My Lifeline HRM seems to have given up the ghost (of Christmases past, present and future) - it sticks on a given value for minutes then randomly reports another value. I don’t think my HR should be 225bpm during a warmup!
So suggestions for a dual band HRM. Must have a coin sized slot on the battery compartment - my old ANT+ Garmin uses four tiny cross screws that seize up in the salty environment 
- really bad design on their part. Current front runner would appear to be the Wahoo Tickr.
The obvious choices are the Tickr (2020 edition) (the non-X is AFAIK still single-channel), the other one is Polar’s H10. Both seem very good. I have an older version of the Tickr that I got about 2 years ago. The only bad think is that as the battery gets lower, it will sometimes get stuck at an unreasonably high heart rate. The battery life indicator is completely useless. But I think I only had to change the batteries three times.
I had exactly the same happen last year and Garmin replaced it under warranty. Some of the units used to have the coin sized slots but it seemed to be a lottery as which one you’d get when you ordered. I’m not sure if this is still the case.
I must have particularly corrosive sweat as HRM’s don’t seem to last very long for me. I’ve had at least 3 Garmin HRM’s and I’ve just gone to my second Tickr. I always hear good things about the Polar units but have never tried one yet. Once this new Tickr gives up (in about six months I suspect). I’ll go with a Polar.
Maybe slight misunderstanding, by dual channel I meant communication on both ANT+ and Bluetooth not two or more BT channels.
Ah, I see. Although I’d say in 2022 you’d definitely want Bluetooth multichannel support. That’d help a lot, because then I would no longer have to disable Bluetooth on my iPhone 50 % of the time to make sure my Tickr connects to my iPad (which is the device I run TR on). In the future, more and more devices will move to Bluetooth as primary connection protocol.
The Tickr (2020) and the Polar OH10 (but not the OH9) support multichannel Bluetooth. So if you opted for one of Polar’s heart rate straps, I’d go for the OH10.
I think you mean the H10, unless Polar have different designations in different territories. There’s an OH1 which is presumably Optical Heart and H9 & H10 which are electrical, i.e. the traditional chest strap and monitor.
The Polar H10 is £76 and the Wahoo Tickr X (the multi-BT channel one) is £65
I use a CooSpo one I got off Amazon after I had several Garmin and Wahoo units die on me.
Broadcasts on both ANT and BT, and so far (touch wood) it’s lasted twice as long as my longest lasting Garmin or Wahoo unit.
Plus it is much cheaper at £30: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07D4J5VDK/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_fabc_0CC2MX34QB3TA1RX50TW
Oh and it has a coin slot battery compartment.
Yes, sorry, brain fart. I meant the H9 and H10.
I think the regular 2020 Tickr also does multichannel Bluetooth.
If you care about accuracy and HRV, it’s down to the Polar H10 or the Garmin dual (screws you don’t want).
N.B that rhe Garmin Dual HRM has tiny torx (T5) screws which. IMHO, make it quite much easier to change batteries compared to rve old units with tiny Philips screws. The T5 screw driver is included.
Nice, the last Garmin dual I bought has Phillips head. Hasn’t been an issue for me, I get over a year on the HRM battery on 300+ hours/year.
Interesting (and a bit worrying perhaps). Only issue I’ve had so far is that I keep forgetting that I should use the T5 and not a Philips driver 
I can confirm that the old Dual had a Phillips and the new ones have Torx.
I have come to the conclusion that HRMs are disposable. I usually get 12-18 months usage.
I have two perfectly working Garmin dual HRMs with Phillips head screws. Never had an issue, replace the strap every 3-4 years.
It finally gave up the ghost on me last year but of my previous HRMs and just going subjectively its on a par with my Decathlon (both head units had multiple straps), ahead of the Garmin soft strap, likewise behind the garmin hardstrap (but I had that pre sweaty interval training which seems to wear a lot of things out) and the CooSpo is streets ahead of the Stages Dash. The replacement for the CooSpo is a TickR but it’s too early to give a verdict on it.
In summary IMO the CooSpo and Decathlon dual band HRMs have been the best VfM for me 
Edit: the Decathlon dual HRM (probably not available in the States) https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/dual-ant-bluetooth-smart-heart-rate-monitor-belt/_/R-p-128085
A device with no moving parts should last considerably longer than 2 years especially one that costs north of £70 (close to $100).
I’ll have a look at the Coospo and the Decathlon units. Thanks for those suggestions. Not that bothered about HRV (at the moment)
Seriously I had the same opinion before I got the CooSpo - my Garmins both died after their battery change and the Wahoo didn’t last a whole lot longer. So I’d come to view them as disposable
Somehow my CooSpo one has lasted significantly longer while being significantly cheaper. Perhaps I have looked after it better. But I don’t see why I should pay £70 when the CooSpo is less than half regardless.
I have used a different strap with it, I just got it off Amazon, don’t remember what it was called though. Some generic strap.
Seems good to me - it’s an ECG device and you don’t generally see big problems unless you either have a bad connection between the device and the strap or between your skin and the strap. I am not sure if the stock strap was any good - I don’t think the strap I use with it now is the stock one, although I’m not totally sure, but I could not say where I got it.
The Tickr Gen 2 seems to be on Sigma Sports for £39.99 at the moment.
The crux is the environment, which is not too dissimilar from salt water. Making something water proof and salt water proof are two different things.
That being said, my Tickr still works flawlessly. The band is still in good shape. And AFAIK it is usually the band that dies first, not the sensor pod.
Are the bands generic? I.e. dumb and with the pod connectors at the same (or very close) spacing.