Not Ben's — The Origin Story
The Incident (Beaver Valley, Men's Day)
Ben had been messing with his snowboard stance all season at Beaver Valley and couldn't get it feeling right. Then one day — Men's Day — he picked up what he thought was his snowboard and noticed the bindings were set to goofy.
"What?! That's why it's felt weird all season — my bindings are on backwards!"
So he disassembled the bindings completely. As he was about to reattach them, he noticed a strap was in the way... except he had Burton Step Ons. He didn't have straps on his bindings.
These weren't his bindings.
This wasn't his board.
To make matters worse, he'd dropped the screws in the snow during the disassembly. He went to the shop to get replacements — they didn't have any.
When he came back, he found a guy searching through the racks looking for something.
"What are you looking for?"
"I can't find my snowboard."
Points to pile of snowboard parts on a picnic table.
"Is that it?"
"...What the?!"
Ben explained what happened. Then had to add that he'd also lost a key screw. The guy said he'd go to the store for one, and Ben had to deliver the final blow:
"...They don't have any."
The Pattern Continues
- The following year: Ben got a new snowboard. At the hill, he grabbed what he thought was his board — someone else had the exact same one. Realized it when the bindings felt too small. Found the guy at the bottom of the hill holding Ben's board. Less disastrous, equally hilarious.
- Snowshoes: Grabbed a friend's snowshoes for a hike to the top. Didn't realize they weren't his.
- Gloves: Grabbed someone else's gloves.
- The list goes on.
The Solution
The group brainstormed: what's a good way for Ben to identify his own stuff?
The obvious answer: put stickers with his name on his gear.
The actual answer: make stickers that say "Not Ben's" and put them on everything except his stuff.
The Sticker Detail
The stickers say "Not Ben's" — but if you look closely, there's a small section that reads "if Ben" next to a sticker icon with cut lines through it. You can cut the sticker in half so only "Ben's" remains. A sticker within a sticker.
The stickers are now all over gear at the ski club. People love them.
The Website on the Sticker
Every sticker has notbens.com printed on it. Because of course it does.