watch band recommendations?

I bought 4 different colored quick release bands for my 935 just to change things up every once in a while. They're the same size as the 945 and I still use them now. No problems whatsoever, but I stuck with the Garmin brand and not an off brand which I don't trust. 

I have a bunch of off-brand bands that I bought from Amazon, all quick release style.  I like to change colors up regularly and this allows me to do so.  No issues with security, though admittedly I wouldn't be concerned about that unless I did open water swimming.  Anywhere else that my watch my just fall off my wrist I'll know it quickly and can retrieve it.  They feel very secure though and I frankly couldn't see how they might malfunction.

I bought a couple of quick fit bands on Ali. They're great, maybe a little less soft then the original straps but never in my life will I pay €50 for two straps of plastic 

Also it's annoying that the tri bundle I bought didn't come with quick fit straps, as if one would manually use screwdrivers changing the strap during a workout.

These are the ones I've got and they're really robust:
a.aliexpress.com/_dZLC1VH

They were just €3,50 and the blue color is exactly like my watch 

Ok, so perhaps my phrasing wasn't quite right, it doesn't come ready for use with quick release bands or quick release bands out of the box, and it looks like I need to use a screwdriver to remove the original bands minimally. That was my point :)

Not sure if I just replace the hardware, or if I have to use different pins as I see that some of the bands come with pins.

I don't swim, so I may go with a budget option, from the posts it seems that 935/945 use the same bands. Sorry to hear about your bad experience, but glad you were able to save the watch, lost at sea could be very tricky to retrieve (impossible probably in most cases)

Seems like the "cheapest" Garmin option is about $30,





this one here cracks me up

but even this isn't the most expensive offering, that would be this

Who would spend $200 or $300 for a sports watch band ...

Levon said:

Not sure if I just replace the hardware, or if I have to use different pins

You use the existing pin. My Garmin straps came with a screwdriver. I tried a 3rd party band and the spring in the quick release mechanism was very flimsy and the quick release didn't cover as much of the pin as the Garmin brand.  I decided to pay more for the "official" Garmin bands for the quality and piece of mind. 

Levon said:

Not sure if I just replace the hardware, or if I have to use different pins as I see that some of the bands come with pins.

The tools are provided to remove the non-quick-release bands. Once removed it's a simple process to swap out quick-release bands as required.

Levon said:

Who would spend $200 or $300 for a sports watch band ...

These bands also fit the F6, F5, and Marq as well as the 935 and 945. People who spend more money on premium priced watches are more likely to invest more on quality bands..

Levon said:

I may go with a budget option,

If you are not in situations where the strap failing is a problem then there's no reason not to do just that.

i've bought non qr bands from this store, as i don't trust the the chinese qr mech that much:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/33056887668.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.27424c4dzyZOqO

honestly, you can't tell the difference from the garmin ones:-). with each band there are 2 screwdrivers supplied so swapping bands is a no brainer.  

and there are also some screen protectors you might find useful:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000200937143.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.1c494c4d6UlMcf

or a charging dock:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000390483704.html (even dc rainmaker mentioned this in one of his reviews if i remember correctly)

I would not advice not original replacements, especially quick fit ones. I lost my fenix 5x because using such (not cheapest one) when jumping to ocean.

me neither :-). have a look at the link. it's a standard watchband - and this one definitely can't fall off.