Sport Apple Watch 42mm Band

9.8

Pros

Comfortable
Lightweight
Breathable/Hypoallergenic
Quick Release Spring Bar
Double Locking System

Cons

Not Available in Coral Color
Length of strap places double locking loop over wrist nerve.

Ease of Use

Design

Price

Packaging

Comfort

BUY FROM AMAZON

Enjoy the life of adventure knowing Catalyst protects your Apple Watch

Known for their waterproof cases, Catalyst has perfected their devices to masterfully corner the high adventure niche. Just when it seemed that I knew what new gear they would release, they surprised me by adding new tools to their repertoire. Venturing into new waters, Catalyst introduced their Sport Apple Watch 38mm and 42mm bands at the Pepcom Digital Experience In San Francisco, California. Made of hypoallergenic silicone material and designed with ultimate comfort in mind, Catalyst wanted to reach everyone. The attractive bands, available in Stealth Black, Space Gray, Army Green and Blueridge/Sunset, were built with a triangular truss pattern and were colored to perfectly match the similarly colored Apple Watch Impact Cases. If you evaluate the Amazon Marketplace or the Catalystcase.com website, you may notice that the Impact Protection case is available in Stealth Black, Blueridge/Sunset/Army green and Coral but not Space Gray. Unfortunately, there is not a listed Coral colored Catalyst Sport Band for Apple Watch.

As a winner of the 2018 iF Design Award for the packaging, Catalyst proved that they cared as much about the sheath as they did the sword. The Blueridge/Sunset Sport 42mm Band arrived in a very attractive 2 1/4 inches wide by 6 1/2 inches tall by 3/4 inches thick retail package. The use of a top-down, dark-to-light gradient beautifully captured the essence of a rising/setting sun. The bold white title and the white/orange subtitle shone brightly upon the dark surface, directly attracting your gaze. It was only natural to look beneath the titles and to view the gloriously displayed silicone case resting behind the clear plastic window. The Blueridge/Sunset band starkly contrasted the black/light cover and made me want to learn more. When you rotate the packaging to evaluate the rear face, you will find installation instructions and learn that this band can be used for all of the series of Apple Watch. Instead of excess text, Catalyst chose to demonstrate their product with four 1 1/4 inch diameter circular images. Each end of the band has a single quick release spring bar, which will allow you to quickly remove/add the band. The imagery was intelligently utilized and provided a good understanding of the utility of the band. The sides of the packaging were less useful to me as a consumer, with one side providing UPC codes, SKU data, needed product labels and the other showing Facebook/Twitter/Instagram and #CatalystCase.

Removing the 0.6-ounce (18g) strap from the packaging, I was immediately surprised at how strong/secure the lightweight band felt. The band arrived with installed apple watch adaptors attached to quick release spring bars. The upper end, measuring 4 inches long and 1 inches wide, ended in an oval loop and the lower 4 inches long by 1 inches wide strap ended in a blocky tip with two locking triangles. The raised orange offset triangles were designed to align with the triangular holes in the strap. The geometric triangular cutouts were aligned in such a way as to resemble nested hexagons. There are 15 points along the center of the strap, which will accommodate the triangles on the other strap. If none of these work, you can offset the strap slightly and use nearly any combination of triangles. I do not know that I have tested another strap with such customizable fit. To apply the watch, place it upon your wrist and then loop the top oval end down. You will then need to slide the Orange triangle end through the oval loop and tighten the strap to your desired position. Press the triangles into the strap and then slide the locking clasp up and over the orange triangle backing. Press the locking clasp downward and snap it into place. This double locking system was very secure and essentially eliminated the possibility of losing the watch. The porous triangular truss system prevented sweating of my wrist and comfortably flexed and moved simultaneously with my wrist. The oval loop and double locking clasp stuck outwards approximately 1/4 inch beyond the border of the inner strap. I did notice a little irritation along my ulnar nerve (ring/finger) and median nerve (thumb side) with some of the combinations. Repositioning of the triangles and the double locking clasp relieved this problem and proved just how amazingly customizable the Catalyst straps could be.

If you have a Catalyst waterproof case and you wish to spice up the experience, you can release the quick release bar and insert them into the waterproof case. You can choose to use the straps with or without the Impact Protection case and as noted above, combine this with numerous Apple Watch cases for series 1, 2 and 3 Apple Watches. Having tested this device over the past week, it continued to soften up and the previously mentioned pressure on my wrist nerves ceased. Like a fine wine, the Catalyst Sport Band seemed to mature/improve with time. I enjoyed the blueridge color and would love to have the Army Green and Space Grey strap/protective case. With this amazing gear, Catalyst Challenges the norm, who says guys cannot accessorize too?