When ArmourLite contacted me to review their Isobrite ISO100 tactical watch, I was skeptical. According to their site, their watches are "[d]esigned to meet the demanding needs of law enforcement officers, military personnel, first responders and extreme outdoorsmen." I
am not like that. While I have great respect for police, soldiers and
others who put themselves in harms way, I have absolutely no desire to
do so myself. My relationship with the great outdoors is, at best, arms
length. I consider weeding my yard to be extreme outdoor activity in the
sense that it is extremely unpleasant. Now don't get me wrong, I love
nature: I love looking at it from a comfortable distance, I love
driving through it with the windows down, but to quote Calvin and
Hobbes, the problem with nature is that "something is always stinging
you or oozing mucus all over you." So what does a watch made for the
running, shooting, doing-messy-stuff-outside crowd have to offer me? As I
would discover, quite a bit.
The Isobrite is unlike any other
watch in my collection. For starters, its case is composed of black
carbon fiber reinforced polycarbonate, a high grade thermoplastic
polymer used in applications from the compact disc to the F-22 Raptor
cockpit canopy. The material is extremely durable, but also very light
weight. I was pleased to discover that it did not have a particularly
"plasticky" look. The case had a matte appearance with
a fine texture to it. All edges and details were clean and stood out in
high relief. It feels like a quality material. I am quite sure it can
be scratched and dented, and considering the watch's intended market and
purpose, I'm sure it would be, but it would likely wear these marks
better than black IP or PVD coated stainless steel, where such damage
reveals the bright metal beneath.
It is a big watch, measuring 47mm
across (not including the 4mm crown) and is 12mm thick. In spite of
this, it does not wear large. Short lugs give it an overall length of
52mm, so it fit easily on my 6.5" wrist. The bezel is also black
polycarbonate, its aggressively channeled and scalloped shape
disappearing against the case until the light catches it. It ratchets
in one direction with a firm, but not overly stiff motion, and without
any play. The first 15
minutes are marked in red, the remainder in white. It has two tritium
pips at 0 and 15, an uncommon twist on the standard divers bezel. The
screw down crown is nestled between stubby crown guards at 3 o'clock. It
is not signed, but it is very red. This is a great design choice that
ties to the red on the bezel and in the Isobrite logo on the dial. It
has wide grooves for easy grip, and it operates smoothly. This is a case
that looks like it means business, and frankly, it does. It is rated
for 200 meters water resistance and has an anti-reflective, scratch
resistant, sapphire crystal. The
movement is a Swiss Ronda 715Li quartz with a 10-year lithium battery.
Mechanical watch fans may gasp when they read this, but there are some
things quartz movements just do better: they have greater shock
resistance, are unaffected by magnetic fields, and are more accurate. If
you are designing a watch for extreme conditions, quartz is the logical
choice.
The dial is set deep inside the
case. It has a combination of fat, squared numerals, a 24 hour chapter
ring, and pencil hands, all in white. It is high contrast and easy to
read in daylight, but that is not the fun part. For that, you need to
look closely at the tiny tritium tubes set into all three hands and the
bar shaped hour markers, then turn out the lights. The tubes are filled
with a phosphor layer and tritium gas. As the gas undergoes radioactive
decay, it emits electrons that cause the phosphor to glow. Unlike
luminous paint, the light is self-sustaining. Those of us who own
watches with SuperLuminova, LumiBrite, or other photo luminescent pigments
expect our lume in three stages: charging with exposure to light, an
initially bright glow, then sustained visibility until the inevitable
fade as the energy is discharged. The best luminous paints will remain
legible for hours. Tritium tubes glow for years. You lose the initial
burst of brightness you get with the best pigments, but you gain a
steady, useful glow that fades over the course of decades, not hours. It
is an amazing technology, and crucial for anyone who uses their watch
for prolonged periods in darkness.
On the wrist, the watch feels
virtually weightless. If you are accustomed to wearing dive watches, you
may think the Isobrite has vanished. I was impressed with the comfort
of the silicone strap. It is pliable, and a perfect companion for the
rugged case. The Isobrite also includes a black
nylon NATO but swapping straps is not easy. Short lugs mean little
clearance between case and bar. It was impossible to pull the NATO
through the gap, and once I removed the 22mm spring bars, it took a firm
hand to replace them as they squeezed the strap into submission. It is
great to have the option, but you really need to choose your favorite
strap up front, because you will not be switching them off on a whim. I
would go for the soft silicone strap. Both straps come with matte finish
stainless steel hardware. Their signed buckles looked good, but I found
it odd that the hardware was not black to match the case. A black PVD
coating - or maybe red to match the crown - would have made more sense. I
recognize that this is one of my particular hang-ups. I'd swap a black
buckle in a heartbeat, but I am also bit of a nut.
The
Isobrite came packed in a padded, zippered travel case with room for
two watches. The case is a nice touch and far more practical than a
dust-catching display box. If you are traveling with your Isobrite, you
might want to use that other compartment for something dressier. This
watch will go anywhere and do anything - until the time comes to take a
shower and put on some nice clothes for dinner. It is a big, burly tool.
Think of it as combat boots for your wrist. Wear it with jeans and a
tee shirt, wear it with battle dress, or go all buck wild and wear it
with no shirt at all and a Bowie knife in your teeth, but don't try to pull it off with a tie. It is the wrong tool for that job.
The Isobrite ISO100 has an MSRP of
$499. It is an easy recommendation for an outdoorsman, but would The
Time Bum wear one? In my life, do I really need a tactical watch?
Well... no. Then again, I don't need a watch rated for saturation diving
either, or a mechanical chronograph, or a moon phase complication, but I
have them because they are cool. I like the functions for their own
sake and admire the engineering behind them. The tritium technology and
composite construction of the Isobrite definitely qualifies, and has a
genuine practical application, unlike some of those others. (Really, a
moon phase? Only if you are a werewolf.) This watch looks great, wears
easily, and would easily survive my ham-fisted weekend forays into home
improvement, landscaping, and other messy tasks.
So maybe I don't need a tactical watch, but I would certainly use a tactical watch, and I totally want one.
Pro: Tritium glow, sapphire crystal.
Con: Straps are a tight fit. Hardware does not match case.
Sum: Tough, light, bright, and very cool.
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