Casio 5600 on leather instead of the cheap plastic

To me, putting a G-Shock on a leather strap might be visually appealing, but is not practical for the uses I have for my 5610. I want to be able to sweat on it and get rained on and swim with my G-Shock. I feel more comfortable doing that with a plastic strap rather than a more prone to destruction leather strap. I feel the same way about a diver. Why put a watch designed to get wet on a nice leather strap? That rant being said, I have my Sinn 104 on the beautiful OME leather strap that came with it. The quest for a rational life and the watch hobby often do not follow the same path.

Leather straps are cheap. I found that some gas station watches (10 bucks cdn) come with reasonable leather straps. I strip the crap watch head for the strap and wear a dive watch for the water. Besides the 5600 cost me 50 bucks at Walmart. The Original has uncomfortable support bars near the watch head that left marks on my wrist.

To each his/her own. Hobbies are supposed to bring you joy in whatever form that may be and help you de-stress from life's many stressors. Have fun with it however you see fit.

Yeah. If you're dealing with any wetness, it's better to have straps that repels water instead of soaking it in.

I am in a high humidity water environment. It is not comfortable to wear a wet strap all day long. So rubber or metal straps is a must.

I actually swum with a leather bands in a Aegean Sea.) Well, not a greatest decision, because I completely destroyed those 12$ amazon band, but I don't see a problem with a beaten up leather. My belt are currently going through 4th year of everyday use (I only have 1 leather Levi's belt and I just can't wear a trousers without a leather belt, feels weird) and I gonna completely destroy it before letting go of it. The same with a watch bands, until it literally falls apart I will wear it and beat it and enjoy it.

Love leather bands. Ordered a couple of hand made suede bands for my Murph from a local craftsman and I will put it through some trouble for sure. Very excited to finally try suede.

For me, just from the looks - suede > leather > metal > canvas > rubber > plastic.

But its because I really like the signs of wear and tear on a stuff.

Contrary to straps I received with my other GShocks, the original rubber strap on the 5600 feels more comfy for some reason. I don't have to worry about it getting damaged because I use that watch as a beater. I have to be careful not to get the leather straps wet or anything like that. My Seiko watch still has a leather band. Maybe I'll try putting a NATO strap on the 5600.

the original strap has bumps all over the underside i found uncomfortable let alone the cross things near the head ends. Most of us will never really beat up a G anyway so leather or nato wins. Life happens so don't worry about destroying an easily replaced strap. Throw a colorful nato on it for fun.