Tide Watches

don't get me wrong. I have heard great things about ripcurl watches. they r nice and work well. but all my buddies have these 300 dollar silver watches that look all dressy and stylish. but what's the point in having a flashy, blingy tide watch? who needs to know the tide while they r at a bar. check the hundreds of online tide charts. but tide watches r only useful while surfing. wearing them in the ocean while surfing all day. a few inches of tide make a world of difference on reefs, so knowing to the minute what the tided does is awesome.

all I am saying is when I went to the huge surf shop to buy my watch years ago, he asked me how often I surfed. when I said every day, he replied, well u need a freestyle then. they r for surfers. the nixons and rips r for weekend warriors who want to look good.

 

What do you actually do with a tide watch while you are in the water?

I used to use tide watches before access to tide information became ridiculously easy via internet, phones, etc. I have not found a need for one since. When you paddle out, you should at least know whether the tide is rising or falling and when the next high or low tide is (and even how low or high it will get on that day). Why the need for more specific information?

 

tides are pretty predictable right, what about an hour give or take different than the last high tide, i must be missing something in the need to know the tides, what happen to checking the waves or water everyday to see whats it doing, i've had the same ripcurl watch since high school, wore it everyday at lacrosse practice, and many other things, i' dont think i really ever pay attention to the tides on it though, other than a few bands every couple years for a 15 yr + watch it still works great

 

I imagine if your daily life revolves around tides (bay and ocean etc.) then I concede it would be nice to look at your wrist and know the tide height at any given moment. Although I guarantee (without bothering to search the app store) there are free tide apps for cell phones that are as good or better than any tide watch in terms of accuracy and detail. I have lost one too many tide watches (Rip Curl) and even fancy dive watches (Tag Heuer) to Davy Jones Locker due to ****ty pins in the band. Since phones do so much now, I don't even wear a watch anymore.

With respect to this thread, I was assuming we were just talking about a tide watch for surfing, specifically in the mid-Atlantic, where it's 100% beachbreak. In my view there is no need for on-demand specifics, other than knowing when the next high or low is, how high or low the tide will be, and how much of a swing in tide to expect when you paddle out...

 

And ****, the way it's been lately, I don't give a crap about the tides. If there's any kind of swell, I'm going surfing regardless .

 

like I said, im not hating on your watch =) To each their own. My whole point is that this little 50$ freestyle watch is super light and durable and does what the $300 ones do. And the ONLY time I wear a tide watch is IN the water. I have nice watches that look good that I wear for work and leisure, but my main concern with my surf watch is that is is light, and who cares what it looks like, cause its always under my wetsuit.

And the reason I use it while Im out in the water is really when im out surfing for a long time and a spot that relies heavily on tides. So, even though you know that the tide is low at a certain time, you can glance down, see if you are on the upswing and see the chart with how fast it will go up etc... I dont really need it on a usual surf session, but when im out boating all day, I can see if its low tide at the inlet so i dont hit the rocks. When im at the beach with the lady and the dog all day, i can see when the exact negative tide will hit so we can walk out on the reefs and stuff...

Tides are super useful, but I guess in the past 5 years, everyone has a computer/phone on their hip, so with the push of a button in your car in the parking lot, you get the same effect....

But back in the good old days, my phone didnt work in baja and the tide watch was all we had. I guess in 2010, they are not as important.

 

Good point. thats kinda what i meant. You have to be at a certain kind of spot to make it really useful for surfing. Boating, fishing etc... thats different. If I remember correctly, the crabs in Isle of Wight bay like the high tide when you go crabbing on the bayside.

 

I've had RC watches since they first came out. The tide part is nice but I really only use mine in the water for summer to let me know when it's getting close to guard time since I can't tell time for crap.

 

technically, NJ is all "beach break" but the terrain & bottom features do vary extensively from place to place, and what the tide is doing at any certain window has a drastic effect on the surf quality. Having a tide watch helps me process that info in real time so I can make a decision where to check first, where to not bother, where to keep in mind for later, etc.

I like driving by some spot crowded with a bunch of Benny-driven SUVs with boards in travel bags on the top and a bunch of "bro" types looking at the 6-10 guys n the water, seemingly, attempting to figure out what exactly they're looking at (or just posing trying to look cool) while I head towards a different spot with 2 guys in the water (if that) that I know in 1 hour or so will be bombing

 

DaMook: I wasnt calling YOU a kook for the whole watch thing... What I really said was that a bunch of my friends are kooks, and they all wear those watches. So, I was really saying that most of my friends who are "surfers" really arent. They just rock tide watches and surf outfits while they each breakfast by the beach checking the surf, talking about "I dunno man, its not really big enough out there. I dont think im gonna get wet today"... So, I apologize if you took it that way, I was making fun of my own people. And they just happen to own a few expensive tide watches. I guess they put a bad taste in my mouth...

Same thing with Al Merrick boards. I know a ton of them are sick. But all my friends who are kooks and wannabes all have $750 al merrick boards. I know Kelly rides them and all, but I just have a bad opinion of them because of the people I know who ride them...

Its not al merricks fault, its my kook friends faults for being so gay.

 

I got the Freestyle Tide 3.0 a couple weeks for ago for $60 and I'm satisfied. It has tons of breaks that you can set as your break and then you can do an offset by minutes. So I picked Manasquan and then offset it to be more accurate to my more northern location. When I'm in the water, there are several times that I'm on a schedule. I'm too busy to surf until I'm tired every day, so sometimes I have to limit it to about 2 hours. I don't associate watches with kooks and the people that sit on the beach saying its not big enough yet aren't kooks, they're posers.

 

I really dont understand why kooks/posers are a bad thing. Cheap (good condition) used boards at the end of the season. People who cant surf = more waves for me. Not big enough to surf = less people in the water. Lastly, surf watches being kooky just doesnt even make sense. Clearly, this is comming from someone who is a kook and has never traveled. Many times I've set my watch b4 a vacation and used it the whole trip. In most 3rd world countries you cant just bring your Iphone everywhere nor is it suggested. I bet you would be the dude asking me what the tide is doing. Long story short, Ive had the same watch for 8 years and only changed the battery once and the band twice. It cost me 200 bucks at the time and to say they are low quality is false. This watch goes through quite a beating from chlorine pools to harsh Caribbean saltwater and still is holding strong. Sorry btw, the watch is a Rip Curl, Core tide watch.

 

so your friends are kooks? and gay? hahahahaha.