Mountain Sports. Military, Spec Ops. Tactical Gear

Originally Posted to Quora

I was an elite road cyclist and expert/elite mountain bike racer from Colorado where I competed throughout for almost twenty-five years while holding down a high-level engineering career. This is not an easy thing to do, particularly over such a lengthy period. After sixteen years in the foothills of the Front Range (about seventy five minutes from Denver) but working closer to home, in Golden, I made my home in Durango for the last fourteen years of my thirty years in Colorado. While living in such a hugely competitive state for mountain athletes, with Durango being considered the “Mountain Biking Capitol of the World” (it may still be), I was compelled to continue racing and did well enough into my mid- forties to win (or place top five) in the few events I entered during my years in that much less populated part of the state. Towards the end, I was racing in just one or two events per year.

Being an accomplished elk hunter, both rifle and archery, and learning how to shoot and be safe around firearms by the age of seven, I have always been a “pro-gun” individual, but I have also lived and spent much of my time in rural, if not remote places, so I never felt the urge to “carry” while out riding. But that all changed in 2011 when I was forced to leave my adopted home state and move to Houston, if I had any chance of remaining gainfully employed in the oil and gas industry. It was a rough deal because I had hoped to stay in Southwest Colorado to retire, spending my “Golden Years” hunting and fly-fishing to my heart’s content. My wife and I made the reluctant move to the Houston area where she had already secured a solid position with BP at their US headquarters in Westlake, thirty minutes west of Houston. I found enough consulting work to get by at a time when I had two major back surgeries to coincide with the horrible (for me) move. I had to give up all my mountain activities but, after I healed from the surgeries, I continued to run and ride and enter a road racing event every now and then here in Texas.

Before I could even wrap my head around such a move, I was riding through some pretty rough areas of Houston, still in significant pain, to get to some halfway decent roads without getting hit, and I was set upon twice by small bands of the “criminal element” in a car moving in quickly from my left and they’d push me to the side of the road (as if they were well practiced in their craft) under some bridge or another. But I never rode with anything of value except for thirty bucks and the bike I was on.

During each of the two instances, I was able to “talk my way out” by first handing them the thirty and then stepping off the bike, showing absolutely no fear while making it known that I wasn’t going to make things easy for them. Standing six-four and weighing (at the time) between 185 and 190, (I’m not your typically diminutive rider and know how to defend myself), I somehow wriggled my way out of some bad circumstances based mostly on the “luck of the draw”. I had a gun pointed my way each time but no one with the gumption to pull the trigger and, like I said, I had nothing of value except for that thirty bucks and expensive bike. Fortunately, none of these “would be muggers” had the need or desire to attempt to take that from me.

From then on, I simply racked my bike and drove the fifteen or twenty minutes to reach those country roads, where I could safely park (though I did have my truck broken into once) and take off riding from there. After a couple of years, we were able to move to a nicer part of Texas, well away from the Houston area (a city I’d spent time in and learned earlier in life to abhor). Fortune had smiled upon as my wife scored a very good job in San Antonio, not far from her hometown where many of her friends and relatives still lived. We found some property and a wonderful new home in a very rural area, roughly fifty-five minutes from her new job. But she continued her “lucky streak, and, when combined with a strong work ethic and commensurate capabilities, she was given the opportunity to work from home for the last six or seven years. I managed to find a few sporadic consulting opportunities working from home and formally retired just over a year later, several years earlier than I had planned. Let’s just say that retirement has been tighter than I’d ever thought it would be, but the upside was that I would now be riding in some of the best cycling country Central Texas and the Hill Country had to offer, and again the need for carrying while I was riding went away as quickly as it had come.

Had this story gone differently and I’d been forced to remain in Houston, I could picture myself happily walking into a gun store, of which there were many, so I could have easily found what I’d have been looking for. After doing a bit of research, with all the options available today, I’d likely go with a Walther PDP 9 mm, as pictured below, with its 4-inch barrel. There are several important reasons I’d choose this make and model above everything else available in the veritable smorgasbord of handguns on the market today:

-It has the muzzle energy (“stopping power”) of a 9 mm;
-The four-inch barrel is a better choice for a 9 mm than anything shorter;
-The gun is relatively lightweight, but not too much so;
-It is Walther built and of Walther quality;
-It has good capacity for a compact at 10 rounds +1
-It is uber-thin and very streamlined with no major protuberances to get snagged on polyester jersey material;
-It’s a great looking gun and is well proportioned;
-Great sights and plentiful accessory options.

Last, (IMO), it is priced very reasonably when comparing build, features, and deadly capability.

Of key importance is that it would serve two important purposes. Its primary function would be as a personal/home defense weapon that had “concealed carry” capabilities for my wife. I would simply borrow it if out riding and would knowingly be passing through the kinds of places I described. Again, had I been forced to remain in the Houston area, this is the compact handgun that I would choose. I have huge hands and would have difficulty fiddling with anything smaller. For me, subcompacts and miniguns are out of the question.

Walther PDP Compact in 9 mm, with a 4-inch barrel

I first found Luminox, a military watch supplier in 1991. It was Christmas-time and I was visiting a watch store when my eye caught something different, something highly unique. I was shopping for my wife, but you know how that goes! I was more than a little curious about these luminous”tritium” watches, in a case of their own showcasing a number of different models. I picked one out and the store manager took me into a dark storeroom so I could see this watch do its thing. For each hour marker, there was a tiny tube filled with tritium, a phosphorescent, radioactive gas. The tips of the watch bands had even tinier tubes of this material. The lume was absolutely amazing and I knew that I had to have this watch.

Luminox is known for designing its watches to meet military specifications, including having a case that can withstand a dive depth of 200 meters and handle dirt, sand, mud, and be highly shock resistant. Today, the more expensive models are built around a stainless steel, titanium, or carbon fiber (Carbonox) case. These are some of the most durable watches on the planet. Back in the 90’s, I believe Luminox had an exclusive agreement with the Swiss-made owner of the patent for tritium, as used in its watches but by the year 2000, there were several other manufacturers that became Luminox competitors, also offering a high level of build quality and made to either the same or similar specifications. Names like Praetorian, TAWATEC, Armourlite/Isobrite, and others had come on line and were offering well-crafted, tritium designs. Various militaries around the world began contracting with these companies to supply their special forces.

It was about this time that many outdoorsmen and extreme athletes had come to take notice of this new watch phenomenon. Watch enthusiasts and collectors everywhere had come to find what the fuss was about. Casio G-Shock had long been a military supplier with its bombproof models designed for extreme use and is, today, one of the biggest suppliers of tactically -oriented watches to the US military. Many soldiers simply purchase their own time pieces and the burly, large-cased designs appeal to many young people in the military. These are not your “el Cheapo” Casio’s that you can find for $50 to $125, but much more seriously built models that start at around $400 MSRP. The company even makes a number of models ranging in price from $600 to over $1,000 and are highly thought of in military circles. But, even with such stiff competition, Luminox is still among my three favorite brands. My only gripe is one of case diameter. Luminox’s early designs were spec’d-out with a case dimension of 44 mm, which seemed large enough back in the day. In thirty years, that dimension has only grown to 46 mm, which is a bit smaller than some of their competition. G-Shock’s tactical designs are between 51 mm and 55 mm, and most of the other companies have most models dimensioned at 47 mm. Some, even larger. The trend has long been for larger, more robust designs.

Blackout and Navy Seal Foundation Luminox Designs

About five years ago, I discovered a brand I hadn’t before seen. It’s a relatively young company called “Nite”, based in Christchurch, UK. I had an overnight infatuation with Nite’s “Hawk” model. My last two watches, including my daily driver, have been acquired through Nite’s sumptuous website, which is the only means of buying one. I have a Nite Hawk blackout and the same watch, but with a cool orange face. Like other companies, Nite’s watches are designed in one place (the UK) and manufactured in another (Switzerland…the same country in which the tritium is produced). With its Hawk series, you can see a strong resemblance to watches made by Luminox and Isobrite, Traser, and Marathon, with large (51 mm) and burly cases, all good for diving to 200 meters and withstanding considerable abuse, as would be seen in the military. Nite has four or five lines. with a watch for everyone, but only the Hawk is 51 mm. The others are quite a bit smaller but are beautiful timepiece examples with a more sophisticated look that would work nicely at the office or on a night out with friends.

When it comes to luminescence, tritium is not the only option. Many companies, such as Citizen, use luminescent paint, the best of which is called “Superluminova”. This stuff is like the luminescent paint used on many watches by Seiko back in the day, except on steroids. With a bright light charge for a few minutes, these watches will luminesce through most of the night, getting linearly dimmer with each passing hour. Still, they are extremely good watches built to a large watch case. These, too, meet military specifications for build quality and waterproofing. I very much like Citizen’s “Eco-drive” Professional models. These can be had for a little more than $500, MSRP, and there are automatic chronograph models which are priced at around $800. I got both of my Nite watches on sale for $450. Most Luminox’s are $600, and up.

In terms of longevity, Luminox states that its tritium tubes last for an average of twelve years (based on the half-life of Tritium, which is a radioactive element, harmless when used in the tiny quantities related to watch luminescence), with 25 years being the maximum. There are now a few companies offering T-100 tritium which is, in my opinion, is a bit over the top – particularly if you’re a nighttime military operator whose life depends on not being seen. Since the tritium tubes are all sourced from the same Swiss company. results can be expected to be the same across the board. Luminox has an all-encompassing warranty of two years, but you must buy from an authorized dealer to get the warranty. Other manufacturers offer a warranty period of one to two years.

While tritium is radioactive, it is well contained and well below hazardous limits. A quick search reveals several Swiss companies that are associated with tritium, but the company that first came out with the tritium watch tubes is MB Microtec. You can learn more about tritium at:

https://mbmicrotec.com/en/

One of the earliest watch makers to use tritium is Ball Watches with its “Engineer” dive model which has expanded into the Engineer I, II, and III. This is an extremely beautiful and well built dive watch which can be found at a higher price point of between $2K and $3K. They use multiple colors, larger tubes, and light up the night like a Christmas tree. I would be.ore comfortable wearing these for a night out than having it get battered around while I’m wrenching on my ATV. It’s just not that kind of a watch but more like a fine timepiece. But, I wouldn’t have any hesitation to recommend it as a dive watch, which is where the design features lie. Unlike some of these other watches, Ball’s Engineer would be just as at home at a black tie affair.

MTM is a lesser known company making bombproof watches. This brand is truly top-tier, extremely well made with handsome designs. But, for me, the case size is a bit on the small side (42 mm to 44 mm). In contrast, there’s Casio’s G-Shock Rangeman which is a monster of a watch. At 55 mm, it’s not only big, but is built like a tank. It runs on Casio’s solar technology, so battery life isn’t an issue. Casio has yet to utilize tritium technology but instead uses a powered backlight which requires the user to depress a button to illuminate the watch just long enough to catch the time. These watches, along with several other G-Shock models, are extremely popular with the military. They represent a real value in the marketplace, and, with their robust design and large size, they appeal to the younger, military segment. It’s safe to say that Casio’s G-Shock watches have spent more time in extreme conditions than any other watch made.