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Troop t-shirts for summer camp


Jackdaws

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I probably should have put this in the Uniform section but figured it may get more visibility here. 

Other than Class B.com has anyone ordered multiple day t-shirts for summer camp?   Our troop is thinking of doing a different shirt each day so we can have some better visibility from afar and have some cohesiveness during flag ceremonies and meals.

I want to say I saw on Facebook last spring where units were getting shirts for about $5.00 each. 

Please show me your class B t-shirts so we can get some ideas.   Several boys wanted a tie dye shirt for at least one day.  :D

Here is our current troop t-shirt.  We quickly discovered that many other troops have the same shirt.  LOL!

Sorry its not too clear.

 

camp.jpg

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If I were feeling especially masochistic, I'd put up my hand in the next committee meeting and offer to make the T-shirts happen....sounds like fun!

What I might do is...

  • Ask the scouts if they wanted to design it themselves, then have a contest to pick the best design
  • Let the scouts vote on colors
  • Check the BSA branding guide to be sure I was using logos, wording, colors, etc. in a manner that didn't run afoul of official rules (the guide is here:  https://filestore.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/310-0231.pdf
  • Compare apples to apples. Shop the job around to see if I could get a good shirt at a good price ---- be aware that "$5 shirts" might mean: a) lightweight material and flimsy construction, b) pre-canned design only, c) limited shirt and/or ink colors, d) 1-side printing (do you want printing on both sides?  on sleeves?), e) extremely large quantities, f) very long lead times
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If you are ordering 100+ shirts, you can get printing done at around $5.  But as someone said, you're going to get some seriously cheap shirts at that price.  $2 more per shirt ups the quality significantly.

But I'll add that ClassB.com isn't necessarily cheaper than your local printing company.  I know that I've priced out at least one local company around me that was cheaper than ClassB by almost $2 on the shirts we bought and that was if we only bought 15 shirts.  If we'd been ready to order 50 or more the savings went up to almost $3 per shirt.

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We are not a big troop so we would probably be ordering about 50 shirts unless we do the one for each day of camp.  

On a side note.  How come scouting events don't do t-shirts anymore?   Seems like when my brother was a scout, he got a shirt at every turn.   Since I have been a scouter,  over 6 years now, I can count on one hand how many events offered a shirt.  One of them was my wood badge course shirt.   I would so buy the t-shirts if offered at events.  Maybe its just the council I am in.  Oh well. 

 

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A few months ago I saw a scout wearing the troop t-shirt my son designed in 1995. I asked him if that was still the troop t-shirt today. He said yes. He wasn't impressed when I told him my son designed it in 1995. I guess to him I was just an old man rambling on.

The only scouting venues I ever saw scout t-shirts for sale are summer camps. 

Our scouts typically bought two t-shirts to last through summer camp. We also had backwoods washing machines (five gallon bucket with a plunger) to wash clothes, so shirt for each day was unnecessary.

Our recommendation is use the heavier cotton material so the shirts last longer. My sons and I still have ours.  We also printed the long sleeve shirts for colder outings. 

Make sure to use a printer that you can keep using 25 years later.

Barry

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We do a troop t-shirt every year, and it's included as part of the boys' dues.  A committee of boys designs it using some website or another ... possibly ClassB.com.  Last year's was pretty ugly, but it's a quality shirt so I wear it every now and then.  If the boys (or their parents) want to buy a camp t-shirt for summer or winter camp (or whatever) they're welcome to. 

Our troop requests that the boys wear class B shirts while camping, but no one says anything if they wear something else during the day.  We consider any Scouting-related shirt to be an acceptable class B, including ones that are left over from Cub Scouts.  Before my son went to summer camp for the first time, I went down to our Scout Store and picked up a few extra shirts that were on clearance, so he had enough to get through the week, but later realized I didn't need to bother.  Now that he's been a Scout for nearly six years, he's got way more than he needs.

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56 minutes ago, Jackdaws said:

On a side note.  How come scouting events don't do t-shirts anymore?   Seems like when my brother was a scout, he got a shirt at every turn.   Since I have been a scouter,  over 6 years now, I can count on one hand how many events offered a shirt. 

I've got a few event T-shirts, but not a lot.  Part of the reason is because my local council is lame: very few "events" to speak of.  In fact, the only T-shirts I've gotten from my local coiuncil have been ones given to event staff. So when I volunteered to run an activity at Cub Day Camp, I got a "staff" T-shirt.  When I volunteered to run a merit badge class at Winter Camp, I got a "staff" T-shirt. In neither case did the youth get a shirt.

Some districts in our council are very active with lots of program activities that are very well run. Those districts sometimes offer other swag, like hats, mugs or tote bags.

A neighboring council is much better run than our local council. They have more training, better training, and most importantly, FAR more program activities for the youth.  I've gotten T-shirts at some of their events. 

I'm getting long-winded so I'll be quiet now:  bottom line is "it varies".

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Honestly, who really cares if you can't spot your scouts in a crowd? If they get swapped for some other scout, you might get a better cook! ;)

All of that lettering on the back of the shirt? It gets covered by a backpack anyway. I've become a real fan of troop/patrol neckerchiefs. It's a tough sell, but frankly a lot easier to manage.

Our camp produced a neckerchief with a map on it.

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5 minutes ago, qwazse said:

Honestly, who really cares if you can't spot your scouts in a crowd? If they get swapped for some other scout, you might get a better cook! ;)

All of that lettering on the back of the shirt? It gets covered by a backpack anyway. I've become a real fan of troop/patrol neckerchiefs. It's a tough sell, but frankly a lot easier to manage.

Our camp produced a neckerchief with a map on it.

Neckerchiefs are easier than t-shirts! Really?

I grabbed a t-shirt the other day to rake leaves, turned out to be the old troop t-shirt. Not that I don't have my old Troop neckerchief I wore as a youth, but I pull it out once every 20 years for a nostalgic moment. 

Neckerchiefs are OK for scouting, but t-shirts are forever. 

Barry

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On 10/30/2019 at 5:49 PM, Eagle1993 said:

Our shirts have an upside down camp map on the front.  That way, they can lift up the bottom of the front of their shirt and have a camp map ready at all times.  

Have one from a local camp like that. Ink glows in the dark too

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19 hours ago, Eagledad said:

...

Neckerchiefs are OK for scouting, but t-shirts are forever. 

Barry

Mrs. Q, in one of her attempts at reforming me, cleaned out my t-shirt collection shortly after we were married. The only survivor was a high school shirt with all of my classmate's names on it. It survived because she used it to put on the dog to keep him from shedding in the car. I saw it, and spared it further indignity!

We all really need to cowboy up and work those full-size neckers!

That said, if the scouts want to produce their own shirts, a tie dye campout is a fun activity!

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