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My G9000 Mudman arrived, pics and first impressions inside.

5K views 31 replies 17 participants last post by  ezwip 
#1 · (Edited)
Hi guys, I wasn't expecting it for another couple of days at least but lo and behold! It came today. So I'm accustomed to wearing 5600 and 6600 and 6900 series G's and have a great amount of respect for them. A few weeks ago I became interested in a Mudman. Not really sure why. I think a lot of it has to do with aesthetics, I love the double buckle and all the doubled up holes in the strap. I love the covered buttons but beyond aesthetics I love the idea that this watch is impossibly tough (like most G's) and available for about $65 if you shop around.

Here's a bit of background if you're interested. If not feel free to skip to the pics! I'd never considered a Mudman previously for several reasons. 1) I thought that they were going to be too big. 2) I felt on some level that I couldn't really justify having a watch with the moniker 'Master of G'. 3) I thought they were a LOT more expensive than they are. Granted this is the cheapest model you can buy but still, for the money it is an awful lot of watch in a very nice package.

First impressions are that it is not as big as I thought it would be. You get people on both sides of the fence on this issue but for me that's a good thing. I don't want a watch that hangs off my wrist attracting all kinds of hazards at work or during active recreation. I also just don't like the aesthetic of obnoxiously big watches, which is totally a personal thing and I'm not judging anyone else's draw to big, bulky timepieces, I realize that they are very much 'in' at the moment. I'm very utilitarian in my view of certain things. To me a watch is a tool. It should function exactly as I need it to and only be as big as it needs to be to serve it's purpose well. In this respect I think Casio have done a great job with this model, it's very well balanced size-wise and one of my favorite things about it is that it doesn't stand very high off of the wrist like my 6600/ 6900's. Fit and finish is just staggering. I'm blown away at how high quality the watch feels to handle. The display is remarkably crisp and the backlight is a nice kind of spearmint green as opposed to the blue on my other G's. The buttons, the infamous buttons. Yes, they're definitely harder to push than on my other G's but not by a whole lot and not nearly as much as I was expecting. In fact, I rather enjoy the buttons, stiffness and all, it gives the watch a sense of toughness. The fact that they are red also does not bother me as much as I thought it would, however I will still be dying them black (probably this evening). Comfort wise the watch is fantastic. The resin band is very comfortable, the watch as a whole is very light, the clasp feels very secure. The strap keeper is, as has been mentioned by others, a little too loose but it's too early to tell if I'll have an issue with the end of the strap staying in place. I'll probably post an update with some more observations/ thoughts in the near further.

So that's about it, sorry to bore you all with my ramblings, hopefully what I've written is useful to someone.. now on to the pics!











 
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#2 ·
I just bought a G9000-1V on the bay this afternoon. :-!

I thought about getting the black one, and the one with purple accents was a close second, but liked the overall color scheme of the plain Jane model. I don't own a G with a negative display and from what I understand they're kind of hard to see, and this looked a lot easier for me to read. It's the 3rd G I've purchased in the last week too, so the relatively cheap price was a factor as well.

I hear you can boil the resin to soften it up so it isn't as stiff and the buttons are easier to push.
 
#4 ·
Yeah, they are good looking for sure. I'm ok with the buttons too, I keep thinking that it's probably more of a feature than a flaw in that it does something to eliminate accidental button pressing. Just my opinion.

I just bought a G9000-1V on the bay this afternoon. :-!

I thought about getting the black one, and the one with purple accents was a close second, but liked the overall color scheme of the plain Jane model. I don't own a G with a negative display and from what I understand they're kind of hard to see, and this looked a lot easier for me to read. It's the 3rd G I've purchased in the last week too, so the relatively cheap price was a factor as well.

I hear you can boil the resin to soften it up so it isn't as stiff and the buttons are easier to push.
Congrats! I'm sure you'll love it. I'm far more impressed than I thought I'd be. I've heard of the boiling thing too. I am probably going to dye the buttons black which will require the watch to be immersed in a simmering dye/water mixture for 20-30 mins. I'll report back with any changes I notice.
 
#5 ·
Well. Just finished the dye job. Used a whole packet of Rit dye to about 3 pints of water and let it simmer for close to 50 mins. After 30 mins the buttons looked black as the night but when I rinsed the bezel I could still see red so I decided to let it go a little longer. After simmering in a 50/50 vinegar/ water solution to try to fix the dye it seems that some of the dye has bled out of the buttons leaving them a kind of very dark brown with a reddish tint. In low light they look black. I'll probably try again tomorrow. Might use a different dye. I followed the clearest instructions I found online as closely as possible. I'll get some pictures up tomorrow.

So as far as the buttons and strap feel - The strap feels a little more flexible/ supple, this could be temporary, we'll have to wait and see. It was already a very comfortable strap so no complaints there. Oddly the strap keeper seems to have tightened itself up a little. This could also be a dye/ hot/ cold kind of temporary chemical effect too so we'll have to wait and see if it stays that way. Buttons - Maybe a very small amount of difference. If I could buy a G9000 with black buttons off the shelf I wouldn't bother boiling the bezel and strap, too little difference for me to justify. The watch now smells like dye (kind of a paint smell) and vinegar. Not the nice new plastic smell it had earlier today, hopefully that wears off.

I'll try dyeing the bezel again but will probably leave the strap out of it. If I can't get proper black buttons from the dye I'll most likely end up just buying a GW9000 bezel for it. in fact maybe I'll buy a GW9000 anyway.. I think I have a sort of weird love affair going on with muddies at the moment.
 
#8 ·
Thanks wuyeah! Hey you're right! I didn't notice until I read your post but there's orange, green and red on the watch that match some of the color in my tattoo.

Congrats mattsd! I think the 9000 ' s are just tremendous watches and amazing toughness per $!! Enjoy and wear in good health! :beer:

sent with aloha
I agree! Tremendous amount of watch for the money! There's some pics of the dye job I just redid coming shortly..
 
#10 ·
Dude, that looks incredible! I never knew you could dye a watch before this. I have been wanting a mudman that is blacked out but with positive display. This is absolutely perfect! Will the dye wear off eventually or is this permanent? Also, if you ever have the time and feel like explaining how you did this step by step I would REALLY appreciate it. That is the nicest looking Mudman I've ever seen. Congrats on a job super well done!
 
#11 · (Edited)
J. Harris, thank you very much for the kind words. I wanted the same thing as you, a black understated Mudman with a positive display. I like the idea of negative displays a lot but whenever I actually see them they seem to be a little harder to read at a glance. From what I've read the Muddies with the negative displays are supposed to be some of the easiest to read of any of the Casio negatives, particularly the green one, if I remember correctly, however, if you're still looking for a stealthy Mudman with a pos. display here's how I did it:

You'll need:

1 packet of Rit powder dye (black), I used the smallest one I could find at Joanne's Fabrics, I think most craft/ fabric stores will have it.
1 micro screwdriver (I used size 0 for both the bezel retaining screws and the strap screws, there might be a more appropriate size for each but it worked fine for me).
1 Stainless steel pot, preferably a small one (about the size you'd use to boil 2 eggs). Don't use anything that has a teflon coating as the dye will stain it. Don't ask me how I discovered that.
1 small bottle of white vinegar
1 Mudman

Procedure:

Start with warm water in your pot and mix the packet of dye in.
Heat the solution on a low heat until it's simmering or close to it.
Submerge the bezel and straps (if you're dying them too). Start timing. 25-30 mins should be enough.
Bring to a simmer and stir occasionally, I stirred about once every 3-5 mins.
After the time has elapsed lift the bezel and straps out of the solution and rinse them under the faucet until the water runs clear. At this point it's safe to handle the parts without staining your hands. Give it a rub all over, use some dish or hand soap if you wish just to check that the dye has actually taken and isn't going to just wash off like it did on my first go round.
If the desired color has been achieved at this point you can get rid of your dye solution, clean the pot and make another solution of 1 part vinegar to 1 part water and simmer for another 20 mins. I personally didn't do this. I don't think it's necessary really so I skipped it. The first time I tried I used the vinegar bath and now my watch strap has a vinegar smell to it which I hope goes away.
If you're stopping here and not doing any painting or anything else just make sure you do give the parts a really good clean in water and then let everything totally dry out before reassembling and you're good to go. That's it! Enjoy your black Mudman!

Now, the first time I did this (last night) I believe I diluted the dye solution too much and it didn't dye the buttons fully black or change the shade of the logo etc. I used 1 packet of dye to about 3 pints of water. Today I did it with one packet of dye to just less than 1 pint water. It was a much more concentrated solution and worked great. I only did the bezel today, I left the straps alone so if you dye the straps at the same concentration as the bezel you'll probably 'stealth' the lettering on the straps too, personally I am glad I can still see the lettering on the straps, I think it looks cool. The bezel is a little darker than the straps but you have to really look to be able to tell.

Some tips/ observations:

Make sure you're covering the bezel with at least half an inch of the dye solution, the water level will change as you simmer it so you want to make sure it's still submerged after about 20-30 mins of simmering. This is where having a small enough pot is important, if you use something wide you'll have to add too much water to cover the bezel/ straps and end up with too weak of a solution to actually dye the watch. I guess if you only have a big pot you can double up on dye packets.

The bezel comes off a lot easier than I was expecting and is more rubbery/ flexible than I was expecting although I have heard that some people have had trouble getting the bezel off. Don't be afraid to roughhouse it a little if you need to. Reinstalling was a breeze, too. You do not need to remove the case back or any of the screws. Only the strap and bezel screws need to come out. You'll understand why once you do it.

Be careful with the screws and use the proper screwdriver. You don't want to strip anything. Make a mental note of how tightly they are installed and try to mimic this when you reinstall them. No need to tighten them down past where they naturally want to come to a firm stop (hope that makes sense).

Hmm, that's about all I can think of really. I was extremely concerned doing this and was expecting to fail miserably and possibly damage my new watch. I am pleasantly surprised and relieved to report that it really is easy, the most difficult thing is not getting dye all over your girlfriend's stove top and sink :/ (good old bleach came in handy).

I hope this helps and I'm sorry I didn't take any pictures of the procedure. I wanted to so I could do a write up but found myself so concerned with just getting through it that I didn't do any pictures as I'd planned. Anyway. The results speak for themselves and I think it's well worth doing if you like the look. Good luck and let us know if you decide to go for it, we'll all want to see pictures!

Also, to answer your question, no it should not fade or rub off or bleed on to anything else. It should be as permanent as the original resin color. Over time with light exposure or exposure to salt water/ chemicals it may change color but I would expect this of any watch. I have been wearing it all day, purposefully getting it wet and it hasn't left any color on my skin or clothes.

I know this is a really long post, I apologize for that but I wanted to include as much detail as possible. I had to look at about 15 posts to figure out how I was going to go about attempting it so hopefully this helps you and others that may want to attempt the dye job.
 
#12 ·
No need to apologize for the long post, it was exactly what I was hoping for! Thanks for taking the time to explain the procedure to me. I will definitely post the pictures when I get around to doing it. Probably won't be until sometime in the new year. Glad to hear the colour won't rub off as I plan on using this watch (hopefully) during my upcoming military training. Thanks again! I will update you as to how it goes for me! Hopefully mine turns out as good as yours did! Seriously, coolest Mudman ever
 
#15 ·
|> Great dye job, looks much better than those ridiculous red buttons. I did the same once to my G-9000-3V. Actually I like military coloured watches but I found an all-black much more interesting than olive:





cheers
 
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#16 ·
|> Great dye job, looks much better than those ridiculous red buttons. I did the same once to my G-9000-3V. Actually I like military coloured watches but I found an all-black much more interesting than olive:





cheers
I didn't like the red buttons at first but when I started to look at them as an homage to the original G-Shock II I started to warm up to them. Now I think it looks perfect.
 
#18 ·
The G9000 was my very first G and I can attest to its toughness and mud resistance. I have been stranded in the mountain with it because of heavy rains. We tried to descend the mountain but the paths were too muddy. To make matters worse, I suffered severe cramping and was forced to spend the whole night at the peak. Too bad I did not have any photos of my mud-covered mudman. But I know this specific model does live up to its label. Enjoy it and wear in great health :) Cheers.
 
#20 ·
#22 · (Edited)
UTC is Universal Time Coordinated, same as GMT Greenwich Mean Time and it is Time Zone 0, labeled UTC-0.
EST = Eastern Standard time is UTC-5,
On your watch set DST to ON and the watch will change to Eastern Daylight Time EDT.

The G-9000 does not have a UTC-0 time zone. Casio usually includes a UTC-0 zone on newer models but the 9000 got left out. So the LON (London) zone gets changed when DST is switched on.

On the other Casios with a UTC-0 zone, the watch does not change UTC-0 when activating DST.
 
#24 ·
For much of the early 2000s, with the exception of the GW-2XX Frogman, CASIO was producing sleek & small G-Shocks that also happened to appear a bit wimpy & soft, but in June 2006 with the release of the G-9000 Mudman, the Master-of-G made a comeback and there was finally a G with some muscular looking squared up sides. It was still small and lightweight as was the Riseman a couple of years later but both these watches brought some macho back to G-Shocks.

I think CASIO can easily continue to come out with new colorways of the G-9000 and sell them well. They did a couple of camo versions but it was just the strap. This G is a good choice for full woodland camo. For hunting & fishing, the G-9000 is an appealing choice. I think response would be good if CASIO continued the camo craze with new camo G-9000s.
 
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