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jreyn1944
05-11-2012, 10:53
Good day,

My name is John Reynolds. My son, Ed Reynolds, disappeared three years ago while tramping in New Zealand’s Nelson Lakes Park on the south island.

Ed thru-hiked the AT in 2006. His trail handle was Fireman. We think he got this name because, when he started his hike, he was so out of shape that he stopped in the first shelter right after lunch, and always had a fire going when the others arrived later in the day.

In 2008 he hiked the Pacific Crest Trail.

We attended the inquest into his probable death in Nelson New Zealand on the 4th of April. At the inquest, a question arose concerning the probability of a strapless watch found on the St James Walkway belonging to Ed. We know that Ed cut the straps off of his watch, as we saw him do it before he left for New Zealand, saying it was to save weight.

The New Zealand police think the watch was dropped by another tramper.

Here is a link to a news article reporting the finding of the watch: http://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/news/3109815/Watch-find-may-be-vital

I have been making inquiries of other hikers/trampers to find out if others typically remove their watch straps, to save weight, or for any other reason.

If we can't contact/locate others who have removed their watch straps, then we can make an argument to the police that the found watch without straps was probably not dropped by another tramper, since we couldn't find or contact anyone else in the tramper/hiker community who has done this, ergo it must be Ed's watch. Either he dropped it or somebody else dropped it.

Thus I pose the following questions:

1. Have any of you removed the straps from your watch?

2. Have you ever heard of anyone removing the straps from their watch to save weight, or any other reason? If so can you provide contact information for that person?

Any assistance you can provide will be much appreciated.

Kind regards, Nga mihi

perrymk
05-11-2012, 11:08
I'm sorry for your loss.

As a suggestion, can the watch, particularly the area protected by the stem, be tested for DNA? This would be your best evidence. If there are photos of him holding the strapless watch this is good also.

PapaGarrettP
05-11-2012, 11:14
I have never cut the straps from my watch.
It seems ridiculous to me to do so, although if the watch was only going to be used as an alarm I suppose it could make sense.
I have never heard of anyone removing the straps from his or her watch.

Feral Bill
05-11-2012, 11:40
I've never heard of removing a watchband as a weight saver. Customs in NZ may be different.

Slo-go'en
05-11-2012, 12:41
I have a friend who carries a strapless wrist watch in his pocket, because he doesn't like having one straped to his wrist. As a carpenter, that can be dangerous. But I can't say it's a common practice for hikers to do.

Unless you know the make and model of the watch your son wore, it would be really hard to say for sure if the one found was his. It doesn't take a whole lot for the straps to come off of a watch - it's only held in place with a spring loaded pin.

daddytwosticks
05-11-2012, 14:09
Very sorry for your loss...

While hiking, I don't wear a watch on my wrist, hence no strap. The straps of my hiking poles would get caught up on the watch band/strap when wearing a wrist watch in the conventional spot. This is done for comfort, not weigh savings.

solobip
05-11-2012, 14:17
Condolences on your loss, I have never cut my watch straps, nor know anyone else who hikes with a wrist watch to do so either, for weight or any oher reason.

leaftye
05-11-2012, 14:19
I'm sorry about your son.

About the straps, I haven't explicitly tried taking the straps off a watch...yet. My watch doesn't have straps though. They kept getting ripped off for whatever reason, and now I keep it strapless in my pocket. I think I'll do this with my next watch if I ever lose or break the one I have right now.

oldbear
05-11-2012, 14:58
Sorry about your loss
I'm one of those guys that feels naked w/o a watch
I'm also one of those guys that sweats a lot.
So in order to avoid nasty under my watch skin funk when I hiking in hot weather , I take my watch off of my wrist and wear it chef -style on my pack strap .
When pin failure is the reason for a watch to come off of a strap , one pin fails and one pin remains attached to the watch

Miner
05-11-2012, 14:58
Even after a thru-hike on the PCT in 2009, I never saw or heard of anyone that cut their watch straps off for a weight savings. Its more common to not carry a watch at all to save weight. I have seen hikers carry a watch in which the strap BROKE off during their hike though (but part of the broken strap remained). For my upcoming AT thru-hike, I bought a watch that has a carbiner to hook on my pack so I don't have to wear a strap on my wrist as I found on the PCT it often got hung up on my pack when I would put it on.

quilteresq
05-11-2012, 21:23
I just took a wilderness first aid class last weekend - several of the folks who were renewing their certification had strapless watches attached to their packs. You need a watch with a second hand to time a pulse. Other than that, I've never seen it.

SunnyWalker
05-11-2012, 21:44
Dear Mr. Reynolds
Your son Ed sounds like he would have been a lot of fun to hike with on the trail. Please accept my sympathy and condolences in his passing. I hope the events of his death become clear.
In hiking and backpacking since 1962 I have seen hikers try to save weight in many ways. However, I have never observed a backpacker cut off watch straps to save weight.

jreyn1944
05-12-2012, 14:28
Dear Mr. Reynolds
Your son Ed sounds like he would have been a lot of fun to hike with on the trail. Please accept my sympathy and condolences in his passing. I hope the events of his death become clear.
In hiking and backpacking since 1962 I have seen hikers try to save weight in many ways. However, I have never observed a backpacker cut off watch straps to save weight.

Yes, Ed was a very funny guy, great sense of humor. Here are links to a couple of videos posted on U Tube:

The Crossing Appalachian Trail 2006: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rr0OL7idTKM&feature=related

The Lizard Pacific Crest Trail 2008: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pV6YFoaEDsk

rocketsocks
05-12-2012, 14:46
Very sorry to hear about your son,I too have a watch with no trap that I just carry in my pocket.Hope you are able to continue the investigation and that it brings you some peace.regards RS

jreyn1944
05-21-2012, 19:15
How did you remove the watch straps?

Boots73
05-21-2012, 19:57
Sorry about you loss. When I worked in the woods I would put my watch looped over my belt because I didn't want get the bug repellent all over them or the watch itself.... I have also carried a watch with no straps in my pocket... I now loop a watch on my shoulder strap so I can check it when I want to but don't have to be bothered with it if I don't care about the time.

jreyn1944
05-22-2012, 07:54
How did you remove your watch straps?