A potentially lifesaving timepiece
Garmin D2 Mach 2 Pro
Bush pilots have long defined essential survival gear as that which they physically attach to their person. Following an emergency egress from a stricken airplane, only those items secured in a pilot’s vest, zipped pockets, or tethers are likely to remain. Everything else must be considered optional because survivors may not have access to it if the airplane burns, or its contents are strewn across an inaccessible area.
Garmin’s high-end D2 Mach 2 Pro is the first aviation smartwatch that doubles as essential survival gear. The Mach2 Pro contains a built-in satellite messenger that can provide GPS position information, as well as details about the wearer’s status, to Garmin’s emergency coordination center at the touch of a few buttons.
I’ve owned various Garmin watches for the past five years, and the D2 Mach 2 Pro is a quantum leap in price, capability, and battery life.
First of all, price. This watch is expensive at $1,550. Using all its features also requires about $15 in monthly Garmin subscriptions (an inReach subscription and Garmin Connect).
The Mach 2 Pro is hefty. It weighs 3.1 ounces, or nearly twice as much as a Garmin D2 Air at 1.7 ounces. Most of the Mach 2 Pro’s bulk is in a remarkable battery that can go 24 days without recharging, far longer than other Garmin watches. It’s also got an easily readable 51-millimeter face, which gives it about 15 percent more area than other Garmin aviation watches.
The Mach 2 Pro’s most useful aviation features include an internal LED flashlight that’s adjustable in intensity and can switch between white and red; a pulse oximeter and heart rate monitor that activates automatically during flight to monitor pilot health at altitude; constantly updated aviation weather with METARs, terminal aerodrome forecasts, and graphical navigation displays; a dedicated Coordinated Universal Time display; and a stopwatch.
The Mach 2 Pro provides navigation information via an internal GPS like other Garmin aviation watches. And it links to the Garmin Pilot app to build and share flight plans (but not ForeFlight).
The Mach 2 Pro provides a dizzying array of nonflying functions. Frankly, however, most of my time setting up the watch for my own use was spent disabling the golfing, target shooting, sleep monitoring, dog tracking, and other functions that I never intend to use.
I flew with the Mach 2 Pro in a variety of aircraft and thoroughly appreciated the built-in flashlight, pulse oximeter, continuous weather updates, and automatic flight logging. My nits were that the watch requires a dedicated charging cord instead of a universal USB-C connection. And connecting to other devices via Bluetooth, using internal GPS, and brightening the display all dramatically reduce battery life.
Pilots tend to have long, deep, and complicated relationships with their aviation watches. These accessories do much more than tell time. They can be attractive status symbols that proudly proclaim their wearers are members of an elite group. They’re trusted tools that pilots rely on before, during, and after every flight. And they’re faithful companions that never miss one of our flying trips.
The Mach 2 Pro is all these things, as well as a satellite messenger that might just save a life in a pinch. No one enjoys paying for apps they hope never to use, but if you ever need it, the satellite SOS feature built into this watch could be priceless.
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