An athlete and avid traveler, 2009 Daniels Graduate alum Kyle Ewing understands the importance of taking safety precautions when participating in extreme sports or visiting a foreign country.
Right after he graduated, Ewing created Guerrilla Tags, an ID system in the form of a wristband or military-style dog tag. He is also the creator of SOS World Pass, a piece of paper small enough to fit into a pocket. It contains a help message that says: “Hello, I am visiting your country and I do not speak the local language. I need help. Please help me contact or find the nearest U.S. Embassy.” This message is translated into the different languages of the countries a customer plans to visit.
Ewing graduated from DU’s 4-1 program with a BSBA in marketing and an MBA in 2009.
“Receiving a BSBA in marketing and an MBA from DU gave me the skills I needed to understand how to start a business, bring a new product to market and most importantly, turn a profit,” he said.
According to Ewing, he got the idea to create Guerrilla Tags when climbing the Matterhorn in Switzerland.
“There was a solo climber ahead of my team that fell easily 4,000 feet and died,” said Ewing. “The rescue team radioed up to us and asked if we knew who he was because he did not have any identification.”
He went on to explain that it took a week to identify the body of the solo climber.
“There has got to be a better way,” said Ewing.
A Guerrilla Tag has a brass or copper nameplate that contains a name, two emergency contacts and any medical allergies.
“This information can then be used to expedite your treatment and notify your emergency contacts that there has been an accident,” the Guerrilla Tags website said.
The nameplate can be mounted on a wristband that comes in white, brown or black, or can be worn around the neck.
According to Ewing, many customers wear their Guerilla Tags all the time.
“Every tag is waterproof and is even fire-resistant. That way the wearer never has to worry about the durability of their wearable ID system,” he said.
It can be purchased at g-tags.com and costs $34.99. It also offers an ID system for kids priced at $29.99.
Ewing expanded his idea in 2012 with a new product called SOS World Pass.
“I had a woman come to me and say ‘I want to buy the exact same thing for my niece studying abroad,’” he said.
Like a Guerilla Tag, an SOS World Pass has the name of the customer, emergency contact information, medical allergies and any food allergies.
“If you are in a foreign country and need help but don’t know how to speak the language, you can pull out your SOS World Pass and show it to someone and they will know that you need help,” he said. “It is beneficial because you don’t have to carry a passport, but still have a form of identification on you.”
An SOS World Pass is priced between $12.99 and $19.99 depending on how many help messages the paper contains. It can hold up to 12 translations.
The company also makes a food allergy card.
“This has been helpful for students,” said Ewing. “Instead of saying ‘I need help,’ it says what you are allergic to. So if you are in a restaurant you can show it to your waiter and they will understand what you can’t have.”
Since many students travel abroad their junior year, this would be the ideal travel accessory and an added element of safety if students get into a situation where they need help. The passes can be purchased at sosworldpass.com
Selling about 1,000 SOS World Passes and several 100 Guerilla Tags monthly, Ewing said that his business has been successful.
“Both Guerrilla Tags customers and SOS World Pass customers are from all over the world,” he said. “We have sent Guerrilla Tags to mountaineers in the Himalaya and Japan. We’ve sent SOS World Passes to the Editor-in-Chief of Freekski Magazine in the Netherlands.”
