Breaking your arm sucks. Part of the suckiness comes from the fact that the initial pain will make you want to huck yourself off of the nearest high building. But, wearing a crappy plaster cast all summer might actually be worse. They work with a series of steel wires, which can be tightened with a clicky knob. If you're a snowboarder and you have ever used boa boots, it's basically the same thing. The upshot is that these casts are adjustable, waterproof and breathable so your arm won't get to be a smelly, itchy mess while it heals. The rest of you, however, will remain an itchy, smelly mess.