Australian Rogaining Association

In the ARA rules, rule 11 states:

R11
Organisers shall issue checkpoint recording devices, which shall be a scorecard and/or an electronic recorder to one or more members of each team. Electronic recoding devices shall be attached to the competitors by a tamper-proof device, such as a wrist band, before the commencement of the event. Tamper-proof devices shall only be cut or removed by event officials.


The implication of the last sentence is that if a wristband either fails or is deliberately broken the team is disqualified in accordance with rule 26.

There is a major dilemma for event organizers regarding the durability of wristbands.

There is no way any guarantees can be made about absolute durability of
a wrist band, although the most reliable bands possible need to be found.

On the other hand it is impossible to make the rules about team splitting effective (rule 18) unless there are major consequences to tampering with wristbands or other means of attachment. There is no way of differentiating between an accidentally broken wristband and a deliberately broken one, nor of determining when the band was broken without physical examination at random points on the course.

The choice has to be made - do we want a rule to penalise team
splitting, or do we want to allow for wristband failure? Maybe a full
DSQ is too harsh, but a team that breaks a wristband should not expect
no penalty. A significant points penalty outweighing any possible
advantage from team splitting would still allow a team with an
accidental breakage to get a ranking in the results - two possibilities
- absolute: 10% of the total points available in the event, or relative:
10% of team score? The 10% is just a number off the top of my head - another number could be arrived at subject to discussion in conjunction with examination of event results, etc.