Hey CD’ers,
I was wondering what type of shirts your team uses for competitions. In the past, we have used Gildan Heavy Cotton shirts but we weren’t very happy with them last year.
Our pro con on our shirts is something like this
Pro:
Relatively cheap
Durable
Doesn’t wash out
Cons:
Thick
Hot
Very Baggy (this is good and bad at the same time)
If you could post up the brand/model and a pro-con list, that would be great!
Thanks!
Out pit crew wears polos with our names on them. People order them at the begnning of teh year for around $20-30 (not really sure) and then we wear them at competition for the pit crew.
Regular team members just wear the regular t-shirts.
Last year we got a Gildan shirt, but then we got 2 mechanic shirts. These were pretty cheap, but they look cool! I am not 100% sure where we got them, but if I find out, I will let you know
On my old team (and most activities I’ve been in), we had Gildan. We got two shirts with the same design; one shirt was blue and the other was charcoal. I don’t remember what our polo was. We also had jackets (which had our team number on the back and could be personalized), but again I don’t remember the brand. In another club I’m been in, they got Comfort Colors.
My team is also deciding what brand to get. We definitely want a polo and at least one tee shirt. Hopefully, we could have the polo by kickoff. We are recruiting sponsors, which we will list on the back of our shirt, and we don’t want any late ones to miss being on the shirt.
Where are you all ordering them from? I know my town has a couple businesses that can do it (Threds, Label Industries, The Tee Spot, among others.) My friends have also suggested Custom Ink or Gandy Ink. We’re hoping to have our final decision within the next two weeks.
We get ours from a local shop but may change where we get them from. Each person has two shirts and a sweater-the t-shirt is for Thursday/Friday, and the polo is for Saturday. The sweater is for, well, when it’s cold. We also sell “supporter” shirts that look like our sweaters but have the team member names on the back.
Our team has several shirts:
Our presentation teams wear a Polo shirt.
For regular use (in the shop, around town, traveling) we have two t-shirts one solid purple with our logo and one tie dyed with logo
For competitions we wear a team Hawaiian shirt.
Our regular shorts are Gildan, regular weight, intended to last 1 season. I have some that are 10 years old, they are starting too fade but still not too badly. They’re not hot; although, March in New Jersey is generally Not Hot.
We also have team travel shirts, which are a nylon or polyester somewhat-loose soccer-type shirt, meant to last several years.
I’ve been pushing for shirts with pockets. Those come in handy sometimes.
Our team has been using active wear shirts for the past few seasons.
http://bit.ly/2017roboticsshirts
They feel great on, very breathable during the HOT competition venues and the kids love them.
We use gildan heavy cotton and haven’t had any issues. In the past we’ve done 2 t-shirts (each different colors), however this year we plan on going with 1-tshirt & a polo.
So I’ll mention that we use Gildan too - and if the heavy cotton didn’t work, try a different item! We have used UltraCotton G200 and DryBlend G600 in the past, and prefer UltraCotton.
I’ll also ( I do each season) put a nudge out for the print quality, item choice, and service from Rush Order Tees. We’ve used them since 2007, and everything we’ve gotten from them has been durable & lasts beyond a season. Not a shill, just a really satisfied customer for 10+ years.
Other products of note that we’ve loved: Gildan hoodies in both pullover and zip, Harriton 500 Twill Work Shirts (this serves as our ‘mentor shirt’) as well as Gildan G380 polos - which we’ll be changing out in favor of a different option this year, but have served us well in the past, and last well with little washout between seasons!
Just so everyone knows, this is a bit of a necro.
422 has students pay $50 for team dues every year, which is really just a way to say students pre-pay for shirts and 1 non-travel event. All of our shirts are one color on another color. We started in 2012 with 2 identical white on kelly green shirts. This year we will have 3 green on black shirts, with two identical competition shirts (sponsors on the back, team logo on the front left) and one “team” shirt that will have a student design on one side and the logo on the other.
+1 for this style of shirt. 2791 use something similar for their T-shirts and their mentor polos and I love it. So much more comfortable than a plain old cotton tee.
Good question. We have used Bella+Canvas for the past three years and are very pleased with the quality. The shirts are soft and stretchy, print well, and are a little longer than typical (which I, as a tall person, appreciate). They also have limited shrinkage. The biggest issue is that, with 7 color printing, we end up paying about $15/shirt.
My team would love recommendations for both zipped and no-zip hoodies for this year as well. We prefer to pay a bit more for higher quality (such as longer sleeves and body length). Anyone want to share their experiences? 610 always has a great look, I wonder how theirs feel and last.
2410 has used Gildan Ultra Cotton for 8 years now and I’ve been pretty happy with the feel. None of my shirts seem to have washed out, though there’s a bit of cracking on some of the printed stuff. From the various other t-shirts in my collection from other teams, seems like Ultra Cotton tends to be the popular choice, with a few Heavy Blends, and a surprising amount of Hanes Beefy-T
2706 orders Gildan 5000 Heavy Cotton. We’ve ordered hoodies too, the Gildan 18500 Heavy Blend. Both in purple, of course 
Every student joining the team gets one new shirt per year included in their team fees, and the option to buy another if they want. This year we had a mishap with our first run of shirts, so the company reprinted them for us and now every student has two shirts. (If you’re a Canadian team looking for clothing and great customer service, check out Portage Promotionals!)
We’ve never had a problem with the shirts being too hot, but then again, we live in Ontario, where build season is in the thick of winter, and our go-to competition is Greater Toronto Central which is held on the ice surface of Maple Leaf Gardens. Your mileage may vary 