Discussion: No Sweat?

Firstly, I love the stinky odor coming from the strap of my SI finger stick. It is me. It is the result of my sweat and effort.
HOWEVER some people renting one particular club's finger sticks apparently dislike it when the stick they are handed has someone else's sweat dried on to it. There is probably some feeling that where there is sweat odor there are germs.
The feeling is so strong in that club that they are planning to re-tool their finger sticks with neck lanyards. (I don't know about everybody but that part of my body sweats even more than my hands.)
In fairness they are also concerned about people losing finger sticks and feel neck lanyards provide better protection against loss.
So the question is: how do your clubs clean their rental finger sticks - or do they bother? How do other clubs deal with loss prevention?
And no, tRicky, before you mention it may I say that dropping the sI stick in kangaroo poo or any other excreted product will not be a useful suggestion for masking the smell of body sweat - effective but not useful.

There was a thread on this very topic not that long ago. Here it is.

At our school champs a couple of weeks ago, we used lanyards and one of the school teams still managed to lose theirs, although we used p-cards rather than SI sticks but the principle is still the same. In fact it was returned to us by another team before the loss-team in question came back.

We've had more losses at MTBO events (that I'm aware of) than from foot events. Something about having to hold onto a stick whilst riding, but then being the co-ordinator of all the bike events means I hear about the losses from these rather than the foot ones so we may lose them in both instances.

Thanks tRicky. I had missed that one altogether. Sorry to be airing dirty laundry, so to speak.

Despite washing the QOC sticks on a regular basis, they still have a bit of an odor. At a recent event, someone asked for one which didn't smell...sure, that will be $40, please.

Gord, I tried neck lanyards for the AR events I have supported. Granted, the events are longer than orienteering events, but they were just so gross to deal with after. Also, the metal hook rusts pretty quickly.

The system QOC uses is quite good for inventory purposes, as well as cleaning the cards with some regularity. I started washing because the smelly dried straps would trigger my asthma.



We still lose 1-2 each year even with the leashes because, well, people.

The leashes are made with mini cord locks from oregon cord lock, as well as braided (not twisted) #18 mason line, the brighter the color, the better.

We throw the whole lot in the wash - but they need to be aired afterwards, even after drying - as well as the case holding the units. A good dose of sunlight. We also use lanyards for P cards - I hold the P cards and dangle the lanyards in disinfectant-ed water. But airing and a heap of sunlight is good.

For some of the ARs I have done the timing for we attached the SI cards to the competitors with Tyvek writsbands (like you get for a festival arm band) when they collect them. Usually very few are lost when you do this and you just throw away the wrist bands after use. It doesn't make punching easy though.

I participated in a race that used such wrist bands, I can't remember which one (some sort of AR or city run, I think). It was annoying to punch, but understandable to reduce losses.

The smell of rental punch straps can be quite overpowering. I had long thought the smell of swamp water in socks was the worst o smell, but no. I've noticed in Colorado the smell of rental SI straps being less bad than elsewhere. Maybe sun really is the trick (or dry air). I wonder how much replacement straps are in bulk.

hahahaha, hahahah...hahahhaha!

I wish my hockey gear got only as bad as an SI strap.


But, since hockey gear is essentially MRSA on skates, I use a combo of vodka (bottom shelf variety) and distilled water....spritz my gear after each use and dry it out in the sun. Works wonders. I wash it a few times a year in really hot water but the vodka does the trick.

Regarding the hockey glove smell (almost as bad as the death flower that blooms once a year but that's still not as bad as goalie smell) .... dryer sheets! I shove one in each glove. So...maybe a dryer sheet across the top of the case (in QOC's example) would make things smell fresh.

Dryer (fabric softener) sheets trigger allergies in some people. For that reason, I would not use dryer sheets or scented deodorizers on rental cards.

Living produces allergies in some people.