Content provided by Casio
The G-SHOCK name has long been associated with a tough digital watch. And by “tough” I mean “take-a-beating, be waterproof, still function after days and weeks and months in the muck” tough. Decades ago when digital watches were so new as to be cool and wearing one was a fashion statement, the G-SHOCK name was recognized as rugged. For those not familiar, lo those many years ago, watches were somewhat fragile items. Bumping your wrist on a doorway could mean the disconnection of an arm or breaking / misaligning a spring. Digital was better because it took abuse more… sort of. G-SHOCK was best because it took abuse and then some.
But… can the G-SHOCK stand up to one of the busiest and most brutal expos in existence today? We found out by wearing a G-SHOCK Mudmaster GG1000 on the floor of SHOT Show for the whole show plus a couple days. SHOT is the Shooting Hunting Outdoor Trade Show and it welcomes people from those industries. Because there’s so much crossover, there are large portions of the show dedicated to law enforcement and military products as well. Such products would include breaching tools (heavy hammers, rams, pry bars, etc.), LOTS of guns, knives, boots, helmets, body armor and more. Virtually everything on display can be handled and usually tested.
Care to guess what happens when you stand too close to someone swinging a ram at a steel door on a floor mounted frame? Yep – you can get hit with the ram on the backswing (happened). Want to know what happens when you put tens of thousands of people into the same space and every one of them is carrying a pack or some sort? Yep, you get run into, knocked around, bumped and bruised (happened). Want to guess what happens when you get pushed through a doorway? You run into the doorjamb (happened). And one of my favorites: When you’re trying on gloves in a booth and take off your watch because the gloves are so long (gauntlets), and your watch – which you put down on the display case – gets knocked off (happened) or ends up under a set of hard plate equipped body armor (happened).
Yes, the G-SHOCK Mudmaster GG1000 took all that. It took getting knocked into walls and scraped on steel fencing along the walks to and from the Sands Convention Center. It took being hit by backpacks aplenty and knocked into slot machines (they’re a real thing in Las Vegas). It went into every bathroom sink with each restroom visit and through two showers per day (one before and one after each show. Anyone who has attended will understand). Perhaps the most abusive of all: it went through airline security; once being worn, taken off, put in the basket, put through the machine, and then back on) and once packed in luggage – one of the most abusive things you can do to anything due to how the baggage handlers throw luggage around.
From Sunday, January 21st to Saturday, January 27th, the G-SHOCK Mudmaster GG1000 took everything SHOT Show and the attached travel could throw at it. Examination shows not a mark or scratch on it and it keeps time perfectly. When the test unit was first received two weeks before SHOT Show, the time was set to within a second. It’s still displaying the proper time to within a second. This particular model also includes five alarms (VERY valuable during travel and for setting appointment reminders), easily chosen time zones (great for keeping track when you’re three time zones away from home), and a compass that’s easy to use as well (surprisingly valuable in a city setting).
The rugged good looks fit right in on the SHOT Show floor and the strap color on our test unit even matches some of the new equipment colors being released. Previous testing has proven the rugged functionality of the GG1000 in outdoor and “austere” environments, and now it’s proven it can handle the ugliest of urban settings as well. While some might argue that SHOT Show isn’t quite as rough as, say… a high risk dynamic entry being performed by a SWAT team, I would argue that all the same circumstances can occur.
All in all, the SHOT Show test of the G-SHOCK Mudmaster GG1000 results in “two thumbs up” for the watch. It has proven itself once again.
