Swimming watch for outdoor swims

[Katsh]

Hi - just wondering if anyone can recommend a good (inexpensive) watch that can measure distance for outdoor swims? thanks

Pool or open water? I have an old Suunto Ambit 3. It records pool swims - you program pool length and it tracks you turning. Open water - GPS signal doesn't pick up underwater, so the track is skippy if you swim freestyle and wear it on your wrist. I have a drybag tow float. I attach my watch to that so the tracking is accurate. You can set it to different accuracies - basically the more it pings the GPS, the shorter the battery life, but the more accurate the track.

Sorry I meant open water when I said outdoor. Drybag tow float is a good shout. Thank you.

The easiest thing is to put Strava on your phone and then use that inside your tow float to measure the distance. Watches only work if you swim freestyle and even then they are glitchy on your wrist - so a phone (inside a waterproof bag inside a tow float) is actually more reliable and cheaper!

If you only inflate one side of the drybag, it doesn't capsize. I find mine very handy for one way swims. I have also used the phone/strava combo before as PP, but with a waterproof pouch. I used to tuck it into the back of my wettie. I prefer using my Suunto though for ease of access.