Best piece of equipment?

I agree - I love my Garmin because it's my bike computer and my running coach.  I do like to leave it behind too though...

My NB Running Vest, It is without a dought the most used piece of gear that I own hands down, running ,biking spring fall and winter. The Garmin would be second on the list for me.

Anyone ever use a weighted vest for run training or on the bike?

No - I have used a weighted belt while swimming.  That's a looooooooonnngggg time ago though.  I would worry for the run that it might change your gait and lead to injuries.  Just speculation though....

cyclocross bike - i've put in more bike volume since getting it than ever before, and love being able to hit up a trail (or paris to ancaster) rather than just being stuck on the road. hell, i threw my tri bike's wheels on it last year to race a crit for kicks!

cheers!

-mistress k

Plain old Heart rate monitor.  I recently got the Garmin 310 xt, which I like a bunch, but I think the single most useful peice of equipment is a heart rate monitor.  I use my HR to tell me if I need to go faster or slower, not my pace, I like the Garmin to keep track of miles not speed.

While I think the 910XT is cool, you can do close to the same for less with something like the 405CX + GSC-10 + Swim-o-vate PoolMate.

For me, having the data to see what I did i good, the ability to upload workouts is the best.  Create a plan, and run the plan on the watch.  Helps keep you on track for what you were scheduled to do.

Two things:

My polar HR

My pull buoys.

Just curious, what do people actually use their Garmin for?

Do you use all the features or just a smal number?

I bought my Garmin 405CX initially for run workouts - the ability to set a heart rate zone based workout.  This has been the most important thing to help with my run training.  Sometimes I decide to run on perceived effort, so I'll use the watch to track and then afterwards evaluate how I actually performed.  While running, the only thing I ever look at the watch for it either distance for the current run, or the remaining time in that block of the workout.

Add the GSC-10, and I have a reasonable cycle computer that records data.  During the ride, I have the 405 showing speed, cadence and distance.  Again, after the ride I can evaluate how the ride was from a metrics perspective.

And the big thing, is that due to the fact that I record every run/bike, I can now see how I'm performing over longer periods of time.

The think I like the most about my garmin is that you can customize the data that it shows you at any given time.  For my run, I like it to show me my HR, speed, average speed of lap and distance on one screen, on the next screen I have elapsed time, distance, calorie burn and time of day.  For the bike I usually have it set at HR, average HR for ride, time and distance, other screen has distance, average speed over ride and instantaneous speed (for the bike I also have a third screen which I don't us often that gives grade and cadence.)

+1 ^ I have a Garming 610

When I am bored and want to see something different on the screen, I turn on the virtual racer. Not the best thing for training but fun to race against yourself.

The Garmin has become a major tool for me as it is the only piece of electronic equipment that I currently have. I also used it for my daily commute to keep some sort of data when I decide to throw in some intervals on my way home.

 The watch also look like a 'normal' watch and can be wore as a day watch when I am at work.

Cheers!

Well, i feel like i use quite a bit of the functionality.  I have the 310 and i use it when open water swimming, as my bike computer (with the cadence sensor) and for running.  I don't always use everything but I program interval workouts (which you can do right in the watch or in training centre and upload it to the watch) for both run and the bike.  When I ran a half marathon with my sister about a month ago we did 10 and 1's and the garmin takes the guess work out of that. I use time alerts to beep to remind me to stay on my nutrition program.

I really didn't start using the HR functionality until this year but as Daffodil said, each display can be customized to what you want to see.

Especially nice for triathletes is the multisport function so with one of the waterproof units it can be worn through each leg of the tri - and the sport switches with a press of 'lap' button - can even do transitions.  Especially useful when using between bike and other sports is the 'quick release' kit that lets it go from being worn on the wrist to being bike mounted.  The 310 locks in unlike the old 305 one which i had where it could pop out a little more easily.  Worked like a charm when i did Muskoka 70.3.  

As you can see, I really love my garmin.