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Giving up on smart rings

notesbylex.com

131–140 of 191 posts

Re: Giving up on smart rings

#131

>1. Your fingers change size and rings are not adjustable ....I guess OP doesn't wear a wedding ring, or any other kind of ring for that matter? How is that a problem with the smart ring, specifically?

I have a gold wedding band and can have it resized if needed. Also, I don't wear my wedding band when exercising, and that doesn't reduce its utility for me much. But a health tracker ring is arguably at its most useful when worn during exercise, to having to take it off while working out is not great. This isn't limited to weight lifting, as others hav noted. It also applies to tennis or other racquet sports where it gets in the way, and to anyone whose hands swell significantly during exercise. I find that even long walks make my fingers swell quite a bit. So I'd either have to get a ring that's loose during everyday wear or take it off during intensive exercise.

Re: Giving up on smart rings

#132
post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This isn't remotely true. Steel is absolutely still allowed. The steel toe is designed to collapse without crushing the toe. When that happens, the boot needs to be replaced. There are composites which are fiber based but those aren't labelled as steel toes, they aren't designed to shatter and it's not plastic.

Osha allows steel where plastic (fiber is a plastic) has issues. However they have complex rules and none of the industries I work with will allow steel.

I've been wearing them all my life all over North America. Very few industries require metal-free footwear. Composite toes (since we're getting carried away with various terms, that's the actual term and fabrication method, which is fiber mesh and epoxy) still have downsides. Those don't apply if you're a white collar guy and just need them because of regulations.

But if you're an actual worker that relies on them to save your toes, CT has much worse puncture resistance than ST. So it's trivial to puncture with a framing nail gun or cut through it if you rest a board on your toe, for example.

They also shatter when something heavy falls on them. If the thing bounces and you're quick enough to pull your foot, then great. If not, the second bounce will be shattering your toes and your boot will be filled with fleshy composite soup that is impossible to save. A steel toe in that situation will just bend and odds are good that your foot will be salvageable.

Re: Giving up on smart rings

#133
post #2

I also really quite like the Fitbit Air. I used to wear a Galaxy Watch but there's something really freeing about how light and unobtrusive this little wristband is.

I just switched from a Whoop to the Fitbit Air. Whoop wanted $350 for a subscription fee which I just found really ridiculous. It's only been a few days, but the Fitbit Air might even be better at tracking sleep. And it looks like it can periodically, automatically check for Afib unlike the Whoop (?). The rest looks a little worse. But worth it to avoid a subscription fee. Not sure how Whoop stays in business TBH.

Re: Giving up on smart rings

#134

None of these 3 problems have anything to do with it being a smart ring. Same problems that regular rings have, yet people still wear them. 1. Adulting: buying rings that are the right size. eg My tungsten wedding ring cannot be resized either. 2. Most people don't even lift. Those that do, dont mind taking off jewelry. I can see how this would be a problem for someone who wants to wear a smart ring for lifting. Soun…

My wife and I both just stopped wearing our wedding bands, and it turns out you’re still married even if you’re not wearing the ring. Also we just have simple gold bands so we never spent much on them in the first place.

Re: Giving up on smart rings

#135
post #61

None of these 3 problems have anything to do with it being a smart ring. Same problems that regular rings have, yet people still wear them. 1. Adulting: buying rings that are the right size. eg My tungsten wedding ring cannot be resized either. 2. Most people don't even lift. Those that do, dont mind taking off jewelry. I can see how this would be a problem for someone who wants to wear a smart ring for lifting. Soun…

> Most people don't even lift. Those that do, dont mind taking off jewelry. I dimly recall some folks promoting silicone wedding bands, although at that point I think it's more about social-signalling "I'm in a relationship" rather than a durable memento or signalling wealth.

I wear a silicone wedding band. The "durable memento" went missing when I took it off at the gym. My wife bought me a new gold band for our 15th anniversary and it lives in my jewelry box, since I don't want to lose it.

Re: Giving up on smart rings

#136
post #78
post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would a tungsten band increase the chances of degloving your finger? A tungsten band is a lot harder than a gold band. But a gold band is already way harder than your flesh. Jimmy Fallon was wearing a traditional platinum band when he nearly lost his finger. If you want to reduce your risk, you should either not wear a ring or wear a silicone band.

Steel toed work boots are almost never allowed to have a steel toe anymore. It is always plastic which is just as strong but it shatters when it breaks so they don't have to uncrush that once they get whatever fell on your toes off. There are some rare exceptions for specific jobs, see OSHA (or your country equivalent) for the exact rules that apply to you.

Tungsten also shatters. It doesn’t crush. That’s actually how a tungsten ring that’s stuck is removed. You break it with a vice.

Re: Giving up on smart rings

#137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is understandable in some narrow sense because you want the outer surface to be nick-resistant, so you need to make it out of reasonably thick metal. Plastic rings would look terrible after a couple of weeks. But it's really hard to justify the big picture. It's hundreds of bucks + a monthly subscription for... what, exactly? Why does this need to exist? If you really want to gamify your pulse and sleep patterns f…

Thinner skin, so you can in theory get better sensor readings. And you don't have to convince people to give up the watch they already own. Selling somebody who owns a $4000 watch another watch is an uphill battle that requires Apple watch levels of sophistication, selling them a ring is a lot easier I also find the cost of the Oura outrageous. But getting the $450 smart ring instead of the $20 smart ring from aliexp…

> Selling somebody who owns a $4000 watch another watch is an uphill battle

I’d wager the future lifetime spending of someone who owns a $4000 watch on other watches is at least one and maybe two orders of magnitude greater than the general population.

Re: Giving up on smart rings

#139
post #29

I like my Oura ring and find it one of the least fussy fitness trackers I've used. To me, the battery question is more about time between charging. I can travel for a week on a business trip without taking the charger, no problem. The sizing issue is real and as I dropped weight, the ring became loose and would fall off. I've added a small eva tab on the inside to increase friction and reduce risk until I buy the nex…

I like my oura ring but I find its terrible for fitness tracking. It takes nowhere near enough readings to actually get an idea of what zones my heart rate is in. I have a Wahoo Tickr that I use when I cycle or play tennis and the difference between it and the Oura ring is huge.

Re: Giving up on smart rings

#140
post #66
post #29

I like my Oura ring and find it one of the least fussy fitness trackers I've used. To me, the battery question is more about time between charging. I can travel for a week on a business trip without taking the charger, no problem. The sizing issue is real and as I dropped weight, the ring became loose and would fall off. I've added a small eva tab on the inside to increase friction and reduce risk until I buy the nex…

I feel the same way about my Garmin watch's sleep tracking, but one thing I haven't been able to do is use that data effectively. It's an accurate after the fact representation of my sleep, but it doesn't tell me anything that my own body isn't telling me in terms of how I should adjust my sleep patterns/habits. Do you find you change your behavior at all based on the sleep tracking?

Yeah, I found its made me much more aware of and focused on eating early, getting to sleep early, staying on a consistent sleep schedule, etc.
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