Safety Pin alternative! No more ruined gear! :)

As a chip timer, we had this discussion with some other timers using the same equipment that I do because we put the disposable chips on the back of race numbers (like most timers do not). Only the engineers at the company who design the timing systems can say definitively if these small magnets will cause any interference that will inhibit the timing chips from reading properly. Until these are fully tested by the system manufacturers and give the green light, we tell events we won't time races that are using these because we don't want the read rates to suffer. If the magnets are strong enough to hold the bib on properly, there is legitimate concern about interference with the RFID.

I have run hundreds and hundreds of races with not one piece of "ruined gear."

I am basically your target audience and I wouldn't spend a dollar on this pointless things.

Zero Value Add wrote:

Okay, I'll bite.

The protective case keeps your credit cards safe from the magnet, but what keeps the bib mounted timing chip safe? Do magnets interfere with RFID (actually don't know on this one, but I suspect they would)?

No they don't.

TrackCoach wrote:

MJ102091 wrote:

Hey everyone! My friend recently launched a kickstarter program to produce magnetic safety pins. These are so cool! They come in a bunch of different colors, stay put through just about any activity, and don't put holes or rust stains on your gear! They need your help to fund the business to make this cool idea a reality. Just click the link below and help support them by donating a few dollars. The more you donate, the bigger thank you gift you get!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1337555798/racxers-race-day-magnetic-pins

Good luck, I do see a market for this, but not a large one, especially among serious runners. For one, it is not original, I saw a similar product almost a decade ago. Another problem is the fact that serious runners don't like doing anything that creates the slightest bit of overhead and pins are free.

I digress, on second thought, these guys will make some money... for a while.

A true story, a friend/coworker of my wife was preparing for her first 5K. She went to a local running store, one which I recommended btw and spent over $1300 on gear for that race. They sold her running shoes to warn up in, separate racing flats that were more expensive than anything I have ever bought; a complete running outfit, which included one of those skirts you see; a big camelback water gadget that I wouldn't wear for a marathon, a belt to hold her race number, compressing socks and a top of the line Garmin. They gave her a free gait analysis, which ended up causing her to some orthotics, which you could have gotten similar one in CVS for 1/10th the price.

So yes, these guys will sell some magnets; however they will have to give them to the athletes for free, but when everyone realizes the athletes aren't wearing them anymore, they will go the way of the breath right strip.

They are half the price of these safety pins at Banana Republic!

http://uberhumor.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/1hB331f.jpg

Bump

MJ102091 wrote:Hey everyone! My friend recently launched a kickstarter program to produce magnetic safety pins. These are so cool! They come in a bunch of different colors, stay put through just about any activity, and don't put holes or rust stains on your gear! They need your help to fund the business to make this cool idea a reality. Just click the link below and help support them by donating a few dollars. The more you donate, the bigger thank you gift you get!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1337555798/racxers-race-day-magnetic-pins

The infomercial states "the more you work, the harder it works to grip the number and your fabric".

Can you explain this a little more? To me it sounds like unsubstantiated hogwash.

really.? wrote:

MJ102091 wrote:

Either way velcro isn't reusable and environmentally friendly like the magnetic pins.

Interesting that you consider mining rare earth metals "environmentally friendly"...

Why not? People pretend that using a computer or mobile device is environmentally friendly all the time.

Bump for the night crowd.

Bump

Already done wrote:

We have this product in the UK which solves the safety pin holes "problem" (if it is indeed a problem!

http://eventclip.net/

Thanks for the link. I'm almost on the fence on buying some as gifts. Can't go wrong wearing a name such as Pensby.

With memories of my toy Hoveringham truck made by Corgi, QR.

Sir Trollalot wrote:

Bump

Morning bump

Quite Right wrote:

Already done wrote:

We have this product in the UK which solves the safety pin holes "problem" (if it is indeed a problem!

http://eventclip.net/

Thanks for the link. I'm almost on the fence on buying some as gifts. Can't go wrong wearing a name such as Pensby.

With memories of my toy Hoveringham truck made by Corgi, QR.

They were given out at the end of a race I did recently as part of the "goody bag" offering, printed with the custom race logo. From a business perspective, I guess this is how they can make the most money - orders of a few thousand at a time as a speciality novelty branded running gift.

They do work well - though with the weatherproof numbers printed on waterproof paper, it can be pain to get a decent hole in the bib first for them to work properly.

Thanks, A.d.

I think I figured out some of my aversion. Despite the pitfalls of safety pins, they're one piece and can be placed through just the outside of your top. None of the demos of the clips show them being attached while a shirt is being worn. I have visions of the inside plastic bit tumbling out, or worse, down into my shorts.

this is on the market form 2012 www.bibup.eu and you can find it on Amazon of your country

I like the rust stains on my shirt...lets me know where to pin the bib on my singlet.

Safety pins will be going away entirely from bibs eventually. At the Olympic Trials bibs were stickers similar to hip numbers but made of a fabric like material that folded with the jersey. Would expect to see this style making more frequent appearances soon.

I like the idea of these magnets.

I have gotten rust stains on my singlet from leaving the pin in my sweaty singlet.

And these magnets seem easier to adjust on the bib.

I never liked pinning.

I'm interested.

There may be other household uses for them as well.

I bought some magnetic bib holders last year after a pin snagged on something and ripped a pretty big hole in one of my favorite shirts.

The brand I bought is Race Dots and based on this thread it seems like no one needs a warning but I thought I'd post one anyway. Take a big pass on these. They're awful.

The idea is pretty decent in my opinion but the problem is that it's basically impossible to get the back piece properly lined up with the front. And once they're in place adjustment is out of the question -- the bib pops right out from under the magnets. So you can either have your bib loose/crooked/whatever or spend several minutes trying to figure out the right placement of the magnets and re-applying them.

And I hope your hand doesn't slip while putting on or removing the bib, or there goes the backing piece skidding across the ground and now the entire set is (even more) useless.

All in all huge waste of time and a bit of money. They weren't too expensive; my regret is actually the time spent standing in a parking lot as the race was about to begin messing with the damn bib like a complete idiot, instead of warming up like I should have been.