Why every outdoor adventurer needs a watch
Overall, whether or not you choose to carry a watch on an outdoor adventure is more than a personal decision, it is a critical tool in any an outdoor activity. Knowing when sunrise and sunset is particularly important for any outdoor adventure since that will determine how much buffer time you need to budget for issues on the river. There are several reasons why you might want to carry a watch on an outdoor adventure:
Timekeeping: A watch is a convenient and easy way to keep track of the time while you are outdoors. This can be important for planning your activities, setting up camp, and making sure you are back at your starting point by a certain time.
Navigation: Many watches now have built-in GPS or other navigation features, which can be useful for finding your way in unfamiliar territory.
Safety: In case of an emergency, a watch can be a valuable tool for understanding how much ground you can cover before you run out of light.
Hiking: Watches are especially useful for hikes and extended river scouting. If you are on a river trip for example and you want to do a side hike, having a watch can help you determine how much time you can budget for a hike before nightfall. If you know that you have 6 hours until sunset and the river takes 3 hours to run, you can add a 1 hour buffer for unexpected accidents and problems, leaving you with 2 hours to hike. Thus budgeting 1 our in for the hike and 1 hour out for the hike. This will cut it pretty close and leave you with 1 hour of buffer and 30 minutes for civil twilight at the end of the trip if everything goes well.
Why You Should Have a Watch in a Rescue Scenario
You also want to pay attention to how long it takes you to recover from a river accident. If you haven’t unwrapped a raft before it may take you several hours to make that happen especially on a multi-day trip. If you know you that your crew can handle any issue in under an hour it may be good to budget at least 2 hours of buffer incase there are multiple issues on a trip. This all comes down to your experience with rescue scenarios. In a rescue scenario, a watch can be a useful tool for several reasons:
Timekeeping: Knowing the time is extremely useful when you have a missing person, especially in a river environment. Letting rescuers know the time last seen lets a rescue team know how big of a downstream search area to reasonably cover.
Navigation: Many watches now have built-in GPS or other navigation features, which can be used to help rescuers locate you in case you become lost or stranded. Providing this information to emergency dispatchers can expedite rescuers to your location.
Communication: Some watches have built-in SOS or emergency signaling functions that can be used to alert rescuers to your location.
First Aid: Having a watch can be critical to establishing vitals or assess other emergency information that can be useful in a rescue situation.
Overall, a watch can be a valuable tool to have in a rescue scenario, especially if it has features specifically designed for emergency situations. However, it is important to note that a watch is only one part of a comprehensive emergency preparedness plan, and it should not be relied upon as the sole means of rescue or communication.
