Well people, my only needle broke so that means no boot progress for a while. Also my computer broke so I can't do the hippo hunt and following project posts either. So in the meantime, I'll do a post on my surprising new interest;
Watches!
Previously in my life I've never worn a watch and, as far as I remember, have only had one. I got some money from graduation so I decided to get a watch. After alot of research I got the beautiful Seiko SNKH63J2!
(Groovy picture thanks to Dad)
Anyway, during the course of my search I noticed some disparity in people's opinions of what Water Resistance rating mean in the real world. There are many people that know far more about this than I, but hopefully this will be an easy, condensed read detailing what I learned.
Here's the situation: You (actually, it was me) want to buy a watch that you can swim in, and since we all like overkill, you decided on one with a WR rating of 100 metres.
Step 1: this means that I can take it as deep as 100m! Huzzah!
Step 2:
You find out to your horror that 100m doesn't mean 100m. According to a chart on Wikipedia, a 100m WR rating means that the timepeice is suitable for "recreational surfing, swimming, snorkeling, sailing and water sports...NOT suitable for diving"
What??! You scream in outrage. They lied!
"Well, you know", you are informed by your local misinformed know-it-all, "when you swim, your motion increases the pressure on the watch by 27 megawattipixels times the squre root of the water depth."
Step 3:you find this post in a watch forum finally revealing the truth which is approximately as follows:
Watches are pressure tested to the rating which they're given, BUT that doesn't mean that a specific model is tested progressively deeper to determine it's limits:
"Thats right people! the rating on the watch is merely a market descision and not an actual fact of the capacity of the watch in question."
Now for the other part, called "Dynamic Pressure". In the actual post which I've linked above, the forummer gave the actual math and showed that the "moving increases pressure like crazy" idea is complete hogwash. it's a very informing post, if you should care to read it.
So what does it all boil down to?
It means that if you're extremely concerned about your watch's warranty you should follow the chart on Wikipedia.
However, if you're like me and you want to how it will realistically perform, then pretty much just follow the number on your watch. Maybe it could even go far deeper, but that's up to how much you're comfortable risking it.
Really though, it means that if you buy a 100m watch, you can use for anything that you or I will be doing.
Ta da!
P.S. Hot water and/or salt water will eat at the seals more quickly, eventually causing susceptibility to water.
P.P.S. Listen to this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aI5o5QEpewE&feature=related
Thanks for reading!
Thanks for such an informative post! :) That song... is really nice. :) I really enjoy listening to him, but I don't very often, that needs to change.
ReplyDeleteThank you! Sometimes I try to listen to something else, but it never lasts long, he just does everything from soft and peaceful to full on rompin' Bluerass - all perfectly.
DeleteI could have told you that dynamic pressure was total hogwash. In fact, pressure in a moving fluid is always less than in a static fluid, so that almost seems backwards. Never trust someone who uses meggawattipixels as units. Also there are some watch companies that rate their watches in pressure units instead of depth. Like my watch is rated at 5 Atm (or 5 Bar if you like. That equates to 50m in depth rating.)
ReplyDeleteYeah, we can't be geniuses, Josh.
DeleteAs far as pressure rating, I should have been more clear in the body. All watches are really tested at pressures rather than depths. Thanks for reminding me.
When talking watches pressure and depth are directly related, so it doesn't really matter which way your talking about it. I mean, as long as you're swimming/diving in water, not some other fluid, a certain depth will always relate to a certain pressure. I just meant that it's nice to be aware of both systems. Like when I got my watch, I looked at the back and went, "5 Atm's, what does that mean? Can I get this thing wet or not?" And I had to look it up to find out that's the same as 50m rating.
ReplyDelete