Itty-Bitty Bungees: Making Mini-Shock Cord From Rubber Wristbands

At Eureka Factory, we participate and exhibit at a lot of community events, FIRST tournaments and professional conferences and conventions. At all of them, branded silicon rubber wristbands are common swag, distributed as much, if not more than, business cards. After a while, they pile up. We find them in drawers, on desktops, on the floor when the cat finds one, and in various nooks and crannies in the car.

I've tried using them as big rubber bands, but they're only good for a single diameter bundle of things. While they stretch out, you can't double them around like you can with rubber bands, to secure anything smaller than about 2 inches in diameter.

However I found that when you cut one in half, it's wonderfully stretchy, which got me to wondering if they'd make decent mini shock cords. Turns out they make wonderful Itty-Bitty Bungees!

Step 1: Materials

You'll need:

• Silicon Rubber Wristband
• Small zip ties
• S-hooks,little carabiners, or some similar hook or clip
• Scissors

Step 2: Cut Wristband

Cut your wristband in half. When you lay it out, you;ll see that it wants to curl in one direction.

Step 3: Secure Hook

It may not matter which way you fold the end of your wristband over your hook, but I figured if I folded it in the opposite direction it naturally wants to go, it might stay better secured when I tightened down the zip tie. Regardless, fold over the end of your wristband through the hook of your choice, and pull the zip tie tight.

You might want to use needle nosed pliers to pull your zip tie good and snug.

Step 4: Voila- an Itty-Bitty Bungee!

Trim off your zip tie ends, and there you have it! Your little bungee (shown in comparison to a full size bungee) can stretch to about double its size, from 6 or 7 inches to about 14 inches, and provide some useful service around your home or garage.

Step 5: Put Your Mini-Bungee to Work!

Now you can keep all those little rubber wristbands out of the landfill, and put them to work helping you keep things organized! Happy repurposing!

Comments

[kariswg1]

you can also use a split ring and create a Key ring to attach anywhere....

[EurekaFactory]

Yep! Tons of uses for these things! :-)

[lysbeth.black]

Those wristbands are great for fixing a torch on bike handle bars , actually work better than some purpose made torch holders. You dont even have to cut them!

[EurekaFactory]

Good to know! They really are handy for a lot of different things. They're my new favorite swag to collect at events now. :-)

[seamster]

Very clever idea! I might just make a few of these. Thanks!

[EurekaFactory]

I'm going to make more too, and toss in them in the glove box of the car, and keep in the utility drawer, as well.