking pins, melting plastic bits with solvents, etc.

So I get whatever's decent looking for $10 off the shelf, analog, metal cased. They seem to last as long as I let them

[SADShooter]

Can't help. After innumerable bands and batteries, I'm still wearing a 1986 Timex Ironman. And, oddly enough, it's the most accurate timepiece I own...

[Nathaniel Firethorn]

Funny... my Timex Expedition is bang on after two years.

- NF

[garrettwc]

Another Timex Expedition fan here. Had one for several years that had been through everything you could throw at one. Replaced many bands and pins but the watch kept going. Replaced it a few months ago with an analog Expedition that looks similar to a GI watch. In the under $50 range you can't beat them.

If I was going to spend over $50 it would probably be a Casio G-Shock.

[Brad Johnson]

Depends on what you consider cheap. I'm with garretwc - Casio G-Shocks tend to be pretty durable.

A quick trip to the local thrift store might be in order. Especially this time of year (unwanted or duplicate Christmas presents). If nothing else you might be able to get three or four cheap ones. When they begin to fail, just toss 'em and strap on a new one.

Brad

[Pb]

Thanks for all the replies!  I would welcome any more suggestions.  I had timex expedition for about six or seven years before it died, so I was happy to get another one, a newer model.  It started losing time after a few months.  I replaced it under warranty, and the replacement started losing time also.  Now the replacement of that is now 15 min slow.

[Art Eatman]

My wife haunts places like Big Lots and the Dollar General sorts of po-boy chains.  She found three watches for $5, one trip.  Big numbers, to suit my tri-focal eyes.  And if you pull the stem out one notch, it disconnects the one-year battery.  One going, two to go.

Art

[p35]

I picked up a G-Shock at a second hand/estate sale type place for $15 years ago. Still wear it all the time, still keeps good time. You might find one new for under $50 at Wally World- I recently bought one of the wave ceptor/tough solar models that never needs batteries or adjustment for under $60.00.

[spinr]

I've been pleased with my Casio G-Shocks.  I wore the same one for 11 years, until the rubber, outer case actually dry rotted and fell off.  The watch itself still works perfectly, just needs a new case.  I've since purchased a new G-Shock and so far it's been great.

[...has left the building.]

Another vote for the G-Shock. They are amazingly durable.

[TarpleyG]

I know this is a little out of your budget but if you are looking for a really durable, no-frills watch, this is your best bet.  I would expect this would outlast any Timex or Casio you would buy.

http://www.countycomm.com/MARAGLOWDESCRIP.htm

Greg

[50 Shooter]

G Shock, I've been wearing the same one for the last 8 years. It has taken all kinds of hits and nothing has happened to it, it's also still on the same battery!

I think it was FHM or Stuff magazine that did a durability test on sport type watches. They froze, boiled, dropped... you name it to each watch, they finally killed the G Shock after hitting it with a hammer 15 times.

[zahc]

I kill watches.

 In an effort to get a watch that I could actually wear, I dropped the coin on a G-shock and broke even it in about three months. I have stopped buying watches.

It's really amazing how hard I can be on stuff strapped to my body, yet still be alive and relatively nonhandicapped. I tell people I don't carry a cellphone with me because it's an impossibility, they don't survive, and they look at me funny, but it's the damn truth.

[peteinct]

There was a great watch thread on THR in accesories. I found a good web site www.campmor.com.  They have watches pretty cheap and I have bought several from them.  Look for a mineral crystal face they don't wear as quickly as the plastic ones.
pete