QALO Rings Revisited

Sept. 18, 2018
Almost four years ago QALO exploded into the public safety market with their line of rings for law enforcement and fire fighters. Now they're releasing an updated design of those lines plus new materials and other new products.

It’s no secret that I’m a fan of the QALO line of rings. I will never forget nearly losing a finger during a foot pursuit in 1993. The suspect went over a chain-link fence… I was hot on his trail and did the same thing. Left hand on top of the fence (4 foot fence) and the rest of me jumping over and continuing on… until I was abruptly stopped by the hard yank on my left hand, centered on my ring finger. I had caught my wedding ring on one of the pieces of the fence. It didn’t give. Thankfully, none of my flesh and skin did either… much. I tore a nice gash at the base of my ring finger on the palm side and darned near pulled the whole finger out of joint. It was swollen and ugly for several days. And that is exactly one kind of injury that can be prevented by wearing a silicone ring instead of a metal one.

Another example happened in 1999. I was talking with someone, standing next to the open driver door of my patrol car. I don’t even remember how it happened but the door got slammed on my right hand. The ring I was wearing on my pinky finger was crushed and had to be cut off my hand. Some would argue that the ring saved me further injury to that finger / joint. Remember the discoloration, bruise and destruction of the ring, I can’t help but still wonder if I’d have been better off without the metal ring; with a QALO ring instead.

As I type this, it was some years back that I was first introduced to the QALO product line. They were just getting ready to come out with their first Thin Blue Line ring. I met with the CEO and COO over lunch during one of the busiest days at SHOT Show I’d ever had (2015). The pure energy and determination radiating off of them was palpable. It caught my attention and forced me to give them more consideration than I would to someone I considered “a mere salesman.” These guys not only believed in their product but they lived a lifestyle that supported their beliefs.

QUALITY              ATHLETICS           LOVE     OUTDOORS

The four things that I found out those men genuinely appreciated and kept in focus in both their personal and business lives. As we ate and discussed the practicality of the rings, materials, etc. we also talked about spirituality, having blessing ceremonies for the rings and more. I knew my wife wouldn’t object to us replacing our metal wedding rings with the QALO rings for daily wear, but I also knew she’d want the same spiritual and sentimental feeling from them. To insure that, after we secured our rings (four sets of them) we had our minister bless them and we exchanged them, just as we had on our wedding day. More often than not now, my wife wears a blue/white marble design QALO ring. I tend to stick with my Thin Blue Line ring although the gray and black ones also find their way onto my hand every now and then. I finally wore the camo one out about a year back.

As I type today, QALO is just releasing their new version of Thin Line rings (Pinstripe) and have recently released (of all things) teething necklaces. They also have a new material they’re using and we need to take a look at that too.

The Thin Line series honors both law enforcement and firefighters with the thin blue line or the thin red line. On the original series, the colored line was centered in the black silicone ring. In the new series it’s offset from center – but whether that’s closer to your heart or closer to the tip of your finger is entirely up to how you put on the ring. Which way do you want it? Does it mean something different depending on how you put it on? And you don’t have to be a law enforcement professional or a firefighter to wear one either. These rings are an awesome way to show your support for our public safety professionals and QALO gives a donation to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund out of each Thin Blue Line purchase.

The teething necklaces are, to me, a stroke of genius. While I’m old enough to have grandchildren (and do), I am surrounded by friends in the late-20s and early 30s who seem to all have newborns or toddlers. As those young ones go through teething, they stick EVERYTHING in their mouth to chew on and all too often mom or dad can’t find the teething ring that is usually handy. Of course, it’s handy until the moment you need it and can’t find it. The QALO teething necklaces are available in a variety of shapes and colors and run from $29.95 to $39.95 on the QALO family products page. They can even be personalized if you’d like, adding to the sentimental value of what can actually be good looking jewelry that serves a very practical purpose for a parent.

Recently QALO released a host of products using a new material they call Q2X. Here’s a tidbit from QALO about the Q2X collection:

The QALO Q2X Silicone Rings were intricately designed for flexibility, safety and style. Our exclusive Q2X silicone material was created to stand up to the toughest environments and made for hard working hands. Our Q2X silicone is 10x more resistant to gasoline, oil and solvents than traditional silicone. It is temperature tolerant from -75 degrees Fahrenheit to 575 degrees Fahrenheit, non-conductive and non-porous.

In addition to these new styles and lines of products, QALO has created stackable rings – enabling you to make a more personalized statement by mixing rings, colors, designs and more. Their method of layering materials has also allowed them to come out with a LOT more designs than they had back in 2015 when they first came to my attention. The upside is that they have a much greater selection for you to choose from. The downside is that now I have to break out my credit card because my anniversary is coming and my wife will, no doubt, appreciate some new QALO rings!

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