Be sure that you are keeping the garmin pod and replacing the stock garmin strap with the polar strap. Yeah, it made it a little better for eliminating spikes, but I do not think it will help you. Your pod sounds bad...either the pod itself or the battery.

The newest premium (soft) straps are supposed to be much better. The older hard straps are well loved on here for lasting forever. I never really liked chest straps and so I got the scosche optical strap. It is awesome.

When it started going bad again put a new battery in. Worked for exactly one run

Guess I better keep with with tech, never heard of the scosche but looks cool. Thanks

Got a Garmin replacement strap, worked for a while. Got the Polar strap with the Garmin chip, worked for a while. Now am using a Wahoo Tickr and works the best without fail (plus infinitely easier to replace the battery and it's also dual bluetooth/ant in case your garmin runs out of juice and you have a phone app or something)

Yep, I bought the polar strap,,,,,been good ever since, 8 months or so

They suck...buy the hard strap. Mine's been going for 2 years now.

jaretj

My garmin soft strap failed me after 7/8 months (erratic HR values). I'm now using a Polar soft strap for 3 months and has been flawless, but cannot comment on the durability yet. Anyway, I find the polar strap way more comfortable, I've had chafing issues while using the garmin strap but none while using the polar.

x2

The Garmin straps suck. Get the polar strap and use the Garmin pod. Works great. I went through a number of Garmin straps until I heard about this.

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Kevin

http://kevinmetcalfe.dreamhosters.com
My Strava

What you need is ultrasound gel. This time of year with colder and dryer weather straps have a hard time getting a reading. The strap relies on the electrical connectivity of your skin. Sweat is what helps with this. When you skin drys or there is a rapid change in moisture spikes ensue. Try using this on the contact points. It solved most of my problems.

http://www.amazon.com/Aquasonic-100-Ultrasound-Gel-Laboratories/dp/B0093J2GAG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418946501&sr=8-1&keywords=aquasonic+100+ultrasound+gel

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Joel Rosinbum
President, USA Triathlon Board of Directors
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I tried using the ultrasound gel and it only worked occasionally with my faulty soft-strap.

No. I've done that. The straps just suck and they die way too fast.

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Kevin

http://kevinmetcalfe.dreamhosters.com
My Strava

I've been using the 4iii strap. Works well.

so, like 99.9% of the soft straps work perfectly.

The new Garmin HR strap has worked flawlessly for me since day one (more than 8 months). No more HR spikes, low readings etc like I had with the old soft strap. It was definitely worth the money to upgrade even though I don't really bother with the run dynamics data. I don't need any gel. I just run it under the faucet for a few seconds and get the sensors wet and I'm good to go.

When I didn't wash them regularly, they failed after six months twice.

The latest strap has been washed every seven or even six wearings as suggested by Garmin, and it has gone a year or so now.

Washing seems to be key to survival, at least for this one example.

Do you find keeping the Sosche charged to be an issue? I keep thinking about getting one, but am fairly confident I will forget to charge it and find it dead when I need it.

So far mine is also surviving doing the same thing. About 1x per week I'll wash it (take a shower with the thing still on an get as much soap on it as possible). I've also discovered that I can now use the wife's special little washing machine basket (made to protect delicates like her female harness support contraption and stuff) to wash my running cap and I also throw in my fabric/velcro wrist medial ID braclet and my garmin strap too. Also use the electrode gel and it has worked (95% of the time) correctly for the last 2 years (4-5x week miminum for the last year to boot too). Somehow still on the original battery even and have many spares to replace it with (cheapo ones but hey, it was $5 for 10 of them so what the heck as I needed to replace a few key fob remote batteries too - those FAST keyless ignitions fob's eat batteries 1-2 per year it seems - even nice quality ones).

Gotta say something positive here about the Garmin straps. Used different ones over the years and never had any issue. Admittedly, never used any for more than maybe one year because I would just upgrade for different reasons, not bcz the strap would be bad at all. Now for more than 1 year (200+ activities) on the latest gen that comes with the HRM-Run. Looks like new, never gave me any problem whatsoever. Only care I do is to wash/rinse it off under hot water after every use. Never had it in the laundry.

Cheers!

My Garmin HR soft strap has been working great going on three years. I have the old black one. The new gray one is supposedly better.

The strap for my HR monitor for my Garmin needs replacing.... It is becoming very erratic... How can you tell if it's the strap or battery? I have the Garmin Edge 800..... What strap should I purchase that would be compatible?

Thanks,

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Hook Em' Horns

I popped the transmitter on an old polar hr strap this morning and it worked well. From what I've read most issues seem to be with the strap and not the transmitter. The polar strap was very old and actually broke at the seam at the end of my run, so just ordered one from Amazon for $16

I had no issues with my garmin strap until about a month ago and then my heart rate would be in the 220's with the easiest workout. I popped off the garmin transmitter and put it on the strap for my powercal and it has been working since then. My strap was about 2 years old and didn't get washed very much so that was probably part of my probelm.

Frankly, I don't think the washing has much to do with the electrical connection and thus the performance of the strap. That would be more a hygienic concern and possibly the fabric aging faster and going bad. But the electric wiring rather wears out faster by going through the laundry on a regular basis.

I cannot speak from experience and more from a logical (engineer by trade) standpoint. But that would be a good point to hear from a "strap specialist" on.

+1

Absolutely. Buy one of the earlier generation of hard straps never worry about it again.