Woven Wristbands
Overview
Woven wristbands have been slow to be adopted in Australia as a security wristband. While they are attractive, they are much slower to apply at point of entry than existing wristband styles.
Clamping devices may be hand held which causes fatigue to the operator or table based which requires a larger set up area.
Solutions have been attempted using one way clips, which slide up the wristband to tighten the band & these clips have met with mixed results & are probably best suited for promotions rather than security.
Attempts have also been made to introduce bar codes to these wristbands with limited success & other options are preferred with new style Digital wristbands offering greater flexibility with variable information.
A benefit of the woven wristbands is that they provide Festival patrons with a long lasting attractive souvenir of the event. When used as a promotional item with the resnappable clip they compete favourably with the longer lasting Silicone wristbands.
History
Woven wristbands came to prominance around 2004. Originally, the concept came from Festivals in Europe which were seeking a different style of wristband to the more common Plastic & tyvek wristbands. These wristbands are believed to have been developed in Austria & since then copied in Asia.
They comprise of a polyester fabric strip of material imprinted or woven with the desired artwork. They were unique as they required a fastening tool to crush a little aluminium sleeve which contained the two ends of the fabric strip, & this sleeve could be adjusted & tightened so that the woven wristband could not be removed & transferred to another Festival patron to allow entry. Another feature of the Woven wristbands is that they were seen to be counterfeit proof & a novel way to reduce fraud at events.
A spin off of the Woven wristband was the "Oxfam" style of Charity wristband. This differed from the Festival style of woven wristband as the material used was similar to the "shoelace" material commonly used in lanyards. It also had a quick release plastic snap borrowed from the lanyard enabling the wearer to remove & replace the wristband as desired.
More Information
Browse the Woven Wristbands at Wizid for more information.