MTM Special Ops Thunderhawk review

MTM Special Ops watches are the Guns and Ammo magazine of watches. Used by actual soldiers in Britain and the US, they are very shockproof, waterproof to 100m, and contain useful soldier stuff. This one, for example, contains a big, dazzling LED light. 

All good fun and all, but you do always have a sneaking suspicion that if someone is over the age of 16, not a soldier, and owns one of these, they might well be a psychopath.

Torching a good game

This one has few surprises – it’s very similar to the one Jack Bauer wears in 24, but has a big torch instead of a chronograph. It’s pretty cool, chucking out enough light to see you home when you’re camping or light up a whole room when you’re not, and charges up on a main’s charging cradle.

Otherwise, this is a big, cuff-shredding lump of metal that tells the time – and nothing short of a nuclear blast is going to stop it doing its job.

More gadgets required

But for something that bills itself as a Special Ops watch, you just have this nagging feeling that maybe, just maybe, it needs a couple more gadgets in there. Like, don’t SAS guys and Navy Seals need GPS things, or little radios – or maybe a James Bond grappling hook thing? 

Evidently not. The real thing – and Kiefer Sutherland – seem happy to settle for MTM Special Ops watches. And if we want to be as tough and blokey as them, perhaps we should too…