UKH

Hoping someone can help, I have a Fenix 6x and it's great. But I've had to get rid of the silicone band because it absolutely chews my wrist to bits (as did the previous vivoactive 3 silicone band I had before) I used to be able to swap the bands out for 3rd Party nylon bands which worked a charm and had but the ones I've ordered online for the Fenix are wayyyyy too big for my wrist I'm assuming because of the QuickFit adaptors that come with them. 

Currently I'm using one of those milanese bands and while it fits well and doesn't irritate my skin it doesn't half slip about and loosen up at times (the magnet is s**t) and I don't really like the idea of such an expensive bit of kit flinging off my wrist.

Seeing Garmin releasing their new Enduro watch with a Nylon band gave me hope (the band is listed as compatible under their devices list) but at £45 and 5-8 WEEKS lead time I kind of begrudge paying that much for a watch strap just because it has Garmin printed on it. I will if I have to but if someone else has found a 3rd party strap that works I'd rather save some pennies.

This isn't a helpful response but I've bought third party bands for my Forerunner and found them to be rubbish (snapped v quickly) 

so went back to Garmin...though at £15 far cheaper than yours.

Any response is a helpful one I guess perhaps I got lucky with my vivoactive and the bands I had for that. It was a darn sight lighter than the Fenix I have now to be fair so perhaps that had something to do with it.

Maybe I should look at the official Garmin band as an investment rather than an expense lol, I mean the watch wasn't exactly cheap so why I'm mumbling over another £45 I'm not really sure, though it probably has something to do with after looking at pictures and videos it doesn't look all that different to the old cheapo Nylon straps I used to get from Amazon for just over a tenner (with the exception of the Garmin branding.)

The most annoying thing about this is that the bands on my cheapo Casio last far longer than those for the far more expensive Garmin...

I’ve got a 6x pro and use one of these notocity bands https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07ZKLS38C/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glc_fabc_GHC80FB5... .
 

Seems sturdy and well made. I’ve had it on almost nonstop for about 5 months now inc sleeping with it. I run a few times a week and I’ve climbed and swam in it. No sign of wear.  (though just realised you weren’t after a silicone band). 

I've got a Nylon strap for my Vivoactive 3 and it has been working fine for the last 9 months. Its been in the sea, mtbiking, hiking and all that and still seams to be okay.

Yeah I used to get them too when I had my Vivoactive 3, issue is with the Fenix is that they have the QuickFit system so most band connectors don't fit it (and it's 26mm) so when I've bought the 22mm bands with an adaptor they are way too long so I can't do it up as tight as I'd like. I get the feeling I'm just going to have to take a chance on the proprietary Garmin version and hope it fits lol

ahh right, thats pants.

It could turn out that a third party band is false economy once it fails in some way and you lose your £600 watch… 

Albeit I have multiple Garmin products (incl. Fenix 6 Pro Sapphire) and I’m not the biggest fan of the brand, I think their straps are about what I would expect for an ORM ones. Suunto bands are similarly priced too. 
 

Saying all that, has OP seen Nick Mankey bands? 

my issue (F3) is i can't get one long enough to go outside my wrists + all clothes in winter!

I had that quandary. In the end I splashed the cash on a garmin band. At least then I can blame one company if it breaks.

My wife is happy with her isabake strap for her 245, but that's a light watch. 

On my suunto I was happy with 3rd party watch straps. But it wasn't a great quick release. 

Not wanting to drag up an old thread but just thought I'd update now I've received my new strap and had a chance to use it for a couple days. I did consider ordering a Nick Mankey band as someone mentioned earlier but the 8-10 week current lead time coupled with the expedited international postage would have meant I wasn't going to save much, definitely going to look into it if/when I wear this Garmin band out though as I've I'm not in a rush it does currently work out cheaper and they look like great straps. Thankfully when it came to ordering Garmin's lead time on the Black UltraFit nylon strap had dropped from 5-8 weeks to 1-3 days.

Anyway! I've had a couple days to play about with the new strap. While expensive it does fit nicely and was really easy to fit to my Fenix 6x, no slipping when doing workouts (the previous 3rd party milanese band I had would loosen to the point of it wanting to slip off my wrist if I even thought about any exercise where there was wrist flexion.) The velcro on it is good and strong, I haven't snagged it on anything as the ends sit quite flush to the strap.

What I think surprised me the most was how much lighter it makes the whole watch feel, I've had the Fenix 6x for the better part of a year now and it's noticeably less noticeable if that makes any sense? It doesn't feel as cumbersome on the wrist. That might be down to the watch not moving as much as it was before but even when I had the silicone band on it didn't feel this good, or comfortable for that matter. Being able to really cinch it in on the fly is great as well. Obviously the downside to a fabric strap is that if you're wearing it day in day out and sweating into it, it will start to smell but as this strap doesn't have any metal on it (no Garmin QuickFit required) you can just chuck it in a net bag with your washing once a week to keep it smelling nice

Hopefully if/when the Garmin Enduro starts to take off a bit more the price will come down, regardless of whether the price is in line with other brands original bands this is still paying a premium for what is essentially a strip of elasticated nylon and a bit of velcro just because it has Garmin printed on it. The quality of the actual band itself does not feel any better than 3rd party nylon bands I owned in the past for my Vivoactive 3. All in all I'm still happy knowing one errant burpee isn't going to launch my expensive watch off my wrist anymore and that I don't have to go back to using a silicone band that turns my skin into tissue paper.