Returning to the beach after a session to find I no longer had a watch so I am about to spend a bit more money on a new fitness tracker (thinking the Garmin Instinct 2 Solar). Not wanting to lose another watch and still wanting to wear a watch (using the fitness features) what do people do to avoid your watch dissappearing into the big blue?

Velcro watch band

Cut the sleeve off an old wetsuit, make a hole for the watch face , place over watch

Same, long arm sleeve goes over watch in waves and rough conditions. For that reason, and because it's useless anyway, don't go with the solar version.

I have the solar version of that watch and disappointed with it, not worth the extra $$. Also, the watch itself is quite slow and feels outdated. Maybe go with the Forerunner 965. It's not 10 ATM, buy folks don't seem to have issues with it.

Had anyone ever had a failure of a standard Garmin watch band? I have not, but I am flatwater only. I have had some pretty large high speed (up to mid 30s) stacks with a Garmin on my wrist though.

I considered putting a secondary tether in case the band fails (like a hair band with some string to a hole on the band).

The garmin brand bands have been good for my fenix. I tried some different brand ones that were more colorful but one failed off the water while I was fiddling with it and it made me stick to only original bands.

I put a loop of fishing line around both Garmin strap attachment points and put that around my wrist as a backup strap.

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CrazyWaves said..
Returning to the beach after a session to find I no longer had a watch so I am about to spend a bit more money on a new fitness tracker (thinking the Garmin Instinct 2 Solar). Not wanting to lose another watch and still wanting to wear a watch (using the fitness features) what do people do to avoid your watch dissappearing into the big blue?

I've got an Instinct 2 solar also. I've had it for 3 months and have no complaints with it, it does every thing I need it to do. But, I hadn't thought about securing it in anticipation of the band breaking. Can you advise how much life you got out of it before it broke?

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vosadrian said..
Had anyone ever had a failure of a standard Garmin watch band? I have not, but I am flatwater only. I have had some pretty large high speed (up to mid 30s) stacks with a Garmin on my wrist though.

I considered putting a secondary tether in case the band fails (like a hair band with some string to a hole on the band).

yes I have wave sailing at Corro's. Came back to the beach and it was gone. Not sure why as didn't have any big stacks but....Luckily my contents insurance covered most of it. I make sure my rashie or wettie sleeve covers it

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wa881 said..

vosadrian said..
Had anyone ever had a failure of a standard Garmin watch band? I have not, but I am flatwater only. I have had some pretty large high speed (up to mid 30s) stacks with a Garmin on my wrist though.

I considered putting a secondary tether in case the band fails (like a hair band with some string to a hole on the band).

yes I have wave sailing at Corro's. Came back to the beach and it was gone. Not sure why as didn't have any big stacks but....Luckily my contents insurance covered most of it. I make sure my rashie or wettie sleeve covers it

The watch GPS won't work under your rashies of wetsuit. If you don't use the GPS function, then this won't be a problem.

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The watch GPS won't work under your rashies of wetsuit. If you don't use the GPS function, then this won't be a problem.

No issues here, even with the thick fabric of my steamer GPS works just fine.

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Orange Whip said..

CrazyWaves said..
Returning to the beach after a session to find I no longer had a watch so I am about to spend a bit more money on a new fitness tracker (thinking the Garmin Instinct 2 Solar). Not wanting to lose another watch and still wanting to wear a watch (using the fitness features) what do people do to avoid your watch dissappearing into the big blue?

I've got an Instinct 2 solar also. I've had it for 3 months and have no complaints with it, it does every thing I need it to do. But, I hadn't thought about securing it in anticipation of the band breaking. Can you advise how much life you got out of it before it broke?

I bought it March 2022 so 3 years and 9 months, Venu SQ. It was my first fitness watch, worn 24/7 other than charging. Regular fitness use and sailing. I have video of the crash, I'll see if I get get an image. I had been using the watch for GPS sailing, but it's not a big deal if I don't use it for the GPS, I do like to use the fitness tracking side though.

Last year I lost a Garmin at Exmouth, bumped the strap mid gybe & watched it drop into the water.
This year I was going to make a lanyard but never got around to it & luckily still have a watch ??
It's the pins in the band that let go so you need to put fishing line around all four horns where the pins go, tie it off & then make a loop to slip over your wrist ??

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Te Hau said..

Yep... exactly that

Haha, I can only imagine what that tan line looks like in Summer

Watch On Wrist, Bad timing on the wave at this point I was hoping to white water hit.


Not Good!





Watch gone.

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kato said..

Te Hau said..

Yep... exactly that

Well that does look like it'll work. I'll live with the tan line if it saves losing the watch.

Hadn't considered the 965, this is as bad as trying to choose which wave board suits me!!!!!

I lost my Garmin in a stack and bought this. Works well and doesn't seem to affect the gps signal.
www.amazon.com.au/%E3%80%8AWatchsuit-attaches-Seconds-Various-situations/dp/B0CGR37VB9?th=1&utm_source=seabreeze.com.au

Another point. I lost another watch many years ago windsurfing. Pretty sure it pulled the pin out. Since that time I always run my band on the loose side for windsurfing. I figured that as your muscles flex it would stretch the band and pull the pin out. When it is looser it is less likely to stretch the band.

I have sailed many years since with watches (mainly Garmin) and never had another failure. I don;t use a secondary tether at the moment as the risk seems low to me.

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vosadrian said..
Had anyone ever had a failure of a standard Garmin watch band? I have not, but I am flatwater only. I have had some pretty large high speed (up to mid 30s) stacks with a Garmin on my wrist though.

I considered putting a secondary tether in case the band fails (like a hair band with some string to a hole on the band).

Somewhere in my local waters is a garmin fenix 5. Band got snagged on the boom during a gybe . Quick release band ..well it did just that.released . Since then I use regular non-quick release bands. Can sometimes be a pain to get the pins out. But worth the trouble.
i like the idea of wetsuit sleeve. Have to try that .

never lost a watch until i thought it'd be smart to replace my slightly worn coros original wristband with a cheapo one. lost the apex pro on the first session with the new wristband. maybe didn't fix it right. new coros watch with new original wristband doing well ever since, just some minor trust issues left to deal with.

Stubbie holder with base removed and a hole for the watch face.

Long cleave rashie protects mine

You can remove the bracelet but keep the pins and pass a velcro through. Or at a minimum cover the watch with rash guard.

You have a line holding the camera? Watch your legs when ducking the sail!

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BSN101 said..
Long cleave rashie protects mine

Does that affect GPS results?