Garmin Instinct 3 Solar Tactical Sports Watch for Outdoor Adventures

I’ve been using the Garmin Instinct 3 Solar Tactical Sports Watch for most of the year and, so far, it has been the ultimate outdoor watch.

I’m using this watch as my everyday watch, but mainly for activities in hiking and backpacking, trail running, cycling, weight training, and even yoga.

When buying a sports watch for my fitness and outdoor adventures, the key things that I’m looking for are durability, battery life, and accuracy in tracking my activities.

This is my review of the Garmin Instinct 3 Solar Tactical Sports Watch and how I use it specifically for me, my needs, and my goals.

What is the Garmin Instinct 3 Solar Tactical Watch?

The Garmin Instinct 3 Solar Tactical Watch is a special version of the Instinct 3 that adds solar charging and tactical features.

This watch has a solar charging feature built into it. While wearing it in exposed and direct sunlight, the watch will charge to its full charging point, which is 40 days. The charging happens automatically, and you don’t have to set anything up for it to do it.

The tactical edition includes many different key features that would benefit advanced adventurers, law enforcement, and military personnel. The tactical edition passes military standards and grading. It also makes the watch rugged-proof and comes in tactical styling.

The Garmin Instinct 3 Solar Tactical sports watch is great for outdoor fitness, adventuring, law enforcement operations, and military personnel.

There are three versions of this watch, including the Garmin Instinct 3, which is the basic version without solar or tactical features. The Instinct 3 Solar includes the solar charging ability. The Instinct 3 Solar Tactical (my watch) includes the basics, solar, and tactical features.

Key Features of the Garmin Instinct 3 Solar Tactical Watch

Now let’s look at the key features of the Garmin Instinct 3 Solar Tactical watch.

Solar Charging and Battery Performance

Solar charging is done through the built-in technology within the glass of the watch. As long as the glass is exposed to direct sunlight, the watch will charge through solar charging. I chose the 50mm size to give me the largest face.

The watch fully charges at around 40 days of battery life. So far, I’ve never even got close to it losing all of its charge. However, it will not last 40 straight days if you’re using all of the features and through heavy use, but it will still last for a long time.

The battery life is as follows:

• With significant solar exposure, the watch will remain charged for 40 days.
• In battery saving mode, the watch may remain functional for up to 100 days.
• Using GPS, the watch will stay charged for up to 60 hours.
• Using all satellite systems, the watch will stay charged for around 40 hours.

The watch battery life increases in all of the above situations as long as the solar charging panel on the glass has direct sunlight.

I rarely use solar charging because I use the watch more for hiking and trail running. However, I usually have to charge it once every 1 to 2 weeks using the cord. It charges really fast, and the battery life is better than anything else I’ve used.

Rugged Military-Grade Build

The Garmin Instinct 3 Solar Tactical sports watch is very ruggedly designed, and it’s a military-grade build.

This watch meets the MIL-STD-810 compliance. This means the watch has been tested to meet US Department of Defense standards for durability and reliability in hazardous and unstable environments. Needless to say, this watch would be favored for use by US Military personnel.

This watch is very waterproof. I’ve used it in creeks and rivers that I’ve swam and waded in, and I shower with it on. The waterproof depth of this watch is 100 meters.

Since the watch passed the MIL-STD-810 compliance, it is very shock-resistant and thermal-resistant. The compliance required it to be tested in shock, high, and low temperature environments. This watch is very shock-resistant and thermal-resistant.

The glass of the watch uses Power Glass™, which is not only very strong but also has solar charging built into it. This glass is a product of Garmin. I’ve bumped the glass of my watch on all sorts of things pretty hard, and there haven’t been any scuff marks or breaks at all.

Tactical-Specific Capabilities

There are a lot of features on the Garmin Instinct 3 Solar Tactical watch that relate to its tactical nature.

There is a ballistics solver tool integrated within it that has to be unlocked with a separate fee. I don’t use this feature. However, so you know, it helps identify the trajectory of a bullet to make precise adjustments for long-range rifle shooting.

Stealth mode is for safety. It allows you to disabled all wireless communication and GPS track logging. This allows you to “go dark” when you feel it’s needed, such as if your current situation has become dangerous.

Dual-position GPS is an interesting feature on this watch. It coordinates in a standard position format (latitude and longitude). However, you can also use an additional selected format that you want to use besides it.

Night-vision mode capability is another feature of the tactical version of this watch. This allows the watch to be compatible with night-vision devices and goggles. As I’ve stated above, there are many helpful features for military and law enforcement personnel.

Kill switch is a feature I really like. It’s great if you get into a situation where you don’t want people to know what area you were just in. You can press a button, and it will wipe your watch clean just as a kill switch should do.

Full Outdoor Sports Tracking Suite

The Garmin Instinct 3 Solar Tactical watch gives me everything I need to perform my favorite outdoor activities, including:

• Hiking
• Trail Running
• Mountain Biking
• Road Biking
• Yoga
• Weight Training
• Navigation
• Maps and data fields
• HR + HRV + VO2 features
• Plus other modes that other people would use, like running, swimming, sports, etc.

Health and Wellness Tracking

What I love about the Garmin Instinct 3 Solar Tactical watch is the health and wellness tracking features.

I use it every night to track my sleeping performance. It will tell me how good or bad a night’s sleep I got. It also shows me how many hours and minutes of sleep I actually got each night.

The watch will monitor my stress level. It will give me a detailed report on how stressed I have been throughout the day. If stress becomes an emergency issue, the watch will alert me to an issue.

Body battery is a great feature. It will determine how “charged” your internal body battery is. This will help you understand those days when you just don’t feel like doing anything.

HR zones will measure your heart rate zones. When my heart is showing unstable signs, the watch will alert me to what the problem is. This is critical in helping me understand when I might be having heart issues that I need to pay special attention to.

Real World Experience Using the Garmin Instinct 3 Solar Tactical Watch

This is my real-world experience on how I have been using the Garmin Instinct 3 Solar Tactical sports watch.

For Hiking

The main reason I wanted the watch is for GPS accuracy. It uses multi-band GPS. This gives me a more accurate view of my activity tracking data.

The elevation tracking on the watch is out of this world. It uses a barometric altimeter. This gives me the most accurate information about elevation gain during my activities.

Breadcrumb navigation allows me to set breadcrumbs. This will help me go off-trail when I need to and keep myself from getting lost. This will especially be helpful when hiking at night, and I suddenly lose the trail.

There are safety features that give me peace of mind. There is a built-in flashlight that is very bright, just in case I need it. The phone will also send messages to my loved ones if it detects that I have been involved in some kind of incident.

I mainly love this watch because of the battery life. I’ve used it on very long day hikes, and it stays charged. I even use it on backpacking trips without using battery saving mode, and it stays charged the whole time.

For Trail Running

I started trail running earlier in the year and needed a watch that could perform under the extremes of running single-track trails in the middle of the backcountry.

The watch sits comfortably on my wrist. There was no chaffing or unwanted movement during my run sessions. It also feels secure on my wrist the entire time.

The data the watch collects is very useful for me. It helps me judge my training and what areas I need to work on. The Garmin app makes data collection and understanding a very simple task, placed right on my smartphone.

Heart rate accuracy is a feature that is important to me. It allows me to see how I’m performing on my runs. The watch makes this a very simple piece of data to observe and track for my future activities.

I wore this watch as I ran my first half-marathon trail run in the middle of August. It performed very well and gave me absolutely no problems. The next day, the built-in training plan even told me to rest instead of going on a hike.

For Biking

I have a computer for my road, mountain, and gravel cycling adventures. However, I just have one computer and often forget to grab it when I go on different bikes. My Garmin Instinct 3 Solar Tactical watch comes in handy for when I forget my bike computer, as it’s always on my wrist.

This watch will send data to my Garmin app. I have Strava connected to my Garmin, and Garmin will push the data over to Strava. This makes it a lot easier to see my activity and how to ride was on both Garmin’s experience as well as Strava’s experience.

The speed and distance accuracy are very nice on this watch. I can see how fast I’m going, my average, and my top speed. It will also give me a more accurate distance because it’s using multi-band features.

I have a cadence and speed sensor on my gravel bike that connects to my Garmin bike computer. However, if I forgot the bike computer, the components are also compatible with my Garmin Instinct 3 Solar Tactical watch. This makes using my sensors easy, whether I bring the bike computer or not.

I can ride for a long time, and the watch battery lasts well. If I ride the road in the sun, the solar charger will keep the watch fully charged the whole time I’m riding. I once rode for an hour in the sun when the watch was at 10 days left, and when I was done, it was at its 40-day max charging point.

For Yoga and Weight Training

I’m just now getting into yoga and weight training. So, I don’t have a lot to report on this. However, the watch has modes for both of these activities, which makes it great so that I can also track my data for those for performance improvement.

It will track my heart rate and set that I do when I practice these activities. Your heart rate is important when you’re trying to develop muscle and lose weight. It also has great features to help you advance in weight training.

Stress level tracking is another good metric for both yoga and weight training. These two activities are better done when you’re in your right mind. It will monitor your stress and report on it so that you can take action to reduce stress if needed.

Pros and Cons of the Garmin Instinct 3 Solar Tactical Watch

Here are some pros and cons of using the Garmin Instinct 3 Solar Tactical sports watch.

Pros

• Solar charging
• Tactical features
• Rugged durability
• Long battery life
• Outdoor-sport depth

Cons

• Not a full AMOLED display
• Not full topo maps
• Software learning curve
• Price (It’s around $500)

Who is the Garmin Instinct 3 Solar Tactical Watch Best For?

• Hikers
• Trail runners
• Cyclists
• Backpackers
• Tactical and emergency responders
• Military personnel
• Preppers

This watch is not for those who need basic sports watch features for a budget price. The watch isn’t cheap, but you do get what you pay for, which is a lot of features. A standard sports watch with all these bells and whistles is still too likely to give you the results you desire.

Garmin Instinct 3 Solar Tactical Watch vs. Other Watches

I used the Garmin Vivoactive series sports watch before buying this watch. My Vivoactive was one of the first versions of that series and worked great. However, when deep in the woods, the GPS accuracy wasn’t always working, which led me to find a different sports watch.

I primarily used the Apple Watch for most of my activities. However, I have to charge that watch every day to use it, and it would commonly die during longer hikes, leaving me with inaccurate trail data. I hated trying to text or call with the Apple Watch, but I can still read texts with my Garmin Instinct 3 Solar Tactical watch, so that’s really a nice feature to have.

Pricing and Warranty

As I stated, the price of this watch is around $500. You might get it a little cheaper during annual sale periods and seasons, though. I bought mine from REI using  some REI gift cards I had, and enjoying the rewards point system that REI provides for purchases.

The warranty, like most technology, is one year from the purchase date, but it doesn’t include damage that you have done to it.

Final Verdict

I highly recommend getting the Garmin Instinct 3 Solar Tactical sports watch because it has a lot of great features, is highly accurate, has excellent battery life with the solar benefit, and looks really good.

You can buy this watch from REI using my affiliate link. My link will not impact your price, but I will earn a commission if you buy the watch using the link.

If you enjoyed this review and you want to support me for taking the time to write and publish it, I’d love to invite you to become a Patreon Member to get more while helping support Hiking with Shawn.

Be sure you’re subscribed to my free monthly newsletter for more exclusive hiking tips, gear reviews, and upcoming local events in and around the Shawnee National Forest.

And until next time, I’ll see you on the trail!