The rubber wristbands have been around for decades as ‘baller bands’ – worn by basketball players because of restrictions against metal jewelry. But the trend really caught on with Armstrong’s cancer bracelets.

The Lance Armstrong Foundation says that more than 52 million ‘LiveStrong’ bracelets have been sold already! But millions of other rubber cancer bracelets have also been sold. And that is without counting the millions, maybe billions, of all other kinds of rubber wristbands that have been sold or are being sold all over the world – rubber bracelets for tsunami relief, for showing support to American troops, for just about anything, and nothing! In fact, they are now the coolest thing that anyone can sport on one’s wrists. Though called rubber bracelets, these are actually made of synthetic rubber, or silicone gel.

When you buy a LiveStrong rubber cancer bracelet, $1 from its proceeds is donated to the Lance Armstrong Cancer Foundation! That is, $52 million has been raised for cancer research already! The LiveStrong rubber cancer bracelets are made by sportswear major Nike. Cancer is 1the second largest cause of death in the United States and one out of four deaths will come from cancer

Now you have a different color rubber cancer bracelet for different types of cancers. In terms of popularity, after the yellow rubber cancer bracelets come the pink ones. The pink rubber cancer bracelets are worn as a show of support for breast cancer patients. There are still more colors of bracelets for colon cancers, prostrate cancers, and so on. But it is well nigh impossible to do a color-coding chart for the rubber cancer bracelets and the types of cancers they represent. Simply because so many of them are being brought out by different organizations across the world.

There are people who take wearing their rubber cancer bracelets seriously, and there are those who hate the sight of them. But it can’t be disputed that these rubber wristbands have brought charity into the life of the common man. They have also succeeded in bringing some of the bitter realities of existence – as well as joys – into the plane of society’s consciousness like never before.

About the author:

Shannan Barrett looks at how those rubber cancer bracelets have changed society’s attitude towards the unfortunate people who develop the disease. Learn more about rubber cancer bracelets at http://www.a1-awareness-bracelets.com/rubber-cancer-bracelet.html

Shannan Barrett is an avid reader and market researcher. She dedicates much of her free time helping the underprivileged and finds the charitable aspect of the ‘bracelet craze’ amazing, especially with Lance Armstrong’s ‘Live Strong’ foundation.

Written By: Shannan Barrett

Nike and Lance Armstrong popularized the recent use of colored silicone rubber as a material for producing sports bracelets through the Yellow Livestrong band. Its success has led to the use of these ‘awareness’ bracelets as low cost tools for information campaigns and charity projects. These sports bracelets are also known otherwise as ‘baller id bands’, ‘wristbands’ or ‘baller bands’.

The in-line thin diamond bracelet that features a symmetrical pattern of diamonds is called a tennis bracelet. According to Diamond Bug, in 1987 Chris Evert, the former World No. 1 woman tennis player and the winner of 18 Grand Slam singles titles, was playing in the U.S. Open. She was wearing an elegant, light in-line diamond bracelet, which accidentally broke and the match was interrupted to allow Chris to recover her precious diamonds. The ‘tennis bracelet’ incident sparked a new name for the item
and sparked a huge jewelry trend. Tennis bracelets continued to be worn by various tennis stars like Serena Williams and Gabriela Sabatini.

Although the term ‘armlet’ may be technically similar, it is taken to mean an item that sits on the upper arm. The origin of the term ‘bracelet’ is from the Latin ‘brachile’ meaning ‘of the arm’, via the Old French ‘barcel’. Taken in the plural, bracelets is often use as slang for handcuffs.

Wristbands
Wristbands are encircling strips worn on the wrist, made of any of a variety of materials depending on the purpose. The term can be used to refer to the bracelet-like band of a wristwatch, to the cuff or other part of a sleeve that covers the wrist, or to decorative or functional bands worn on the wrist for other reasons.

One common type of wristband is the loops of plastic or tyvek that are placed around the wrist for identification purposes (demonstrating the wearer’s authorization to be at a venue, for example).

Silicone wristbands
More recently, wristbands, often made of silicone, are worn to demonstrate the wearer’s support of a cause or charitable organization, similar to awareness ribbons. Such wristbands are sometimes called symbands to distinguish them from other types of wristbands.

One of the first charitable organizations to make use of silicone wristbands as a way of demonstrating support for a cause was the yellow Livestrong wristband created in 2004 by the Lance Armstrong Foundation. By early 2005, symbands became popular with many charities, such as Make Poverty History and the BBC’s Beat Bullying campaign.

There is also another type of Wristband called Web band. It is an online version of the real wristband.

About the author:
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Written By: David Chandler

There are rubber bracelets worn by Hurricane Katrina rescue workers and custom rubber bracelets with the tsunami theme as well. You also have NBA, MLB, and NASCAR custom rubber bracelets, rubber bracelets with team symbols, or ones with any specific designs you like.

Now you can even design your own custom bracelets: when you shop online you can have silicon custom-embossed extra wide bracelets, twice as thick as the standard silicone bracelets; you can select the colors, the design, and the text you want to print. There are colors and designs that glow in the dark. Obviously, the more you want to customize your bracelet, the more expensive it becomes. Silicone, leather and metal custom bracelets are more expensive then the rubber ones. The former, though, are really great fundraisers.

There are also screen-printed silicone bracelets. These cheaper than the embossed versions. Contact the custom rubber bracelet agencies and they will provide you with the different color and design options they have for their bracelets. Once you select your color, design, and even the material (whether silicone, metal, or rubber), the agency will send you a full color proof. You can make further additions or any other changes to the proof. Once you are satisfied with the design, the agency starts the production of your custom bracelet.

Custom rubber bracelets are used as identification devices. In hospitals, custom bracelets are worn by patients. These bracelets have all the medical information of the patient imprinted on them. This is really useful in emergency situations when doctors can access all the information they need from the patient’s wrist. Newborn babies have bracelets around their wrists for identification in neo-natal wards.

Custom rubber bracelets are not just about a message or an attitude, but they are now important information tools as well.

About the Author

Lisa Hyde-Barrett, a registered nurse and wellness advocate has become passionate about the new research behind cancer and the fundraising efforts supporting it. http://www.buy-rubber-wristbands.com

Written By: Joseph Barrett