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Silicone Rubber Bands

A project log for Antigravity Arm Floats

Wheelchair mounted orthoses to enable someone with very low muscle tone to move her arms without the encumbrances of gravity

mike-turveyMike Turvey 11/07/2016 at 21:170 Comments

One of the headaches I mentioned in an earlier log was the rubber bands. Basically, ordinary rubber bands fail rather quickly. I see them start to fail within a month. I recently found some silicone bands that are used for cooking that seem to work really well.

Unlike other cooking bands I've seen that are really long, these are 2", which is pretty much the same as an ordinary run-of-the-mill rubber band. They are also comparably stretchy, and about 6 of them is the right amount of force for my daughter's arms.

I'm hopeful they'll last a lot longer since they're silicone. I'll report back on them in a few months.

Update: After several months, the silicone bands have worked great-- while they are more expensive, they are *much* more durable than regular rubber bands.

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