The Casio Pro Trek series is the brand’s lineup of feature-packed sports watches specifically created for hiking, camping, and exploring the great outdoors. While the Pro Trek collection has always had its own unique identity and offered features that aligned with its outdoor-inspired concept, it has really only been within recent years that the Pro Trek range has started to aesthetically lean into the source of its inspiration and acquire a design language that truly feels different from the rest of Casio’s modern catalog. Expanding upon the latest series of models with hybrid analog/digital displays and angular octagonal cases is the Casio Pro Trek PRW6900BF-1 Bonfire watch, which was first announced in November 2023 and features a number of design details that are inspired by campfires, bushcraft, and large outdoor gatherings around an open flame.

Historically, Casio Pro Trek models have featured round case profiles and offered appearances that largely resembled many of the brand’s other multi-purpose sports watches. While there isn’t anything wrong with this inherently modern and utilitarian aesthetic, the watches themselves were very much just function-forward timekeeping tools, and they didn’t really offer any design elements that alluded to their outdoor-oriented inspiration. However, the modern Pro Trek PRW6900 series represents a significant visual departure compared to the rest of the collection, and it is based upon an elongated octagonal case with an angular stainless bezel that is intended to be somewhat reminiscent of the edges of a knife or camping axe. From there, the Casio Pro Trek PRW6900BF-1 Bonfire takes its aesthetic inspiration one step further when it comes to its design elements, and the overall package ends up feeling tangibly different from the rest of the offerings in the brand’s vast catalog.

While the bezel on the Casio Pro Trek PRW6900BF-1 Bonfire is made from stainless steel with a black ion-plated coating, the rest of the case (including the caseback) is crafted from an eco-friendly type of bio-based resin, and along with 100 meters of water resistance, the PRW6900 series is also low-temperature resistant to -10 degrees Celsius (14 degrees Fahrenheit) to further stay protected during prolonged exposure to the elements. Sitting above the dial is a flat mineral glass crystal, and on the Pro Trek PRW6900BF-1 Bonfire, the stainless steel bezel has been given a rough textured finish that is inspired by the appearance of cast iron skillets and Dutch ovens. Operating the watch is achieved by pressing the four textured buttons that are positioned along the side of the case, while a screw-down at the 3-o’clock location is dedicated to setting-related features, and an additional fifth button below the bezel on the 6 o’clock side is used to activate the LED backlight.

In terms of dimensions, the case of the Casio Pro Trek PRW6900BF-1 Bonfire measures 44.8mm in diameter including the sensor that protrudes slightly on the 9 o’clock side (but not including the crown), while the overall thickness of the watch comes in at 14.7mm. Additionally, while the middle case has a vertical measurement of 49.6mm (the dimension that you will see listed on Casio’s official website), the lugs are separately attached pieces, and when measuring from the tip of one lug to the other, the actual lug-to-lug profile of the watch ends up being approximately 52.8mm. Despite its rather imposing dimensions, the largely resin construction of the Pro Trek PRW6900BF-1 Bonfire allows it to be quite lightweight at just 65 grams (including the strap), and this makes it surprisingly comfortable once it is strapped down to the wrist. Realistically speaking, there is zero chance that this watch will ever be effortlessly slipping under the sleeve of a shirt, although I was pleasantly surprised by how easily this bold and chunky case wears for extended periods of time.

Unlike many Casio watches that often require a proprietary strap, the Pro Trek PRW6900BF-1 Bonfire features standard lugs, which means that owners will have a significantly easier time finding alternate strap options or replacements. However, since the lug width measures 23mm, the number of available third-party straps will be quite a bit less than the traditional even-number measurements such as 22mm or 24mm, and I’d imagine that most people don’t already own extra 23mm straps in the same way they have small collections of other sizes. As a personal point of reference, I own at least one strap in every single size between 16mm and 24mm, with the one exception being 23mm. That said, the standard strap that comes with the Casio Pro Trek PRW6900BF-1 Bonfire is more than an acceptable option, and it is constructed from a soft bio-based urethane resin and fitted with integrated quick-release springbars, a black-colored strap keeper, and a sandblasted stainless steel tang-style buckle.

The dial fitted to the Casio Pro Trek PRW6900BF-1 Bonfire is matte black in color, and it features a texture that is similar to the cast iron-inspired finish that appears on the bezel. Set against the largely black and gray surfaces are bright red markings to further its visual connection to campfire gatherings, and the small hand for the function-indicator register at 10 o’clock appears in the shape of a survival knife. Additionally, while the thin centrally-mounted seconds hand is finished in orange, yellow, and white to represent the colors of a flame, I can’t help but be reminded of Halloween candy corn whenever I look at it. That said, I’m actually a big fan of the finish on the seconds hand, as it is both highly visible and helps prevent the Pro Trek PRW6900BF-1 Bonfire from just being a black and red watch.

While the Casio Pro Trek PRW6900BF-1 Bonfire is explicitly said to be inspired by campfires and bushcraft, you could have easily told me that this was the volcano or lava rock edition, and I would have been equally convinced of its design inspiration. Additionally, while pressing the button below the bezel on the 6 o’clock side of the case will activate a white LED light that illuminates the entire face of the watch, the hands and hour markers have been finished with photo-reactive luminous material to provide them with passive low-light visibility. One additional nice detail (which might actually be my single favorite feature about the watch) is that while the Neobrite luminous material applied to the hands and hour markers appears white in the daylight, it emits a vivid orange-colored glow in the dark that perfectly complements the bonfire-inspired theme of the Pro Trek PRW6900BF-1.

Inside the Casio Pro Trek PRW6900BF-1 Bonfire is Module No. 5673, which is an analog/digital hybrid movement that is solar powered and features the brand’s Multiband 6 radio-controlled timekeeping technology. Along with all of the typical digital sports watch features such as a stopwatch, alarm, countdown timer, and world time mode, Casio Module No. 5673 is also equipped with a triple sensor, which allows the PRW6900BF-1 Bonfire to function as a an altimeter, thermometer, barometer, and digital compass. While its standard quartz-based timekeeping circuit grants the movement an unassisted accuracy rating of -/+15 seconds per month, Casio’s radio-controlled technology has come a long way in recent years, and the Pro Trek PRW6900BF-1 Bonfire has remained spot-on in terms of accuracy during the time that it has been in my possession, with any slight deviations being corrected before they can become noticeable, let alone significant.

Although a couple of the bushcraft-themed design elements on the Casio Pro Trek PRW6900BF-1 Bonfire are just a bit too on-the-nose for my personal preferences, I still find it incredibly refreshing that the Pro Trek series is continuing to embrace its outdoor inspiration, both in terms of its features and its aesthetics. For example, the knife-shaped function hand (which is a detail found across the current PRW6900 series) ultimately ends up feeling a bit childish, and something like a compass would have been a more restrained alternative if the brand still wanted to incorporate an additional outdoor-themed design detail in this place. That said, I appreciate the rather understated approach that Casio took when creating the bonfire-related design details, as the brand refrained from putting flames on the watch and really made the PRW6900BF-1 something that could be worn in daily life.

All things considered, it’s incredibly encouraging to see the Pro Trek collection start to come out of its shell from an aesthetic perspective, and I’m entirely in support of Casio risking a few questionable choices if it helps forge the new design language of this outdoor-inspired lineup of timepieces. With an official retail price of $510 USD, the Casio Pro Trek PRW6900BF-1 Bonfire is positioned as somewhat of premium model within the context of the greater Pro Trek series, although it represents a significantly more thematic concept compared to the rest of the models from the current-production collection. Casio Pro Trek watches have historically been rather function-forward timepieces, although the PRW6900BF-1 Bonfire embodies the same slightly playful approach that we typically associate with the the more design-oriented offerings from the G-Shock series, and it will be interesting to see if this trend continues to spread throughout the rest of the Pro Trek collection. For more information on the Casio Pro Trek PRW6900BF-1 Bonfire watch, please visit the brand’s website.