CasioMudman - G9000

I have had this piece for only a few days but would like to make my firsthand observations known. First off, IMO this is a watch that is soley produced for the purpose of being able to have an accurate, tough, and subdued timepiece on the wrist of anyone who's sole purpose is to stay one step ahead of the game when it comes to any mission that requires stealth. In other words, it was really not meant for the soccer coach, plumber, or anyone else who isn't trying to keep cover in darkness to fullfill thier mission, whatever that may be.In daylight, it is somewhat hard to read unless the light hits the face straight on to sort of illuminate the characters on the display to cause them to reveal themselves in a sort of reddish color depending on the type, brightness, and proximity of the light source. At night, the characters glow in a pleasant blue that doesn't detract from the night vision you might have built up in your eyes over time. I find myself going back and forth between the auto illumination feature and turning that off and just using the illumination button manually, depending on the situation. It is easy to turn off and on. However, I must add that this auto illumination is a very cool feature! It doesn't turn on unless the watch is horizontal to the ground and then tilted 40 deg. In other words, put your arm up to the normal viewing position and it lights up for a selectable 3 or 5 seconds. It senses when the watch is stationary just for a moment before it lights up, so for the most part it won't light up unless you intended it to.It is comfortable enough to wear, but once my 30 day return policy from the seller runs out, I might look into smoothing down these rubber/plastic nubs on the caseback that have a sort of texture on them. Thier purpose might be to aid in keeping the watch still on the wrist, but I have found if you don't wear it tight and the watch has any free play, those nubs are sort of scratchy and irritating to the skin. It's not an issue if the watch isn't moving around, but I will have to read about thier intended purpose before any modifying is to be done.Yes, the buttons are extremely hard to push BUT as I have stated about this piece, it is a mission oriented tool, which means it is more about form follows function and not ease of use. This model is part of the mudman series which means its even more sealed off from the outside elements. So, the buttons are hard to push, simple as that.So there it is, for the right scenario this is the tool for the job. If you are looking to get this piece just because you think its cool, in my opinion the coolness will fade quickly without a role for it to fullfill.Updates to come as time rolls on.

My initial purchase of this watch was an impulse buy, but I am glad to say that I was never disappointed. Being in the military, I needed a simple yet tough watch that could stand up to a lot of punishment without me having to worry about it. For the 2.5 years I had my first G-Shock I simply put in on and did what I had to do. By far the best watch I've ever owned. I love it so much that I recently purchased a second one. Buttons require a little finger strength to push right out of the box (as to be expected) but they wear in well enough. Placement of the illumination light is very handy and can be pressed using your teeth if you don't have your hands free (doesn't seem like it but this actually comes in very handy). There is also an auto-illumination feature in which the watch will light itself when you tilt it up to see the display, I've never used that feature so I can't say how well it works, but the feature itself shows the kind of outside-the-box thinking that Casio is famous for.Two stopwatches are great, you can time a run and keep it on that time to know your time to beat (like your last APFT running time for those Army Soldiers out there) or simply time two things at once. Timer works great to countdown time allotted for a task, you can also keep it on a loop so it repeats (great for doing 30:60s on a track or other 1 minute-based workout intervals). Alarm is nothing too special, but I especially enjoyed the fact that you can choose to use it or not (some watches require that you have it on). Also, the hourly chime and sound of button pressing can be completely muted. I especially like the blacked-out display of the watch itself as it cut back on glare and shine for a more stealthy/tactical feel. Impact resistance is top-notch, I can't tell you how many times this watch had been banged into hard surfaces and even hit by a few paintballs, the casing and band have never showed signs of deteriorating besides some scratches.Couple of caveats though; I bought my first one through eBay and had to replace the battery within the first year. I'm not sure if it's because it was boxed for a long time or the seller had it for a while, but the watch is supposed to solar charge, so if you see it getting dim, leave it in the sun for a couple of hours. This worked well for me on my second battery. Just make sure that whoever replaces the battery knows what they're doing, after I got my battery replaced there would be some light condensation on the edge of the display during cold mornings or after submersing the watch in some water.Overall: GREAT WATCH! I've taken my first one through AIT, Air Assault, Bataan Death March, multiple field exercises, etc. You won't be disappointed.

Very durable and good quality product