CasioG-Shock Mudman Super Dual Illuminator Men's Quartz 52mm Digital Watch G9000-1V

I'll preface this review by mentioning that I've been an avid Casio collector for several years, and have been interested in watches since I was barely old enough to tell the time. I've owned around 100 or so watches in this time, many of which were great and many of which were pretty terrible. This watch is one that has proven itself to be definitively unique out of every other watch I've ever owned. When I got this watch, the first things I noticed about it were the clear references to motorsports - the tire tread pattern on the inside of the band, the bewheeled, helmet-and-goggle-wearing "Mudman" engraved on the case back, and the dual stopwatches for tracking split times. This seemed to be an eager invitation to use this watch as it was clearly intended, so I did. It went mountain biking, go-karting, drag racing, and for spirited drives on mountain roads in an old 90's sports car, and did its job perfectly. I was able to use the stopwatches to track and record lap and split times for friends on the track, as well as to keep generally accurate times for myself while mountain biking and driving. I say generally accurate because the buttons are very stiff to begin with, and one's hands are usually occupied for a few seconds during the start and finish of a lap. That said, the buttons to start and stop the timers are big enough to be actuated with gloved hands but will require some getting used to due to their unusual stiffness. It's not a watch you can treat gently, its design demands that you be assertive and tough when operating it to get the best from it.Speaking of the design, it's one of the most original in the vast world of digital watches. It's a standout design, even among the wide variety of unique G-Shocks. The pictures on the listing make it look larger than it really is, on the wrist it is light, rigid, and has a profile lower than even the DW-6900 making it easy to wear under a cuff.There is a part of the design that some have complained about, which are the raised nubs on the resin shroud on the bottom of the watch. They say that these can cause irritation to the skin due to rubbing, and while this does likely happen for some it has not been an issue for me after several months of wearing it.The clasp on the band is metal, which definitely adds to the level of confidence I have in the overall durability of the watch. I have noticed however that the strap retainer doesn't grip the band very well and frequently slips out, which causes me to catch the wayward strap on my clothes and on machinery - which while annoying, is just something I've learned to be mindful of as it's a small issue compared to how great the watch is overall.In summary, this is an excellent watch and I recommend it highly to anyone who enjoys any sort of motorsports, mountain/road biking or running. The water resistance is higher than the majority of us will ever need, the readability and illumination is among the best Casio has to offer, and the design is unique, attractive and highly functional. I give it a 9.5 out of 10, with the -.5 being due to the issue with the strap retainer and the fact that sometimes the watch can be hard to read in the daytime due to the depth at which the display is set within the face of the watch. The bezel is set very high, and sometimes this can cast a shadow over the display making you have to adjust the angle of the watch to read it when in direct sunlight. Other than that, this watch is an amazing value at this price, you will be getting much more than your money's worth.

When I was a tanker in the Army, the only watch tough enough to take the abuse, keep working, and still look good doing it was a G-Shock. Unfortunately, I lost it and could not replace it since the model had been discontinued. In my civilian job as an Infrastructure Engineer, I have to spend a lot of time in construction zones and the parade of Fossil watches I've been wearing for years just wouldn't hold up to the environment. I looked into the G-Shock line, hoping to find a watch as dependable as the one I used in the Army, and found the G-Shock G9000 Mudman.I absolutely love this watch. I wear it all the time. It has two stopwatches, a countdown timer, 5 separate alarms, World Time, Dual Illuminator, and all the other typical features like hourly beep, day, and date.The countdown timer, which is probably my favorite feature, has a loop option where you set the time and after it counts down to zero and alarms you, it will also start over and repeat infinitely until you stop it. This is great for interval training, games, or any other reminder that needs to be repeated over and over.There are 5 alarms. 1-4 are fixed, where you set the time and each day at that time it will go off. I use all four of mine. I use the watch to wake me up, remind me when my work shift starts, remind me when my work shift ends, and lets me know when it is time for bed. This may sound odd, but I work from home and have a tendency to get really focused on things and let time fly, so I have set up these boundaries to keep things in order. The fifth alarm, which I don't use, actually has a snooze function and you have to turn it all the way off to end the cycle. I can see how people would like this, but I don't like it because you have to enable the alarm every day. If you forget to enable it, you're pretty much out of luck.The world time is pretty nice too. I have colleagues in multiple countries across Europe and Asia, so it is nice to be able to select the major city in their time zone and see what time it is. It saves the embarrassment of accidentally calling Moscow in the middle of the night orSingapore during breakfast.There are comments from other people about the buttons being stiff. This is true, the buttons are stiff, but they loosen up a little bit over time and let's be honest - this is a man's watch that is built to take a beating. If these buttons are too hard for you to push, you probably don't need the rugged durability of a G-Shock anyway.The appearance of the watch, in my opinion, is so much better than most of the other models Casio offers. Cleaning the watch is simple with soap, water, and a small scrub brush. I will warn any potential buyers that pool water will produce a gray film on the the plastic surfaces of the watch. As long as you wash the watch with soap and water shortly after getting out of the pool, that film will go away and not return. I don't know what would happen if you waited to clean the watch, but I wouldn't do that, just in case the film becomes permanent over time.I highly recommend this watch. If you want a G-Shock, this one should make you very happy.