I have owned a Garmin e-Trex since 2004, and the previous leather case disintegrated after 7 years almost weekly use. This new one is identical. It's very useful because you can clip the Garmin to your rucksack strap (fix a cable tie loop to the strap) and it keeps the Garmin in contact with the satellites. If you keep the Garmin in your pocket it loses contact, so the only alternative to this is to put the lanyard over your head and have it swinging around on your chest. The transparent plastic window gets 'steamed up' when it rains, but you can always lift the Garmin out to look at it.