GORUCK had mentioned that they were planning on releasing a watch and that watch is here. The NFW Shumate is a fairly traditional dive watch featuring water resistance down to 300 meters and a 120 click unidirectional stainless steel dive bezel.
Each watch comes with a black ballistic nylon NATO strap and a black Italian leather strap. At $495 the watch is definitely pricey but receiving two straps helps soften the blow a little. For reference, Italian leather watch bands from Garmin start around $199 which may or may not make you feel better about this.
The back of the watch features the GORUCK logo and some information about the watch. Sapphire crystal, 300 meters water resistant, precision quartz, etc. All things you probably know if you bought the watch but it still looks nice.
There’s currently two versions available: GORUCK & GBF. The GORUCK version says GORUCK above the hands and features the GORUCK logo below the hands. The GBF version features the Special Forces crest in the center of the watch face. The only other difference is that proceeds from the GBF version go directly to the Green Beret Foundation so you’re doing some good there.
I really like the NATO strap and I think it’s nice that they are also including the leather strap. I’m not the biggest fan of the contrast stitching on the leather but that’s probably less visible when it’s worn. Overall I think the watch looks really nice but I don’t think I’ll be replacing my Garmin Fenix with it any time soon. I like all of the analytics and data the Garmin gives me plus tracking rucks is always fun. If you have any thoughts on these watches or are planning on picking one up let me know in the comments!
do you know the citizen movement being used in the watch?
I really like these watches. Although they are definitely a bit pricey, I think they are actually fairly reasonably priced for a heavy-duty 300m dive watch. As much as I’d like to buy one, like you, I’m pretty attached to my Garmin fenix 3HR because of the data it collects and its semi-smartwatch features, and because of that, I essentially wear it 12/7, and I couldn’t see wearing a non-smartwatch, even one as sweet-looking and durable as either of these GORUCK watches. REALLY like the look of that GORUCK one though—I could hard-core fanboy with that baby.
Also, you could always take a black sharpie to that white stitching. ;)
I just cut a handle off a Rucker so I guess I wouldn’t put a black sharpie on the stitching past me 😬 I didn’t end up picking one up because it would never get worn… even if it does look good. I just like the Garmin too much!