BaalHabooze said: “Never heard of this, but until any explanation with ceredible (sic) mekor for this, I think I’ll just stick to the roiteh bendel”
The apparent implication of your above statement is that there is a credible mekor for using a “roite bindele.” That is half-true. There is a credible mekor which mentions its use, but not in a positive light; the Tosefta in Shabbos 7:1 says that tying a red string around the wrist to ward off ayin hara is prohibited because of darkei Emori.
old man said: “Exotic practices such as these are nonsense, whether they have a “mekor” or not. Defining it as darkei emori, kishuf, etc… is irrelevant. It’s plain nonsense.”
I disagree. If it has a reliable mekor, then it’s not nonsense. If tefillin didn’t have a reliable mekor, it WOULD be nonsense. What is or isn’t nonsense depends on what the Torah says, and whether something has a mekor or not is certainly not “irrelevant.”