Luminox 3051 Blackout

[Grant Lamontagne]

I have just received a Luminox SEAL watch (I believe the 3051 Blackout) as a gift from a friend and I have to say it is a very nice watch indeed. 



Pic stolen from Amazon as I've yet to be able to take a decent pic of it. 

The first thing you notice about this watch is that it is remarkably light due to the carbon polymer construction of the case, rather than steel.  It is surprising how light it is for a good sized watch.

I'm wearing it today for the first time and I'll let you know my thoughts on it, but so far I think it is remarkably cool.

Def

[zoidberg]

Watch envy activated.      

[Zed]

Lovely gift Grant 

[Smashie]

Very nice and with the tritium capsules you'll always be able to see it in the dark 

[Grant Lamontagne]

Lovely gift Grant 

A very excellent gift to be sure!

The strap does not appear to have traveled very well though and needs to be replaced.  I have a 22mm NATO strap to put on it but it's not black and I hope it doesn't get me kicked out of the next SEAL Team picnic!

Def

[Grant Lamontagne]

Since I owe you guys some photos, I made sure to take some this morning!





As I said, this thing is light.  I decided to do some comparisons between it and my Seiko Orange Monster, and as you can see, they are very similar in size.



Throw them on the scale though, and it's a very different story!



As you can see, the Monster weighs in at a hefty 98 grams, while the Luminox weighs considerably less:



Yup, you read that right- 52 grams, or just slightly over half of what the Monster weighs!  In fact, it even weighs less than my Casio GA-100 Dark Knight G- Shock.



That sort of makes sense though, as at least the Dark Knight is bigger.



As I said though, the Luminox suffered from a broken strap, so I didn't wear it the other day as intended.  In the end I decided that I really didn't want to lose it, so I left it at home.  That changes today though, as I have finally managed to swap out the bands for the tan NATO strap I have.



Some of you may recognize that strap as the one that was on my original Pebble watch, but as the original one was killed by a software update and the second one wasn't so good with a NATO strap as the charging port was on the back of the watch it has sat largely unused for a while.  It is also the only 22mm band I have at the moment, so it's either order a new band and wait, or wear it with this band that I don't think looks too bad.



And there it is, all ready to go!

Is it bad that I am kind of excited about wearing a new watch for the first time?   

Def

[HarleyXJGuy]

The regular non BO Luminox is on my short list.

Is the illumination as good as the hype?

[Grant Lamontagne]

I don't know yet- I will let you know after I test it out.  It seems a little dim but readable in my basement, away from lights.  It's not the "see it from space" type lume that the hype seems to say it is, but then I would imagine that you wouldn't want that in a military watch to begin with.  I don't think you'd have any trouble reading it in the dark, nor have any concerns about where the bezel is rotated to.

At least, that's what it seems like- again I'll know better after I have worn it for a day or two.

Def

[jcs0001]

Very nice watch.

John

[Grant Lamontagne]

Thanks John!  I'm enjoying it!

The lume isn't as bright as I was expecting it to be, but it is absolutely as bright as it needs to be.  It is easy to read in the dark but doesn't glow like a runway or something, which is one of those things that kind of annoys me.  This is the way a watch should be- that the wearer can read it in the dark, but it won't blind people a half mile away like some watches do.  I think if you are 20 feet away you probably won't even really see the lume unless you are specifically looking for it, which is fine as my arms are nowhere near 20 feet long.

As a watch designed with the military in mind this makes a lot of sense.

Def