The Ref Stop

Watches

JamesL

JamesL

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My Spintso Pro Retro has died & my Casio is awaiting a new battery.

Got me thinking about what's out there non-smart watch wise?

I have a Polar Sports watch on my left wrist that tells me all my physical performance data (HR distance etc.)

I really liked the added time function and buzz reminder on the Spintso. I'm not interested in a £5 basic Casio... What's everyone rocking? Selection appears to be limited...
 
The Ref Stop
Casio rft-100 as my non smart watch option. Good luck getting hold of one though
 
I loved my rft until the buttons disintegrated. I love the 5 pound referee watch app on my Garmin. It pretty much does everything the Spintso does (I bought my first Garmin because Ikd heard of the app and the Garmin was cheaper than the Spintso.) for me, the thing I wasn’t from my primary timer is a vibration function that vibrates at full time, and has 30 second reminders (vibrating) thereafter. The fact it can track stoppage (and vibrates periodically during that tracking g in case you forget to restart after an injury) is just an added bonus for me.
 
socal lurker said:
I loved my rft until the buttons disintegrated. I love the 5 pound referee watch app on my Garmin. It pretty much does everything the Spintso does (I bought my first Garmin because Ikd heard of the app and the Garmin was cheaper than the Spintso.) for me, the thing I wasn’t from my primary timer is a vibration function that vibrates at full time, and has 30 second reminders (vibrating) thereafter. The fact it can track stoppage (and vibrates periodically during that tracking g in case you forget to restart after an injury) is just an added bonus for me.
Click to expand...
What’s the Garmin ref app?
 
santa sangria said:
What’s the Garmin ref app?
Click to expand...
In the Garmin App Store is an app called “Referee Watch” by someone called windr. I assume he is in the Uk, as the price was in pounds. The app works on many different Garmin watches, and pretty much does everything a Spintso does. Up and down visible at the same time, easy to set for various game lengths and extra time, a variety of options. It literally does everything that I can think of wanting my ref watch to do. (It doesn’t record goals or misconduct, but I’ve never had an interest in doing that on a watch.) The only reason I bought a Garmin in the first place was I’d heard of the app (on another ref board) and the Garmin was appreciably cheaper than a Spintso. I only planned to use it as a ref watch, but it very quickly became my every day watch.
 
I have a clunky g-shock for my 2nd watch. A bit pointless, will be swapping it out for something probably on the back of this thread.
 
Doing some basic checking on the Garmin site, and the Referee Watch app mentioned does work on the Forerunner 55. In the US, that watch is $200. So for $75-80 more than a retro Spintso, you can get a running watch with step counting, GPS, the ability to structure customized interval workouts using Garmin Connect on your phone or computer, and the app. In my opinion, that is worth the extra money.

The Forerunner 55 is on this page - https://www.garmin.com/en-US/c/sports-fitness/running-smartwatches/?currentPage=1
 
Why need an App?
My Garmin displays two fields. Time of Day and a larger field with a (Lap) Timer
At the start of the second half, I restart the Timer, click the Lap button (which resets the count to 00:00:00), but keeps the activity running
What am I missing?

Aside from GPS (and chest based HRM for runners)
I don't want my watch to do anything else, cos 'Smart Features' are just gimmicks that purely inflate the price
 
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None of it is about “need,” it’s about what makes things easier. For me, being able to see up and down time at the same time is convenient. Being able to track how long an injury takes with a vibration to remind me to restart is convenient. Having it vibrate (not beep) at full time is convenient. Having it all set up before a game for the proper length of half’s, halftime, and any extra time is convenient. It’s all about what makes life easier for each ref. To me, that is far more than worth five pounds. (I reffed before LCD watches were a thing, using a non-stop watch with a rotating bezel. Of course you can do it.)
 
FirsFox40 said:
I need apps so I can find out if my beloved Kilmarnock have gone 0-1 down yet while I’m running the line during something exciting like Upper Bumlington Reserves v Royal Oak.
Click to expand...
There was me thinking my team checks were bad, lol
Raith Rovers fan from secondary school.
 
So a bit off topic, but I’ll add it here instead of starting a new watch-related thread. Does anyone have an Apple Watch Ultra? If so, what do you think of it? I know it’s quite a bit more expensive in the UK compared to the US. The only two things I really splurge on are watches and laptops, so I currently own a Garmin Fenix 7 that I wear everywhere. I've looked at the Ultra, and I definitely like them a lot more than the traditional Apple Watches. Just wondering if it would be enough to convince me to switch from my Garmin.
 
I’ve found the perfect combo to be an Apple Watch Ultra with refsix for timing and sin bins, with any other misconduct written on write on red/yellow cards.
 
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