Simply watching the VIX has failed traders in recent years, and technical tools like Bollinger bands and Starc bands have proven to be more effective measures of volatility and risk.
The May-through-September trading in SLV is a good example of how the Starc bands can be helpful tools and also illustrates some of the differences between these two indicators.
In my regular Charts in Play feature, favorite tools that I always use and frequently mention are Starc bands, as developed by the late Manning Stoller.