Heart rate monitors - totally lost

[Deborajen]

They also come in wireless or non-wireless (ie., wire between the watch and the chest strap). The ones with a wire are supposed to be more accurate. The wireless ones are kind of handy, though, because the chest strap signal can be picked up not only by your watch but also by gym equipment, an HRM on a cyclometer, etc. (Of course, if other people around you are wearing wireless monitors, you can end up picking up each other's signals.--)

The chest strap is an elastic band that you can feed back and forth for a single or double thickness/length, so you won't have any trouble with fit.

Mine is said to be waterproof and can be worn swimming, but I can't say for sure because I've never tried it in the water.

Most of the models that measure distance have a fairly bulky display, as far as I know. I've heard a lot of mixed reviews about the Garmins. From what I've heard, the distance function works pretty well in the country but not as well in the city where there is more interference.--

Deb

[Grog]

I have a Polar F4 and it is waterproof to about 10 meters I think. I've swam with it a lot with no issues. I don't like wearing the strap with a swimsuit though, but I did with the sports top during my first (and only so far) tri. (I wouldn't wear it for racing again though.) It fits well under the sports bras, but I have very little boobage. I know some better-endowed users have experienced chafing but that can probably be solved easily.

Some models are 'coded' so you don't 'catch' other people's heart rates or other interferences. As someone said, the more features, the more dollars. I like mine to stay simple: it takes HR, time, records max and average, can deal with zones although I don't use that feature much. Enough for me. As for measuring distance when running, I used RouteScout or gmap-pedometer...

[Bad JuJu]

I have two Polars: one that I've had for ages with the usual wrist watch and a pretty basic display; and another one that I recently got with a display that mounts on my handlebars for cycling--the CS200. Both of them work pretty much as advertised, though the CS200 was a pain to set up. But once the setup was done, it's been working great.

The CS200 works as a bike computer as well as a heart rate monitor, which is why I chose it. I needed a new computer, so I thought it was best to combine the functions, though that might not appeal to everyone. I don't wear the chest strap all the time, like when I'm doing Saturday club rides--then, I'm just doing whatever I have to to keep up. But when I'm riding alone, the HRM keeps me focused--otherwise, I tend to just twiddle along, la-de-da, smell the roses, etc.

Those straps are eminently adjustable--they're meant to fit a very wide range of people, so you shouldn't have an issue with it fitting now but not later.