Bumper sets, skirts, or reversibles?

[MrBasse]

We took the Velcro method and changed out the Velcro to use a bungee. No more attaching Velcro or having Velcro wear out. Just add a loop to the end and fish a bungee through, hog ring the ends together and be done for the season. Video of a one person change here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYTiRxLw7oA

I have already had a request for a how to, and I will post a white paper when we build our bumpers next week.

We also use t-shirt vinyl and a vinyl cutter to create our numbers and then heat press them on.

[bEdhEd]

Originally Posted by MrBasse

We took the Velcro method and changed out the Velcro to use a bungee. No more attaching Velcro or having Velcro wear out. Just add a loop to the end and fish a bungee through, hog ring the ends together and be done for the season. Video of a one person change here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYTiRxLw7oA

I have already had a request for a how to, and I will post a white paper when we build our bumpers next week.

We also use t-shirt vinyl and a vinyl cutter to create our numbers and then heat press them on.

That's pretty neat! It's like a hybrid between a skirt and a reversible! How well does it stand up to the rigors of gameplay? I can't see much of a reason for regular bumping or sliding to cause the bungee cord to slip, so this looks pretty reliable. The only problem I could see is the fabric getting caught in the wheels from being pushed around. We like velcro because it anchors the fabric in a specific place, making sure it stays away from moving parts. I might get my team to try this for the season. I want to make sure I get the instructions for this, so along with posting a white paper, could you also send me a personal message?

[MrBasse]

Originally Posted by bEdhEd

That's pretty neat! It's like a hybrid between a skirt and a reversible! How well does it stand up to the rigors of gameplay? I can't see much of a reason for regular bumping or sliding to cause the bungee cord to slip, so this looks pretty reliable. The only problem I could see is the fabric getting caught in the wheels from being pushed around. We like velcro because it anchors the fabric in a specific place, making sure it stays away from moving parts. I might get my team to try this for the season. I want to make sure I get the instructions for this, so along with posting a white paper, could you also send me a personal message?

The bungee on our 2013 bot was entirely inside the frame perimeter so it never came in contact with anything. We just put a couple of small bolts around the outside at the corners of the frame to hold the bungee from getting tangled with the wheels. We actually forgot to change colors until we were lined up to get on the field at MSC, but with two people it is about two seconds to swap colors.

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[bEdhEd]

Originally Posted by MrBasse

The bungee on our 2013 bot was entirely inside the frame perimeter so it never came in contact with anything. We just put a couple of small bolts around the outside at the corners of the frame to hold the bungee from getting tangled with the wheels. We actually forgot to change colors until we were lined up to get on the field at MSC, but with two people it is about two seconds to swap colors.

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I remember in 2010 when bumpers first became red/blue I independently came up with a reversible design as a rookie, but the way I made them wouldn't work because I didn't put a 45 degree "miter joint" on the fabric so we had to stuff extra fabric in to the space between bumpers. We gave up on the reversibles that year and just kept em on the blue side and used a red skirt.

Then in 2011, I re-designed the fabric to have the miter, and at the moment, nobody else, (or at least one or two teams, if my memory is off) at our main regional had reversibles yet, so we would purposely neglect to change colors when lining up at the start of a match, so we could show off our new bumpers on the field. It was fun seeing other teams who never saw reversibles gasp at the speed of our color changing! We also did it to implicitly spread the idea that color changing can be easy, and that you don't need to have skirts or two sets of bumpers.

[brianbond]

Separate bumpers no questions asked for us. Just the professional look of it is what it boils down too. Nothing really wrong with skirts other than looks in my opinion.

[LeadU2Fun]

We have always done 2 sets but are tackling the reversibles this year. We have one of the schools classes (graphics) either silk screen or vinyl cut the numbers and put them on for us. Check with your school to see if there is a class that makes T-shirts and they should be able to help.

[Short Stuff]

Our team used reversible bumpers last year that used elastic bands that would wrap either over the top of the bumper or underneath the bumper depending on what color we needed and looped into small hooks attached to the back.