wicking Ts

[Lisabob]

A lot of you mentioned in other threads that your troop T is a wicking fabric. That certainly makes sense to do. Up to this point my son's troop has gone with ordinary cotton Ts. One advantage is they're cheap ($7). We're about ready to order new ones though and it would be nice to get away from cotton. For those who are using a wicking T and who have gotten them screened with troop logo, etc., what are you paying for your shirts?

[GernBlansten]

We got wicking Ts for our Ntier crew. They were $22 each. About twice the price of a quality cotton T. Any screener can order them for you.

[raisinemright]

We got ours at All American Screen Printing in Sterling Heights. Mound near 18 Mile Rd. They were about $12.00 each.

 

The scouts really like them, they hold up well and seem to wash well. The cheap wicking T's are not nearly the quality of Under Armour, but they look good.

[Eamonn]

I have never had any screened.

I really like my Cool-Max Shirts.

Buying them through the company that supplies the body armor that I have to wear for work, I can get a shirt for $11.00

Seems that everywhere else I've looked somewhere around $16 -$18.00 is the norm.

Sad bad news is that I wear white t-shirts and after a while they discolor under the arms.

Trying to keep HWMBO from bleaching them, which ruins the wicking is an endless task.

I did buy a couple of Starter Men's Dri-Star shirts from Wally World for about $10.00.

I'm not very big about a 36-38 chest. I bought the medium shirt.

Not sure if they are supposed to be a compression shirt or not?

Am sure that I don't like being compressed!

The size large is a better fit. - I think!

But the material is kinda silky and takes some getting used to.

Cool-Max shirt now has:

"COOLMAX freshFX fabric which inhibits the growth of odor-causing bacteria on fabrics. In combination with the unique moisture-management technology, it delivers breathable garments and legwear that stay cool, dry and fresh - and smell clean for hours on end"

http://www.coolmax.invista.com/g_en/webpage.aspx?id=46

 

Maybe that will keep HWMBO and her Clorox at bay?

Eamonn

[BrentAllen]

Lisa,

We get ours at one of the local Army Navy stores http://www.armynavydiscountcenter.com/. The soldiers in the photo loading the water are wearing them, it appears.

 

They are listed at $10.97, but they sell them to us at $10 each (Scout discount). We get a local t-shirt company to print them, for around $2 - $2.50. The Scouts pay $15 for them, with the the extra going to the Troop general fund. We used to get "seconds" from them for $6 but that supply ran out. The brand name on the tag says Tru-Spec. They are 100% polyester, tan, and come only in adult sizes. The Smalls are a little big on our smallest Scouts, but not too bad.

 

The boys and adults have put these shirts to the test, and they hold up great. Very comfortable, they are just as soft as cotton, and they work. We offered some cotton versions last year for $10, and we still have some of them on hand. Everyone much prefers the poly, even though it is 50% more expensive.

 

Edited to add - a quick internet search shows US Calvary is selling them as well, for internet sells. Their prices are $8.99 - $10.99, depending on size. http://www.uscav.com/productinfo.aspx?productid=10347&tabID=548(This message has been edited by BrentAllen)

[Lisabob]

Thanks for the leads. I will share with the committee and see if we can't get away from the cotton Ts this year.

 

 

[IM_Kathy]

price would really depend on the size of your troop and number of shirts your getting because you can get price per shirt lower when you get more.

 

my son's troop it comes to about 12/shirt... we have about 60 scouts.

 

one note though... these wicking shirts often run a smaller size!!! last year was the first time we got them and learned that lesson the hard way at least for the adults. so if you're going with a local shop ask if you can have a couple sample shirts to let the boys/adults decide what size they need.

[Eagle92]

What may be an option is to buy the shirts from an outlet, and silk screen them your selves. My old troop had the kit, used a once color design, and just added a year screen every year. Once we paid for the initial set up, all we had to pay for was the year strip (and that was usually a give me, so it was free 99.9% of the time)ink and shirts. Every year we got a different color shirt.

 

We will be silk screening shirts at CSDC this week, and we cna bring extra shirts for silk screening. Wife found a wicking T at a local outlet store for $4.95!

[GoldWinger]

Like most synthetics, the "wicking Ts" hold onto odors. If you get stinky in the shirt, the shirt will stay stinky. Oh, it will smell fine after laundering but after you wear it for a bit, no one will want to stand next to you. Technology, ain't it grand?

[John-in-KC]

One comment:

 

Here in Flyover Country, where the Gulf of Mexico and the Great Lakes lend our air water vapor, wicking T's are pretty essential.

 

I just finished two weeks at the base of the Eastern slope of the Sierra Nevadas, 2000' below (altitude, not depth) Lake Tahoe. I wore cotton every day, and only once was I "soggy." That day a tropical storm in Baja was kicking moisture up to Northern Nevada.

 

My opinion: In low humidity climes, cotton fills the bill.

[RememberSchiff]

Good point about the odor of synthetics, you don't want to wear your old disco shirt.

 

You want the anti-microbial polyester. It has different product-names. As I understand, it uses a silver nanotech treatment to the yarn (similar to some of our water hydration packs and purification filters). This technology has been commonly available for three or more years now. Most of the inexpensive Champion C9 shirts at Target have this as do many Russell Athletic, Adidas, Augusta, ...polyester wicking shirts.

 

Also, I recall silk screening is tricky with polyester. You don't want to clog the ventillating weave or alter the polyester by over-heating, but maybe those problems have been fixed now. I think most pro team shirts uses a dye sublimation process, not silk-screening to transfer artwork to their jerseys. My troop choose a small embroidered text instead for our shirts; it still looks great. "Hot seal" is another method like the "C9" on a Champion t-shirt but it disappears after a summer's worth of washing.

 

My $0.02

 

 

[GoldWinger]

"My opinion: In low humidity climes, cotton fills the bill."

 

I grew up and currently live in an area where 99% humidity with a temp of 99 isn't uncommon. The only advantage that I've found with plastic shirts are that they dry quickly so you don't get chilled when the temp drops.

 

The key to staying cool with cotton is that the t-shirt has to fit snugly. I find it interesting that all the lovers of the plastic shirts and smartwool shirts will wear them like a second skin but cotton, nooooo, it's as baggy as a gangster's pants.

 

Cotton is renewable, natural and doesn't use oil.

[CNYScouter]

When the Ship first started up we had custom t-shirts made out of the wicking type material.

One of the Ship members designed it.

 

One color printing on both sides of the shirt

 

We only got around 20 made and they ended up being about $17 each.

 

I think we used www.customink.com

 

After 3 years the design hasn't faded or come off

[BrentAllen]

We have not had any problems silk screening our wicking T's. Last year I compared our cotton T's to the polyester at Summer Camp, wearing them on alternate days. We had a relatively cool week last year, with fairly low humidity. Even in those conditions, the polyester was much more comfortable to me.

 

I have an old REI wicking t-shirt, which may be polypropylene, and it is not very comfortable at all. Lots of static electricity and it will pick at your skin. These new shirts don't have any of those problems.

 

Poly shirts can be made from recycled plastic, and can be recycled themselves. Last time I checked, cotton was harvested with farm machinery (I have family that farms in south Georgia, cotton being one of their crops). I believe those tractors still use oil. :-)

[Lisabob]

There is a fun little book out there called something like Travels of a T Shirt in the Global Economy. The author takes a good look at how your typical cotton T is made. Guess what, it probably puts on more miles in the process of growing the cotton and manufacturing the shirt, than your car does in a typical year. Then there's the farming techniques used to grow & harvest the cotton, which may not be all that green, not to mention the dyes and other industrial chemicals used to turn raw cotton into your shirt. Sorry, not as environmentally friendly an industry as people might like to believe. (though really, the environmental aspect is not the primary focus of the book)