I have a GPS watch/trainer and let me give you the deal. They're great for fitness training but lousy for navigating or as a watch. The problems are:

Battery life, they're only good for 8-10 hours or so due to the GPS and recording. Not good for a military guy in the field.

They have small screens. Meaning navigating with one is all but useless. Coordinates are given, great if you have a map.

Now, you might say you could turn them on when you need coordinates and look at a map. Good idea, except they can take 1-2 minutes to get signal and signal acquisition gets screwed by trees, sometimes cloud cover, etc...

So I'd say skip the GPS and get them what all outdoor manly men should wear. G-Shock!

 

 

 

LT combat, black pvd coating.

 

Thanks guys!

BS - Do you think those GPS problems will exist on all watches of the kind?

 

The battery life and small screen thing I'd say yes. Maybe others get signal quicker, but I can't imagine a GPS that can run for weeks on a tiny battery in a watch.

 

Suunto X10 with GPS. Pretty darn strong from what I've heard.

 

Personally, I would suggest Luminox or big ole G-Shock GX-56