Casio FT500WC-5BVCF Forester Sport Watch

This is a good straight forward watch. Nothing fancy, small face, great band, and easy-to-use. The price factor played into my purchase too. It keep accurate time and is water resistant so it is great for the pool.

Ligero, compacto y fácil de leer. La luz es un poco básica, no es iluminator en los que la pantalla completa se prende sino mas bien de los que un foquito prende un lado. La correa de tela se ajusta a cualquier muñeca pero es fácil que el broche que la sostiene en su lugar se salga al retirarse el reloj. No esperen un reloj de alta resistencia o durabilidad, pero es de batalla y para uso diario me parece excelente y por el precio no sufrirán si lo pierden o se les daña. Además es resistente al agua.

I have owned several “field watch” style analog watches, most recently a metal Timex Expedition, which is a handsome military style watch. While well built, the Timex is heavy. I tried this Casio model because the weight, about half of the Timex’s, was one of the lowest weights of any analog watch available on Amazon, with the exception of perhaps a Swatch or the tiny Swatch-like Casio which the Pope wears (Google that if you don’t believe me). The all plastic design is what leads to this low weight.

After wearing it for three days, I can say this watch is great & exactly what I expected. Well under 40mm across, so it’s not large on my average sized wrist. Astoundingly bright light (with a really cool multi-second fade, which I’ve never seen on a watch). And again, so lightweight you’re not even aware of its presence. Some people have asked if the hands are luminous; they are not.

The most puzzling thing about this watch was the strap that came with it. Very funny looking and bulky for everyday wear. The “leather” parts of the band were clearly shiny vinyl, which gave the band a cheap look. But I will say that the supplied band would probably work well for people who use the watch for camping, hiking, canoeing, etc. The band’s Velcro was very secure and easily adjustable to any lengthy and it would be quite easy to quickly put the watch over a jacket while cold weather fly fishing or something like that. Also the supplied strap seems like it would dry fast.

But because I planned to wear it was an everyday non-outdoorsy watch, I wanted to switch to a NATO strap, of which I have several. Here’s where I’d caution anyone planning to switch straps as I did. Most “lug widths” on watches are *even* millimeter widths, with 18, 20 & 22 being the most common, and 20mm being the most common of all for Timexes, Seikos, Citizens, etc. This watch is a 19mm lug width. Quite unusual. Straps, NATO and otherwise, with odd widths are difficult to find, but I happened to have one (the one featured in the photo). Is this lug width issue a huge deal? No. If you wanted to switch the watch to a NATO strap, and couldn’t find a 19mm, an 18 or 20 would work (with the former showing a bit of the metal pins and the latter being a snug fit).

But aside from the weird band issue — which worked out well for me — this is a perfect watch for a perfect price. Like many Casios, you’re talking about approximately $20 for a watch which will likely last years.

** One final note: I can’t vouch for the accuracy of this, but one YouTube review of this watch said it has two batteries— one for the quartz movement and another for the light. If this is true, this might be a reason to just get a brand new watch when the batteries die, since replacement of two batteries could equal the cost of the watch, especially if a jeweler were to charge you $20ish for installation of the two.

You can’t beat these old school Casio watches, still tough as nails and a great value. I needed a 24 hour watch face for my job and here it is. It tells time and the date. I don’t need anything more than that.

Good things about this watch:
1) only about $20 (I paid $22)
2) completely silent/no ticking sound at all
3) easy to read dial
4) nice design/looks great
5) Lighted dial, to see time in the dark when press the easy-access button
6) comfortable watch band
7) easily-adjustable watch band — especially good for those with skinny wrists. Velcro allows infinite adjustment, no need to try to punch additional holes into wrist band to tighten up on wrist
8) has date display

Bad things about this watch:
1) no day-of-week display
2) lighted dial not as good as Timex’s Indiglo. Indiglo is top-notch. The lighted dial on the Casio is from a single-source tiny LED bulb. It does the job, but is “clunky” when compared to Indiglo.

Summary: Although I wanted a watch with lighted dial and day of week display, Casio does not offer this. Timex does have such a watch, but I rejected Timex because of its loud ticking. (Many people complain about the Timex very loud ticking. Sometimes people resort to placing the watch in a drawer or in another room at night!) The complete silence of the Casio was the deciding factor in its favor.

The Wrist Band:
I was a bit worried about the Velcro wrist band, due to vague complaints expressed in many reviews. I was not familiar with Velcro wrist bands and had never seen what these are. I was thinking it was a simple design whereby the portion attached to one side had the fuzzy stuff, and the portion attached to the other side had the barbed stuff. But, the wrist band is actually a much better design than what I had envisioned. (The seller does not provide a photo of the wrist band and how it functions — which is a big mistake.)

The wrist band actually consists of a very short band attached to one side of the watch, with a plastic “loop” attached to it. The other side of the watch has a long band attached to it, with Velcro fuzz along its length until the last 2″ or so, where the barbed stuff is located. The long band loops through the plastic “loop” located on the short band side. Then, you simply pull the long band until it tightens up satisfactorily on your wrist. It pulls the short side band, tightens, and then locks in place with the Velcro located on the long band.