Tick, Tick, Tick: How a Loud Watch Changed the Way I Think

I’d been chasing the perfect field watch for a while. I went through a few—too bulky, too flashy, too fragile—until I found the one: the Timex Expedition.

It looked right. Felt right. Worked right. The bezel sat low so it didn’t snag on my sleeve—tick. The strap was rugged but soft—tick. The face was clean, easy to read in low light—tick. And it had the Indiglo backlight I wanted—tick, tick, tick. It was everything I was looking for.

Except for one thing.

It was loud.

I mean loud. Eardrum bursting, toddler screaming in the grocery store loud!

Lying in bed—tick, tick, tick. Reading—tick, tick, tick. Driving—tick, tick, tick. Every moment of stillness? There it was—tick, tick, tick. It didn’t matter that the watch functioned perfectly—I couldn’t stop hearing it.

So I got rid of it.

I put the Timex aside and went back to one of the lesser watches I’d tested before. Was the new watch quieter? Sure, but the bezel was too tall—silence. It kept catching on my cuff—silence. The face was hard to read—silence. The strap didn’t sit right—silence. No nightlight, no clarity, no comfort—silence, silence, silence. Now everything about the new watch pissed me off.

The problem wasn’t the tick. The problem was my focus on the tick.

So I went back to the Timex.

Same watch. Same tick.

But this time, I changed how I thought about the tick.

Now, every tick became a reminder. Of the perfect bezel height—tick. Of the soft, worn-in strap—tick. Of the low profile that slid under sleeves without snagging—tick. Of the crystal that refused to scratch—tick. Of the light that glowed just right at 3 a.m.—tick.

I stopped hearing the tick as a flaw. I started hearing it as a reminder. A signal that I had found something that worked perfectly, even if it wasn't perfect.

And over time, I stopped hearing the tick and embraced it.

I Started Applying It to Life

PTSD recovery, work stress, relationships, therapy—every part of life has a tick.

That one annoying feature. That flaw that drowns out the good. That itch you keep scratching until you forget what the itch was.

Relationships tick. Work ticks. Life ticks.

If all you ever hear is the tick, then that’s all you’ll think about. And if that’s all you focus on, you’ll eventually throw out something that is actually perfect. All because of a sound that isn't even loud.

The watch didn’t Change. My mindset did.

The Tactical Camper Lesson

When all you hear is the

tick, you have two options:

1. Obsess over the sound and spiral.

2. Zoom out. Look at the whole watch.

Life’s best tools are rarely perfect. Neither are people. Neither are you.

Sometimes, the tick is part of the solution.

And the moment you learn to shift your mindset from flaw to function, you stop hearing it as a problem—you embrace the shake.

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This reflection draws on my experiences growing up on the lakes and rivers of Muskoka, leading countless self-directed wilderness excursions, and later retiring as a Sergeant in the Canadian Armed Forces and in law enforcement as a Tactical Officer. The Tactical Camper philosophy is built from a lifetime of outdoor exploration, operational deployments, specialized tactical training during 22 years of uniformed service, and years of PTSD recovery — adapted to guide resilience, preparedness, and leadership in everyday life.