Keeping Time

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Porch Lover
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I've been thinking about this as in many of the prepper fiction books, no one usually knows what time it is as their phones and tablets, or electric clocks stop working.

I'm looking at an old fashioned hand wind, or movement winding watch of some type. Probably a pocket watch type of configuration.

Have you thought of this, and what have you done about it.?
 
I wear a wind up watch every day that I got off Amazon. I also have wind up alarm clocks for when we go camping. Usually we don't need an alarm when camping....but sometimes we do to get up early for fishing. I also have white boards to use for calendars so we could keep track of the days if it was necessary. I have 2 wind up watches, 2 wind up alarm type clocks, and 3 white boards (the erasable marker types). If we didn't have any back ups for time keeping, I would make sure they were all wound up at the same time so that if one or two failed, we'd still know what time it was.
 
My favorite watches are either "automatic" (Self winding) or solar recharged. I'm sure the solars will fry in an EMP, but the automatics will keep on running. I also have a key wind 31 day clock and an 8 day cuckoo clock.

For an inexpensive watch, I like the Seiko 5 , around 70 bucks, and keeps pretty good time for a mechanical watch.

A short overview of some Seikos: https://www.reviewgeek.com/853/the-best-affordable-automatic-watches/

I love reading the reviews on mechanicals, especially the people that expect 1-2 second accuracy a day, but didn't pay the price for a chronograph. :p
 
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I have a pocket watch that I only wear on formal occasions, like never, that I could pull out. I also have a couple of nice wind up wrist watches but they need to be sent in and cleaned and regulated.
 
Angie said:
I've been thinking about this as in many of the prepper fiction books, no one usually knows what time it is as their phones and tablets, or electric clocks stop working.

I'm looking at an old fashioned hand wind, or movement winding watch of some type. Probably a pocket watch type of configuration.

Have you thought of this, and what have you done about it.?
Click to expand...

Good idea, haven't seen a thread about time yet. I have an old Timex watch my mother wore, need to get it cleaned and serviced.
I'd also like a wind up dive watch for working in all kinds of weather. Most also give you day of week and date.
 
angie_nrs said:
I wear a wind up watch every day that I got off Amazon. I also have wind up alarm clocks for when we go camping. Usually we don't need an alarm when camping....but sometimes we do to get up early for fishing. I also have white boards to use for calendars so we could keep track of the days if it was necessary. I have 2 wind up watches, 2 wind up alarm type clocks, and 3 white boards (the erasable marker types). If we didn't have any back ups for time keeping, I would make sure they were all wound up at the same time so that if one or two failed, we'd still know what time it was.
Click to expand...

Another good idea about the calendar. We forget what day it is already , I can imagine if we didn't have a calendar.
 
As a kid, I learned how to tell time by looking at the sun's location. As an adult, I use my cell phone for time and as an alarm clock. I can charge my phone by battery pack, laptop, and/or solar.

I don't own many plug-in or battery operated things, and I don't like to buy batteries all the time. I do have a wind-up clock but the ticking can be a powerful noise when laying awake at night.
 
I never wear a watch now and can see no reason I would want to have one if things went bad. One of my sons is into watches and has several of the self-winding ones. I could borrow one from him if I needed one.
For a year or more battery clocks will work I would think no matter what happened. I do have many rechargeable batteries and could keep a couple clocks working using my solar charger for many years.
 
I did buy a ladies pocket watch today. I wanted something I could wind. Figure to get an alarm clock a bit later either online or a local store.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B073VNYMGQ/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

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tiffanysgallery said:
... I use my cell phone for time and as an alarm clock. I can charge my phone by battery pack, laptop, and/or solar. ...
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I believe our cell phone's get their timing from the cellular network. I believe this because when I go from one time zone to another my cell phone clock automatically adds or subtracts and hour. Cellular network goes down so does the clock accuracy of our cells phones to the point of total degradation?
 
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The Lazy L said:
I believe our cell phone's get their timing from the cellular network. I believe this because when I go from one time zone to another my cell phone clock automatically adds or subtracts and hour. Cellular network goes down so does the clock accuracy of our cells phones to the point of total degradation?
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The cell phones do synchronize their time to the cell network at times but also keep their own internal clock when they cannot get to the network. The accuracy is fine for a few weeks if we didn’t have the network up so it isn’t a problem unless, of course, the network is no longer available ever again. I could use my cell phone until those few weeks are up and then go from there...
 
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I have 2 windup clocks with alarms that I got at walmart years ago. we also have a grandfather clock that hubby's grandad put together from a kit. it runs on batteries and we have the weights and chain for it to run by winding up
as for a watch I have a solar casio pathfinder that works well but has now for some reason become 7 mins fast. I'm considering finding a windup wrist watch but the ones I've seen so far sure do cost a pretty penny. I'd prefer a man's watch as they have a larger face and I like being able to see the time easily lol
 
I can't wear watches. There is something about my chemistry or electromagnetic field that either magnetizes them or kills the electronics. I can use a stick and a compass to tell when it is noon (solar local time) but that isn't going to matter when you spend most of the waking time working in the fields or with the animals and sleep when the sun goes down.
Military type raids? Any war like activities will be by small groups that are local and timed by the situation as it presents itself. You won't have to be concerned with planned attacks across long distances timed to seconds from each other because you won't know of anyone outside hollering distance. Without "the grid" you won't have long range communication because your radio traffic will be tracked back to you within seconds. Within a short time after that you will be arrested or killed.
 
@SheepDog - you are right, but I'm thinking about telling family I'll be back in 2 hours, and having a way to time that. That type of scene.

It will keep worry down when someone is concerned and thinking 15 minutes is 2 hours because they are just waiting on pins and needles, and the person out goes 3 hours as they are so involved in what they are doing, they don't know so much time has passed.

Also, cooking.... knowing to go back and check on something in slow cooker, or such would be good. Not having to be there to watch it often.

Not just 'war' events.
 
How would we know when to watch "As the World Turns" without a watch?

Back in the day, it was common for the town to have a clock tower. The clock would chime so all knew the time. Keeping time is a convenience that few would want to give up.

Back in another life I was a baker. I ran three to six ovens with two pans in each oven. I would know which oven and which pan was ready when. You really can develop your internal clock.
 
Angie,
You learn to expect folks back by sundown or the next day by lunch. Hours and minutes don't mean much and chores keep you busy enough that you don't notice until meal time.
Cooking is a different experience without a time keeper. When you smell the baked potatoes they are nearly done - the same goes for bread and cakes. Stews and soups you watch over a bit more but the smells start before it is done too. When all the smells of my chili start to blend I know that I need to watch it because it is just a few moments from being ready. I watched my grandmother cook pancakes and biscuits on and in a wood stove. She used a bit of spittle to tell when the griddle was at the right temperature for the hotcakes and the oven had a door mounted thermometer that read medium, and hot and she had learned where the needle needed to be to cook her biscuits. She used that wood stove for her whole life except for about a month when grandad bought her a new electric range. After burning everything for that month she made him reinstall the wood stove.
Time is just measured differently when you live by the sun. The minutes and hours have less meaning and the time is measured by the task at hand.
 
Terri9630 said:
The only thing I think I'd really need a time for is canning. I have 2 wind up timers for that.
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Hey! Those wind up cooking timers are very manually operated and won't be effected by a power out. Very cool.
 
Something that I built for my parents quite a few years ago was a nice tall case clock. I remember that the movement for it cost more than the stuff the case was made out of (wood, glass, finish). It runs for about a week on a single winding and is now adjusted such that it keeps excellent time. I can imagine such would be useful for time-keeping. The one I built doesn't have it but some keep track of the months and moon phases, too.
 
PopPopT said:
Something that I built for my parents quite a few years ago was a nice tall case clock. ... I can imagine such would be useful for time-keeping. ...
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Too point. What about when the A/C and heat no longer function, clock cabinet wood takes on moisture and the movement is affected by wide temperature variations?
 
The Lazy L said:
Too point. What about when the A/C and heat no longer function, clock cabinet wood takes on moisture and the movement is affected by wide temperature variations?
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What happens when the oceans rise 25 feet, our sun goes dark, and we have another ice age?

The point was, it's a good clock that is totally mechanical and keeps good time. It would be difficult to subject the thing to enough temperature and humidity variations that the accuracy of the thing would be affected significantly, at least within any temperature and humidity range a person would want to live in.

If you want to use the "end of the world as we know it" scenarios, I can see how a good tall case clock along with a few good wind-up watches could do a pretty good job of keeping time and also adding some redundancy.

But hey, that's just an opinion...
 
PopPopT said:
...The point was, it's a good clock that is totally mechanical and keeps good time. It would be difficult to subject the thing to enough temperature and humidity variations that the accuracy of the thing would be affected significantly, at least within any temperature and humidity range a person would want to live in..
Click to expand...

The OP, "I've been thinking about this as in many of the prepper fiction books, no one usually knows what time it is as their phones and tablets, or electric clocks stop working." is what my overall replies were to.

Church piano was always going out of tune. Turns out that when the sanctuary heat was turned down during the week (unoccupied) the temperature change was affecting the piano's tune. We put a small heater in the piano which solved that problem. Cuckoo clock I had would gain or lose time dependent on the humidity.

SHTF for the wife is her hair blow dyer isn't working and she's late again for an appointment.

SHTF for me is the I'm down to my last magazine and the hordes are still coming.

Your definition of SHTF could be a third variation.

Sounds like you took time to build a quality time piece for your parents and I'm sure the weather elements would not effected it like other mass produced clocks would be.
 
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