Tyvek Vs. Plastic
Overview
When thinking of secure wristbands which will not stretch & cannot be transferred, tyvek wristbands & plastic wristbands are the two heavyweights. Each wristband style has several options & here we will concentrate on the dominate wristbands in each type.
Plastic wristbands were first adapted to the Entertainment sector back in 1972 while tyvek wristbands began appearing around 1988. Plastic wristbands were introduced as a result of event organisers recognising the need to find a fast highly visible method of identifying people whether they be staff or patrons at their venues. They first approached medical suppliers & obtained hospital ID bands to meet their needs.
There were flaws with the Hospital ID bands as they were made from soft PVC which could be stretched off the wrist & transferred to another person, additionally there was a limited range of ID band colours available.
Clear, White, Red & Green was the extent of colours on offer. Hence in 1972 PDC introduced the Visaband range of PVC wristbands which looked similar to Hospital ID bands, but did not have a pocket for an insert card & comprised of two soft layers of PVC covering a tough non stretch inner liner, this product was later improved with a tamper resistant plastic snap fasterner, it was also offered with more than 20 colour variations. This plastic wristband was the standard for plastic wristbands until around 1990 when similar looking trilaminate wristbands were introduced & gradually became the new market bearer for plastic wristbands. PVC wristbands had seen a resurgence in the last few years, as chinese copies have flooded the market & many have not reached the same quality standards as those produced in the USA. This can be a problem for event organisers who discover too late, that these wristbands are inferior in quality, although they appear virtually the same as US made plastic wristbands.
Plastic wristbands have the market perception of being stronger & more secure than tyvek wristbands. Once again this is generally true & an additional advantage is they are more difficult to copy than the tyvek wristbands. The snap fastener can be in arange of colours as well with Black clips & White clips being favoured the most.
Tyvek wristbands were introduced in the late 1980's & slowly gained market acceptance, due to the fact they have an adhesive closure rather than a snap fastener that was seen to be less secure. Event organisers may have had a point as over time different adhesives have been applied & tyvek wristbands are now seen as a secure ID wristband.
With those improvements plus both the greater printing area & lower per unit cost, tyvek wristbands began taking market share from plastic wristbands to the point around 2001 sales of 25mm tyvek wristbands exceeded those of plastic wristbands in Australia. As wristband use became more widespread patrons began seeking what they saw as greater value & around 2005 19mm tyvek wristband sales exceeded those of any other type & remains in that position with the lowest price per unit.
Both of these types of wristbands are secure wristbands & often it will depend on how & where you intend to use your wristband. If wristband security rather than identification is a factor in your choice, evaluate Digital wristbands which contain variable information such as barcodes & these wristbands may be used in conjunction with access & entry systems such as the Wizid Identifier to not only control entry at your event but capture data for your evaluation.
Regardless of the security wristband chosen, it would be prudent to enhance your security by having the wristband imprinted with your message or logo.