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The Sip Safe wristband lets you dab on a drop of your drink to test if it's been spiked.
You learn the rules early when you go to gigs, festivals and bars: Always keep an eye on your drink. Watch out for strangers. Be careful who you leave your glass with.
But now an Australian invention could change that (and put less onus on young people -- especially women -- to completely change the way they act when they're out).
The Sip Safe is a wristband designed for concerts and festivals that lets you test for drugs in your drink. Dab a drop of your drink onto the two spots on the band, wait two minutes till the liquid dries, and if the spots turn darker blue, that's a sign that your drink could have been spiked.
It's not the first invention designed to make drink safety easy -- we've seen drug-testing drinkware, sensors that look like swizzle sticks and even nail polish that tests for date-rape drugs.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by vux984 on Tuesday April 24 2018, @07:24PM (5 children)
https://www.sipsafe.com.au/ [sipsafe.com.au]
Ok.
I'm not sure anyone is going to wait 2 minutes before taking a sip. And remember, they have to keep the glass in sight the whole time, or they have to start over. :)
Umm.. so what? Take your drink to the bathroom and test it there?
Also what's the false positive rate?
Seems like a cool idea, but it still sounds more inconvenient than practical. And its probably simpler to a) simply order shots instead of drinks when you want to be mobile/dancing/whatever. b) not leave your drink unattended, and if you do... either take a big gulp before you abandon it and get a new one when you come back.
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Tuesday April 24 2018, @07:48PM (1 child)
That's easy: Focus on the game, on the conversation, or the music with the drink in your hand. If you can't hold your drink for 2 minutes without drinking it, you have different problems. And more to the point, it's a heck of a lot easier than getting raped.
I'm assuming the bars and parties you go to have at least some lighting somewhere. Put your wrist near a candle, under the lamp, etc.
Probably unknown, because these things haven't been in existence for very long.
The goal of all of these is to test your drink for roofies without letting on that that's what you're doing. That way, if your drink has been drugged, you can avoid drinking the drink, and make a quiet exit from the situation as quickly as possible and alert other people, rather than alert your would-be rapist that you're on to 'em (which can trigger a violent response). If these kinds of tests become common enough, then there will be fewer rapes committed this way, which would be a good think for everybody but the folks who like to drug and rape people.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 2) by vux984 on Tuesday April 24 2018, @08:29PM
The scenario I'm thinking is more nightclub; where the gals leave the drinks at the table or on the bar, come back chat a couple minutes or for a song with their drinks and then hit the floor for a few more songs. They aren't going to come back, test their drink, wait two minutes for it to dry, then find a well lit area to check the dots, then start drinking it.
Ordering a new drink. Or just considering any drink you leave unattended as abandoned works too. Is the cost of half a drink worth the cost and hassle of a sipsafe bracelet? Can she use the sipsafe over and over again, or does she need an arm full of them to get through a night?
Some lighting sure. Enough to clearly differentiate colors ... maybe not. Ever try to gauge different shades of blue under a colored light? Even low candles are heavy on the red spectrum; and these days its all simulated led candles through frosted colored glass etc. Ive been in lots of clubs, and restaurants where the table lighting is really low or colored. There are places that are well lit but not necessarily at the table.
I understand there are other venues... sports bars, for example, which are well lit, and sell beer by the pint.. and a place like that where, yeah it could work i guess.
Yeah, why should the vendor need to demonstrate or even know its efficacy before making claims and releasing it to market?? That's commie-talk. :p
It fails pretty hard at the latter part. I think it'll be pretty clear what you are doing.
(Score: 2) by JNCF on Tuesday April 24 2018, @07:54PM
Valid considerations, but I've known people who would use something like this even with the two-minute wait. It might not be practical for intermittent drinking and dancing, but in a more casual setting you could reasonably wait a couple minutes before actually drinking from a glass. Just fake a sip and go into conversation, or be open and blunt about what you're doing.
(Score: 4, Funny) by DeathMonkey on Tuesday April 24 2018, @08:00PM (1 child)
On the other hand, the limitations aren't too onerous for my use-case: ensuring there ARE drugs in my drink.
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Wednesday April 25 2018, @12:01AM
Spiking your *own* drink won't get you laid.
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex