I can't comment on Garmin watches, but does he already have an iWatch or a Samsung Galaxy watch? I track all my rides with my Galaxy watch with the strava app on it. Just food for thought. When I was looking at Garmin I was lookin at the Fenix models.
I wore my galaxy watch for 3 years climbing with no protection on it and while it got some scratches, it never really got anything on the screen and nothing cracked, it's a pretty durable piece of hardware.
The only time it really got in the way of climbing was on the occasional very large sloper where you get an arm on the hold and on crack climbs.
I don't wear it anymore because I no longer enjoy smart watches in general, but it was a pretty solid piece of tech in terms of durability.
Top Fitness Trackers on Reddit
1
Garmin
Forerunner 255 Series
86% positive of 466 users
Long battery; but wrist HR tracking is inconsistent.
khid2k
