Wearing a Casio 168 For the First Time in Decades

For years I have worn increasingly complex watches. I went from a Suunto Vector to a Suunto D9 via a Suunto Ambit 2-3 Spartan and more. Eventually I have been wearing a Garmin Instinct Solar and an Apple Watch SE.

For most of this time I was happy to wear increasingly advanced watches. I would change them every three to four years, or wait even longer. I was doing interesting sports so I settled on a single watch at a time.

Changing Focus

During the pandemic, with solitude, I got into the habit of wearing two watches at once. I was asked why and my answer was that they fed different databases. I was asked “Why do you need to feed several databases. I have asked the same question several times on this blog.

Data Silos

It has annoyed me for three years that I need to wear a Garmin for Garmin features, a Suunto or Apple Watch for Suunto and Apple features, and an Apple watch for Apple features. I find this especially absurd since all of this data is sent to our Android or iOS phones anyway, so it would be easy to setup two way synching.

That is where the Casio 168 comes in. It gives the data and time, has a timer, an alarm clock and the hourly signal, and that’s it. It’s a very simple watch like I wore as a child in the 80s or 90s, impatiently waiting for 15:05 so that I could leave school and go home.

Not Flitting Between Watches

The reason I mention this watch specifically is that I have worn it for several days without swapping it for another. I have worn it for several days and I’m happy with it. I considered wearing another casio with a step counter but decided not to. I’m tired. I am tired that when we wear watches we are encouraged to wear them all the time, rather than because we like their shape and form factor. I am tired of having watches that oblige you to wear them, to have a full set of data.

Having walks, hikes, bike rides and climbs is interesting, but to be tracked twenty four hours a day by mainly American companies gets tiring. For years I was happy to be tracked. I find it absurd that fitness trackers do not speak with each other so that you need to wear four trackers to have full data.

Not Missed

I am also interested to see that I don’t mind tracking my walks with Garmin or Suunto. I don’t mind not using the Suunto watch because it has less features than the Apple Watch SE when running. I don’t mind not wearing the Garmin because if I wear the Apple Watch and the SE I need to delete the data from one watch or the other in Strava.

I still send my data to Strava but I no longer use the site. It was interesting, until it was sold to investors. When we, the clients, become the product, Strava becomes a failure. Imagine a company that decides that its paying customers b ecome the product and you see why I no longer attach any value to Strava.

And Finally

Now when I am asked “Why do you wear two watches” I will be able to answer, “Because I like the look of this one, and this one is used as a fitness tracker.” It makes more sense than wearing two fitness trackers, unless I’m a blogger reviewing two or more units at once.

With Garmin I have the added advantage that I can track workouts with the Etreck Se which can hang from a belt clip, a bag strap or in a pocket.