These bands have been tested and tried. Just as good if not better then the name brand - and waaaay cheeper too! Why pay more when you get more (quality and quantity) for less?!?
My husband uses thy rubber bands for his hair and likes the band. I use them for everything and the work wonderfully. They are both strong enough for household use and fragile enough for hair care.
We use these for binding rolled drawings from 5 to 20+ pages. I ordered a 1lb bag about a year or so ago and they've held up well without drying out. That's a big plus since we store old drawings for years sometimes. I've also ordered the 3 1/2"X1 1/4" bands and they've held up just as well.