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what makes a chest strap HRM swim specific
It stores the data on the strap, and transfers to your watch / whatever else at the end of the swim.
There are no, IIRC, swim straps that can transmit live HR data, as Bluetooth / ANT+ / everything else all attenuate so much through water.
The Garmin swim strap works outside of water as a normal HRM strap.
I'd suggest that an optical wrist sensor is good enough for anything you might need it for, running-wise.
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what makes a chest strap HRM swim specific
As TW says, there's the ability to store the data whilst it can't communicate with the watch.
But there are two other major features (one required, one useful).
Being waterproof is definitely a requirement. Not all HRM straps can survive full immersion in water, they'll survive getting sweaty but not immersion.
The other difference is to do with the stickiness of the strap. With the Garmin straps, the HRM-Tri strap can do all of the above but if you wore it in the pool it would slip down your chest each and every time you pushed off from the wall to start a length. The bright blue HRM-Swim strap has a wider strap made of stuff that clings more to the skin, so it stays in the right place when you push off from the side. It's still comfy though, I've worn my HRM-Swim for many a 1h40 swim with no irritation.
If you're doing open-water swimming then a HRM-Tri strap would be fine (except for any initial dive in), if it's worn under something (e.g. a tri-vest or wetsuit) then no problem with that.
Anyway, running. Avulsion fracture of the medial mallelous from playing 5-a-side so I'm off running (and 5-a-side obvs) for a few months whilst the physioterrorist sorts that out - can also get my dodgy hip flexor strengthened too.
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NotThamesWater
Greenbank
@Nef
Good news from Physio - reckons knee problems are nerve related rather than tendon or muscle, which means less need for rest/stopping. Hopefully stretching will help and I'll be back up to speed soon. Think it was wearing a daft pair of very minimal trainers that have caused the problem.
Managed to race on the weekend - sneaking into the top 20 at Bingley Show Fell Race - a 10km/300m trail run. Ran almost the exact same time as two years ago, and was beaten by my friend on his first ever fell race, but felt happy that my knee held up (even if it was sore after). Just crossing my fingers that I can return to training in time to do the Ben race in 6 weeks.
Also, can anyone help recommend a HRM strap for pool swims and running? I'd like a chest HRM for the pool, but I'm also keen to see how wrist based hrm compares to a chest strap (I'm having my doubts about the accuracy of wrist based HRM). Although maybe it doesn't matter. I'm just a bit confused as to what makes a chest strap HRM swim specific and if I can get dual function out of one. FWIW, I'd be totally happy knowing that a regular HRM would do the job in the pool, but that I'd need to replace the fabric strap more often.
Edit: https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2015/11/garmin-hrm-swimtri-review.html
Reading that was helpful, but essentially the swim HRM for pool swimming exists for a reason, and very annoyingly the straps aren't interchangeable.