Carabiner Crush and the Dakota Watch Company

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problem son
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Carabiner Crush and the Dakota Watch Company

Post by problem son »

I had planned to post a topic about an interesting French watch company today, but in deference to yesterday's news about the horrendous killings in France, I have delayed posting the final draft of that topic until a future date. Instead, I have another topic here which I hope you will like and which I have simultaneously been preparing.

In recent months, I have become interested in the carabiner watch, and one reason for my interest is that it it has led me towards certain companies that one is not familiar with as well as those which are generally not associated with watches. Indeed, there is a relationship between my interets in pocket knives and my growing collection of carabiner watches, with some carabiner watches being produced by companies more frequently associated with knives and other tools than with watches. In fact, carabiner watches can be extremely useful and I am surprised that they are not more popular in the UK (especially when contrasted to their US popularity). Carabiner watches can be used where the wearing of a watch on the wrist is not permissable or is not possible, and they tend to be well-built and rugged as befits their main use as an outdoor activity timepiece.


Cannibal Active carabiner watch of classic carabiner type. Quartz and with 3 atm WR as well as compass. Watch from a British-based brand known for its rugged quartz kids' watches. Currently unavailable - original price, £49.95 (pic from watchshop.com):
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The term, "carabiner" is a variant on the word, "karabiner" (original: German, "karabinerhaken", meaning a hook for attaching a carbine to a belt) and it now usually refers to a metal clip with a spring for attaching to a piton, belay, etc., in mountaineering - also termed a "snaplink" or "krab". And a carabiner watch is a carabiner hook that has included in its body a watch. The carabiner watch can then be hung on one's belthook or on a rucksack. In addition to the pure form of carabiner watch, there is a related type of fob/pocket watch also associated with outdoors activity, and this form of watch has a clip or large lobster claw on a short strap short strap to which the watch is attached. Sometimes there will be a compass attached to the strap between hook and watch, just as sometimes, the true carabiner watch sometimes also incorporates a compass. I will include the shortened form of pocket watch catabiner here as well as the pure carabiner watch.

Clip and short strap variant of carabiner watch, here made unusual by the use of paracord as the strap. Branded National Geographic and sold by them for $19.95 (pic from scene7.com):
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I do not propose to try and list all the available carabiner watches on the market, and I will focus in a minute on one particular American company, which I deem fit to rate as the "king of the carabiner" even though this firm produces and brands more conventional wristwatches as well. Before I do that, however, I will just say a few more general words about the availability of carabiner watches.

My first observation, already hinted at above, is surprise that more watch companies have not caught on to the carabiner watch. In particular, European and Japanese watch manufacturers at the upper end of the market seem to have rather ignored this most useful form of timepiece, and even in the middle zone of the watch market, we don't find many carabiner watches branded outside the States. One exception to this is Wenger, the Swiss knife and watch company, which produces a fine example of the genre. Essentially the Wenger Traveller Pocket Alarm GMT Watch 7301 is a rugged 53mm circular quartz pocket alarm watch with a rubber travel casing and retractable stand. As such, it should not be cassified as a carabiner: however, it is the clever"Nite-ize S-Binder" luminous hook supplied with the watch that converts it into the carabiner category. The watch has a date feature and is WR to 30 metres. It costs £199.

The main stream of carabiner in today's maket watches seems to emerge out of their popularity in North America and, to a lesser extent, Canada, and companies like Leatherman, Smith & Wesson, Veritas and Lee Valley in America, and ESP Bienne in Canada (founded in 1993) produce good quality quartz carabiner watches. I myself have an example of an ESP pocket carabiner style watch with short strap, compass and lobster claw hook, assembled in Canada and of surprisingly good quality given that ESP is associated with the production of promotional goods. Indeed, my own piece has a hinged lid over the case which bears the logo of a Canadian financial concern. It features a decent Miyota quartz movement and when sold as a wholesale item in a lot of 25, costs $29.65 C each. Over in the UK, there are a number of tool and knife companies that also have carabiner watches in their ranges. These include Rolson and True Utility, and the examples I have from these two companies are, once again, surprisingly well-made considering they are not expensive. Indeed, in terms of value for money, carabiner watches are pretty good, and even the rather nice Leatherman carabiner watch, which also includes a red LED microlight and small compass, can be found for just under $25 online, when available. Finally in this paragraph, I have just seen that the Mount Royal/Jean Pierre concern also brands and markets quartz carabiner watches - though these seem a bit at odds with the usual type of watches this two-brand company specialises in.


Decent quality and inexpensive True Utility brand carabiner watch with LED microlight and Japanese quartz movement. Priced at about £30 (pic from geekalerts.com):
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One company, hinted at above, that seems to excel at the production of carabiner watches is the Dakota Watch Company, based in Cincinnati, Ohio, and I shall now focus on this important concern which, since the 1960s, has had a growing retail arm in regional American shopping malls, offering "the best of affordable, innovative wristwear along with expert watch services." Currently, the firm has over 200 stalls in various shopping centres Stateside.

Dakota Watch, as the company calls itself, was founded in 1945, and since then it has been dedicated to the production of quality timepieces. The company is a family enterprise and is still run by members of the Cooper family. It has a team of designers under the leadership of Martin Cooper that, according to the company website, "has developed unmatched expertise in creative watch production." Indeed, the Dakota Watch Company is clearly proud of its heritage and its current status, claiming that, "For several generations, we have designed high leading edge timepieces with a strong emphasis on craftsmanship." and stressing its uninflated prices and decent after sales care.

The Dakota Watch Company actually produces a whole range of watches, with carabiner and carabiner-type watches being only a part, albeit a vital part, of its product range. All the movements used are either Swiss or Japanese - the latter including Seiko movements on some of the more expensive watches. I think that we can safely conclude that Dakota Watch is not actually a manufacturer of watches. Like many other producers of carabiner watches, the company leaves manufacture to others, although one gets the feeling that there is considerable input from the firm when it comes to design, materials used, quality, and, of course, branding and marketing. Clip/carabiner watches from the Dakota Watch Company are easy to identify as they will bear the name "Dakota" (in upper or lower case) on them. My own well-used pre-owned Dakota carabiner watch is testament to the quality of their products. It is a well-made piece of kit with a mineral glass crystal and a red LED light. It is still in current production, among a varied range of carabiner and carabiner-type watches. Dakota Watch uses the general heading of "clip" watches to cover both true carabiner watches and the short-strap pocket type watch with a clip or hook to attach the watch by. Then the company subdivides the various types of carabiner/carabiner-type watches further, in keeping with its extensive range on offer.


Dakota Watch Company advertisement featuring its classic Angler II multifunction carabiner watch. $80 from Amazon USA but over £100 in the UK (pic from image.rakuten.co.jpn):
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Leaving aside the variations produced by different sizes of watch and different clip types, the Dakota Watch Company has an wide range of features available on different carabiner and clip models carabiner watches. These include day and date windows, digital displays and associated digital watch features on some models, compasses, red or white LED night-lights and multi-tools. It is perhaps no wonder that the Amazon-led carabiner web page reveals Dakota Watch Company models among the ten best-selling carabiner watches.


Dakota Watch Company double clip carabiner watch. Price about £20 or $28 from the States (pic from scene7.targettimg1.com):
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Before concluding this topic, I feel that I need to enlarge the discussion here to include other types of watch produced by the Dakota Watch Company. This will hopefully be of interest to watch collectors and forum members who are wristwatch-based and who don't share my fascination for carabiner watches. Dakota Watch has a full range of Dakota-marked wristwatches in its online catalogue, for men, women and children, and the company is also responsible for watches branded Berenger, Moxie, Fusion and Jean Paul. The Dakota company watches extend from decorative ladies watches to more functional analogue and digital watches for men and women including sports models, chronograph watches, dress watches, watches for anglers requiring night visibility, and watches with varied levels of water resistance.

When it comes to defining where Dakota Watch stands in terms of market level and pricing, I would suggest that the company leads with inexpensive models, and takes the pricing upwards to mid-level as a maximum. For example, many of the more basic watches are in the $25-$45 range, while more upmarket designs, stainless steel watches, and watches with complications are more expensive. Looking at the specifications for the various models of Dakota watches, I am quite impressed at the overall value for money attained. You would be hard pressed to pay more than $150 for even the more expensive Dakota watches, and at this price level, the specifications are pretty good, leaving aside the stated water resistance which I feel is somewhat poor given the rest of the specs of the more expensive Dakota models. When it comes to the Dakota clip/carabiner watches, once again, these start from around $25, and go up to just under the $100 mark for a few models. All wrist and clip watches currently produced by the Dakota Watch Company are, it seems, quartz powered, and although the currently available models all seem to require battery replacement, there were (and perhaps still are) some rechargeable Dakota models as a Dakota REQ electromagnetic charger is available to purchase for the rechargeable Dakota watches. There is also one mechanical traditional pocket watch by Dakota Watch.

I will show a few (captioned) pictures of Dakota wristwatches at the very end of this topic, having already illustrated a few carabiner watches from various companies, including Dakota Watch. My continuing interst in carabiner watches has led me into a different set of watch producers than we normally consider in watch forums, and to me, the carabiner watch is a most appealling and thoroughly practical form of timepiece. I would like to think that some of the more horologically appreciated watch companies will enter the carabiner field, and show us what can really be achieved in terms of high quality and features. In the meantime hoswever, we do at least have quite a number of well-made and inexpensive carabiner watches to choose from, and among those, the products of the Dakota Watch Company stand out in terms of variety, quality, and value for money.


Large dial Dakota ion-black plated steel watch with rotating click bezel, quartz Miyota movement, "330 feet Sting Ray WR", nylon strap, luminescent hands and markers, and mineral glass crystal. Size isn't specified in this ad (pic from amazon.com, where it is priced at about $58):
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Dakota Big Angler tan/white wristwatch with date/day display, Super-Luminova hands and numbers, 5 atm WR (as on watch dial but less where stated in text), leather strap, and stainless steel case (pic from walmartimages.com):
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Dakota Titanium Aviator chronograph with 46mm titanium case and titanium strap, chronograph function down to 1 second intervals, date window, tinted mineral glass crystal and Japanese quartz movement. WR rated at 165 feet (pic from amazon.com where it is priced at about $181):
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Re: Carabiner Crush and the Dakota Watch Company

Post by Kip »

I think a wise move postponing the French company you were planning on.

I am not certain that we will see a real high quality carabiner type watch. I really think the market is to limited for a high level piece. These type watches, imo, are subject to much abuse in general and therefore are usually considered a throw away. If they become fashionable that may change of course.

I do have one myself on my golf bag. It is obviously subjected to the elements and some abuse. Usually about the time the battery dies, it has served its lifespan. The ones that I have found usually do not fair well with 3atm limits. I am not even sure I would pick up one of better quality, for my purposes, even if they were available.

Thank you for the post though. It was an interesting read.
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Re: Carabiner Crush and the Dakota Watch Company

Post by missF »

thanks PS! an interesting read. i think that a carabiner watch could be a great bit of kit for camping and walking trails. i'm hoping to do a lot more of this next year, so i'll look further into this. however, 3atm WR doesn't make this a bit of kit in my eyes - just a piece of jewellery. if this is a watch to hook on my rucksack it needs to accommodate pours of Scottish rain and the possibility of falling into rivers! :lol:
thanks for the write-up - I like the one with the paracord strap so you can haul yourself out of crevasses should the need arise 8) I guess that lume would be an important consideration for me, and maybe day/date so that I could leave my phone at home. bashable and waterproof of course. :thumbup:
watching you fail in your quest for a “one watch” has been great entertainment
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Re: Carabiner Crush and the Dakota Watch Company

Post by problem son »

Thanks guys. I do agree that the WR of the current crop of carabiner watches seems to be surprisingly poor. The Dakota and the ESP Bienne models I have in my collection do seem to stand up to scrutiny as being quite well put together and may exceed the stated WR, but in general, I reckon that work is needed among carabiner watch producers to get a decent standard of water resistance. I feel that if watch companies of note became involved in the manufacture of carabiner and carabiner style watches, we would see a dramatic improvement in the ruggedness, lume, and water resistance of these very useful items, and what about the use of sapphire crystal - or is it a bit brittle for such use?
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