Quick fit reliability

Uhh at $50 each at a minimum, no I am not going to open it up to find out what the spring is....

I will say even if the spring fails, which you will notice when putting it on and once on if the spring fails the band is already attached and has pressure on the "hook" portion so I doubt it would fall out even if the spring did fail. Not sure if you have installed one yet either, but even with the spring compressed they still "clip" in when installing.

All in all not something I would worry about.

there are 4 springs in there I think. You would have to have all of them fail for the band to not stay locked. Pretty sure it will be fine

I would be more worried about tripping up on a run and falling - sadly something happens to me far more frequently that my Garmins disintegrating! In fact one time I came off my bike and had 2 fractures. Not a scratch on the 2 Garmins was wearing.

Yes I have used one chimpware, and it definitely doesn't have a hook! Once the slider is out of the way it'll fall right off your wrist. If you've ever been near a boat you'll know that even stainless rusts extremely quickly under the right circumstances (known as crevice corrosion). The conditions in which this happens are exactly those inside the slider mechanism, hence my concern over the addition of seawater. I'm not just randomly worried because it's new :)

As you say at £$€50 a pop I'm not inclined to have a peek, but some people have opened up F3's and photographed for the forum so maybe I'll be lucky and someone will have a spare strap and enough curiosity to give me confidence in these straps.

Garmin have confirmed they are stainless springs, so it's probably best to avoid salt water with QuickFit straps as it will rust the springs and fail open. Back to swapping with screws it is!

Might be true, but once they are hooked on the pins and you have the band on your wrist I cannot see how the watch band would disconnect unless you wear it super loose. The hooks from the band are held in place by the watch band pulling on them when it is on your wrist and the locks really are just a secondary safety mechanism I think.

Might be true, but once they are hooked on the pins and you have the band on your wrist I cannot see how the watch band would disconnect unless you wear it super loose. The hooks from the band are held in place by the watch band pulling on them when it is on your wrist and the locks really are just a secondary safety mechanism I think.

I'll second this. I've just been messing with my Fenix 5 on my wrist and the 'hook' has to go outward, away from the watch, before it releases; but the bands being around your wrist naturally pull it inwards. I'm not saying it's impossible to unclip whilst it's on your wrist (putting a finger under the band to operate the catch does push the hook outwards too), but I think I'm more likely to catch the band on something and break the plastic lugs or bar first.

Just got my Quickfit today (Amp Yellow). I really like it and it seems well-made.

Just wish they were about $20 cheaper :P

The QUICK FIT bands are not reliable. Especially the cheap online version. We are currently looking for a more secure option for SURF use (SUP). Any suggestions?. Even my original GARMIN silicone strap not secure enough.

Any suggestions appreciated

It depends, I bought 6 cheap version quickfit bands of which two popped off with slight pressure even if worn tight. They were made poorly and the material was too stiff. I test new quickfit bands before first use (pulling and tugging, wearing too loose, push on the sides) and then use them for indoor sports for a few weeks before outdoor use. To be on the safe side I use a one piece nato strap for swimming and wearing over clothes.
I did replace some of the less secure feeling spring buckles with screw-in buckles.