whats the best GPS watch. for course/Speed trackin

am getting back to ocean ski and want to monitor my pace and speed. and track my course. i heard the Garmin have the best GPS watches. do all of them monitor speed when paddling . i know garmin has a web site where u can upload the course paddled. are there better GPS watches out there. it has to be able to have a heart monitor sensor. and can bluetooth. was thinking maybe the Garmin Tactix or Fenix 2 unless there are better ones out there. any advice would be great.


thanks in advance

Yeah I was wondering the same thing?

Check out Polar M400, cheap och sync via bluetooth (apple or android with "bluetooth smart"). You can customize displays via PC.

Seems like garmin is the most common brand, and 310XT the most common model. It is designed for water sports. It can be had for about $150 US. They can all record and display speed. Garmin interfaces well with its heart rate monitor. Most people put the GPS on the footstrap and not on their wrist, so dont feel you need something small that looks good on your body. Garmin interfaces with free garmin software and garmin connect online service that provides really excellent detail maps and tracings of speen, hr, elevation. I have a friend who went with a model made by sunto, and the program that displays all the data on the computer is very inferior to the garmin. I dont know all the models out there, but Garmin 310xt is a safe and cheap model and probably the most popular one out there in the surfski world.

I really like my garmin310xt BUT saying that garmin connect online provides excellent service is false. Since they've updated their site I can't upload training sessions from my computer. The ability to program complex interval sessions was the only feature I couldn't find on another brand. With a Polar or a Suunto you're limited to (interval duration, rest duration)repeatxtime. Not being able to use this feature is a real pain in the a$$. I hope garmin will fix this issue soon.
And before you make up your mind, go have a look to the user forums to see what are the common problems.

the 310xt is the best value for money - the problem is the analysis of the data. Garmin Connect is NOT the best platform to use in my opinion. My suggestion to you - create various accounts on various platforms - endomondo / strava / ect - you can use tapirikk to synch all your sports tracker platforms FREE of charge.... look at those platform analysis and decide which work best for you.

Good points Hiro and Epic. Hiro i too find the new garmin connect confusing. Though at least i can upload data. I always manually switch back to the old garmin connect interface. Epic i'll have to check out those other options. Thanks.

One nice thing about garmin connect is the ability to connect online. For example, oscar chalupsky uses garmin connect and has his privacy settings such that anyone on connect can look at his data. Pretty fun to see what the big man does in workouts.

@ zachandler - most platforms have that privacy settings, public/friends/private - and that's where tapirikk comes in - synch all platforms with 1 button for free.... u still use your garmin connect, but synch to the "better platform" with tapirikk..

Surf to:
www.dcrainmaker.com/product-reviews

Spend some time there and make your choice, in my opinion the 310XT is quite outdated when it comes to syncing to the web, it requires a PC. Smartphone sync is so nice to have My V800 syncs with one-button push with a smartphone. Really handy to be able to see summarys and plots directly after a workout and no time spended for sync via PC...
(I owned the 310XT for 4 years for reference...)

The 310 is so popular among paddlers because it's one of the first units that were properly waterproof. It's still available, and it's affordable.

Many of the others claim to be waterproof, but a couple of months in salt water prove otherwise. So if you go for a more recent model make sure that it's really waterproof.

Cheap, cheerful, uncomplicated, works, Garmin Forerunner 10, paddle with it all the time

My Forerunner 305 has died again for the second time (but I've been using that model for 6 or 7 years) and I'm looking at upgrading to the 310XT. Does it allow you to display 4 sets of data? All the images of it the 310XT I've seen show 3 sets of data. E.g., I like to to see speed, distance, HR and elapsed time.

FYI, Garmin is offering $99 towards a new model if I send my old one in. I believe I can get a refurbished 305 for that price, or get $99 off a different and new model. The 310XT lists for $250, so I'd have to pay $150.

Another FYI, my 305 isn't completely dead. I can charge it, and it acts like it starts up occasionally while messing with it while plugged in, but I can neither soft nor hard reset it, and updating the firmware or using the garmin webupdater to reload firmware/application fails. It's strange behavior for sure. I may try a second time to call a tech at Garmin to see if there are any other magic steps I can take. I rinsed it off with a hose that last time I used it, and wonder if the water pressure damaged it ever so slightly.

In the interim I've been using Strava and Endomondo on my iPhone. Apparently using the latter enables someone on land to track your location. If that's true I'll probably start using Endomondo on my downwinds for the benefit of my wife.

Having been a long time Garmin watch user and been a bit disappointed in their reliability in a salt water environment and the reliability of their heart rate monitors I have been looking at alternatives.
I am now using an App called Digifit on my iPhone in waterproof bag and it is great.
You get all of the gps data and maps on it. You can connect any Bluetooth Smart device and Ant+ to it for an additional fee of $7.99. This will give you Heart Rate, Cadence etc . You can also look at your data on their web site, share the data and email it.
You can set the app to give you data at whatever interval you want 1km, 5km or time 1min, 5mins etc.
A great feature that I find useful is that you can activate the voice function to give voice data at set intervals which is great for paddling as you don't have to watch the screen but just concentrate on your paddling and is quite reassuring when you are paddling alone. Its almost like paddling with a friend but a little weird one.
I now also use a Rhythm + Heart Rate monitor that works on your forearm to provide data - so much more comfortable than a chest strap. (for more details on this at www.fitnesspaddlers.com.au)
The major feature is that if anything goes wrong you have a phone on hand for an emergency.

RobH the 310xt does display 4 sets of data if you want it too, that's what I use.

I can't comment on the Garmin competitors but I have paddled with Garmin watches for about 6 years. I started with a 305 which did everything I needed - speed, distance heart rate, programmable sets etc.

The only problem I had with it in several years of use was when I dropped it onto concrete and the screen cracked. It was within warranty and Garmin Australia were really good and replaced it.

The only reason I upgraded to the 910XT I use now was that I managed to drop my 305 into the water and as good as it was floating wasn't one of its design features!

I've had the 910XT nearly 3 years and haven't had a problem with it, although I agree with comments by others regarding the heart rate straps. I tend to need to replace them every year or so (although to be fair I've misplaced at least one that was fully functional).

For me the advantage of the 910XT over the 305 and possibly the 310XT is that its fully waterproof and designed to be used when swimming (both pool and open water). I do a fair bit of swimming as well as paddling and rely on it for managing sessions for both.

I also agree with various comments regarding Garmin Connect. Although I've never had issues uploading session data it or programs from it can be a bit clunkier than the stand alone program used to be. On the other hand given it's on the web it is available from multiple computers (and my phone) which I find handy on occasions.

Hi Guys

I also recommend the 920XT Forerunner, I guess similar to its predecessors but the colour screen and a large range of extra apps make it a useful tool.

I particularly like the interval set up where you get it to buzz for each interval start/end/rest cycle. The colour map is a bit small to view on the watch but is great on your iphone or I use an iPod in a waterproof case.

With the amount of support Garmin gets from the paddling community its about time they developed a pre-installed paddling training set up. They have running, swimming and cycling covered so paddling would complete the set.

Hi Shane,

How do you find the HR strap in salt water? I bought a new strap for my old 310XT and I (and others) noticed that it stops working if it gets wet. The old straps were much better in this regard.

Thanks
Rob

Hi Rob

So far no problems with the 920XT strap although I've only been using it in salt water for about three months. This is my first Garmin with HR, I previously used Polar devices and the Garmin strap is much more reliable at picking up a signal right from the start without any need to wet it or mess around with positioning.

I give it a rinse after each use, mainly to protect against salt build up in the clip that attached the HR monitor to the strap.

Cheers
Shane