In the last two years custom rubber bracelets have invaded our life. And despite fashion gurus pronouncing them a "passing fad" they are still around -- and are still climbing the popularity charts.

So what makes the custom rubber bracelets so popular? Highly customizable and cheap: those are the two qualities that make these rubber wristbands so popular.

The custom rubber bracelets can be custom-manufactured for any purpose: charity, crowd control, storing medical information, fashion... And the ordinary ones usually cost just around $1 a piece -- yes, with all those customized messages and colors.

What are custom rubber bracelets? Well, they are simply colorful rubber loops that can be stretched over one"s palms and worn on one"s wrist. And they usually have some message stamped on them, such as "Come Home Soon" (that is popular with the relatives of American servicemen) or any other message. Some big hospitals even stamp information such as a patient"s name, medication, timings, etc on the rubber band bracelets. This allows the hospital staff to quickly access the vital info without referring to a file in an emergency situation.

Well, that is only one aspect of their customization ability. They can be ordered in any color -- yellow, green, pink, black, translucent, glow-in-the-dark... there is a color for everything. The yellow ones are the most well-known, popularized by ace cyclist and cancer survivor Lance Armstrong. In fact, it was Armstrong"s "LiveStrong" custom rubber bracelets that kicked off the trend of wearing rubber bracelets.

Then followed numerous others: there were custom rubber bracelets for tsunami relief, to show support to American troops, to rally students against bullying, as a tool for crowd control, for just being trendy... Soon there was a flood of those colorful solid rubber loops. By the way, the custom rubber bracelets needn"t be really rubber. They are also made of silicone.

Recently there has been a flood of criticism against the custom rubber bracelets, caused mostly by the numerous rubber wristbands that have been popping up all around with all kinds of silly messages. Does that mean society is getting fed up with the custom rubber bracelets?

Not by a long shot. Custom rubber bracelets are going to be around, whether their popularity rises or wanes. Because they are so useful little devices, that can be put to use in a number of situations. They may go out of fashion or come into fashion, but they will always be around in some form or other, in some situation or another.