Every parent knows that moment in a crowd -big or small - when you look down and your kid isn't there.
Mine happened at an Avalanche game. I was there with my two kids - five and three years old - packed arena, thousands of people moving in every direction. And I just kept thinking: if we get separated, how do they find me? They don't have phones. There's no plan. There's nothing on them that tells a stranger who they belong to or how to reach me.
While I didn't lose my kids that day, that thought stuck with me long after we got home.
The Problem Nobody Had Really Solved
I started looking around for a solution. There were ID bracelets with phone numbers written on them - fine, but permanent and not reusable. There were GPS trackers - expensive, require charging, need an app. There were temporary paper wristbands you write on - they fall apart, they smear, they're gone by the end of the day.
What I wanted was simple: something my kid would have fun wearing, but also something any adult could use to reach me instantly - without downloading an app, without creating an account, without any friction at all. Just scan and call.
That didn't exist. So I built it.
How myScanBandz Works
The idea is straightforward. You register your wristband online - a simple registration page guides you through the whole thing. You add your name, your number, and any other information you choose to share. Your kid wears the band.
If you get separated, any adult who finds them scans the QR code on the wristband with their phone. Your contact information comes up instantly. They can call you right there. No app needed on their end. No account. Just scan.
You can see exactly how it works here - it's simpler than it sounds.
And Then It Grew
Once the wristbands were built, something became obvious pretty quickly: the same technology works for gear too.
Kids lose things constantly - helmets, backpacks, water bottles, ski equipment. Adults lose things too. Expensive things. Things that end up in a lost-and-found bin that nobody checks, or in the wrong gear bag at the end of a tournament, or left on a shuttle bus heading back to the mountain.
So gear tags were born. Same idea, same system, just applied to the stuff you carry instead of the people you love. A QR gear tag on a helmet means anyone who finds it can reach you in seconds. Same scan. Same instant contact. No app.
Helmets. Backpacks. Water bottles. Ski equipment. Electronics. Anything valuable you want back.
Why I'm Glad I Built It
I'm a dad in Basalt, Colorado. I'm not a tech company. I built this because I needed it and it didn't exist.
The Avalanche game turned out fine - we never actually got separated that night. But the thought that planted itself on the walk out of that arena didn't go away. What if we had? What if it had been a concert, or a ski mountain, or a theme park?
myScanBandz is the answer to that what if. I wish I'd had it sooner. If you've ever had that same thought in a crowd, now you do.