T-shirt Survey

[DancesWithSpreadsheets]

Anybody else seen the survey about a possible new Scout T-Shirt linked to from the scouting.org homepage?

 

I like the idea of a performance material T-shirt, I'm not so sure about some of the ideas presented about colors, such as scout rank denoted by the shirt color.

 

Your thoughts?

[Eagle92]

Thought supply already sold them. But I know a council in Maryland is beta testing an "alternative" uniform made by Under Armor that would be and alternative to the field uniform, and more sporty. Know that when researched to post on this, I found that the alternative uniform would be MORE expensive than the current field uniform.

 

if you post a thread to your webpage, I'll find me and post it if you like.

[Eagle92]

here's the link on the alternative field uniform thread with links to national

 

http://www.scouter.com/forums/viewThread.asp?threadID=246471&p=1

[DancesWithSpreadsheets]

URL for survey:

 

https://scoutnet.scouting.org/survey/cgi-bin/qwebcorporate.dll?idx=RZKJS6

[John-in-KC]

Frankly,

 

I like unit shirts. Our design for our T-shirt came from the youth. I've seen lots of good designs for T-shirts from units. I've even seen units that used performance shirts for their T-shirts.

 

I'm not sure National needs to be in the T-shirt business...

[raisinemright]

We went with performance shirts two years ago. Great success. We got some off brand ones through the screen printer. The cost was $12.00 with one color screen. I think we only bought about 25 of them. One nice thing was at summer camp. The scouts washed a lot of clothes in the sink. They seemed to get cleaner easier than regular T-shirts just using a bar of soap.

[Eagle92]

Concur, don't think national should be in the custom t-shirt business.

[Knot Head]

>>I've even seen units that used performance shirts for their T-shirts.

[Eagle92]

Just curious, with the performance T-shirts, do you need to add anything tot he ink to make it stick? We did silk screening at CSDC last year, and I brought an extra performance t-shirt to try it out. GREAT SHIRT, but he design is washing off and blurring now, and I've worn it only a handful of times.

[shortridge]

Yeah, the whole Scout-rank-by-color idea is ridiculous. If National wants to produce an Under Armor shirt with the BSA logo on it, fine. It's just like any other optional piece of over-priced clothing in the catalog. But leave the decisions about functional gear, activity uniforms, etc., up to the Scouts and their units.

[Nike]

Shirt color by rank? Oh, where does that rate on the nerdiness scale? Somewhere around 11+? Why not just call Boy Scouts Web 3-10 and be done with it? Jeez.

 

[Eagle92]

Ok I'm dense, thought they were going into the custom t-shirt business. If they are proposing rank specific, they are insane as why would anyone buy a shirt that they will only wear for a little while? bas enough with CS, that's why my pack went with 1 custom design t-shirt.

 

I think another idea was to have a bunch of different color shirts vaialble for troops to pick. Why wouldn't a troop just design their own shirts? bad enough that vendors have to keep 2 differnet types of unit numbers and trained strips, at least they don't take up as much room. But shirts? come on.

[Adam S]

I think denoting rank on a t-shirt is pointless, as pointed out rank is relatively temporary and reflecting it in shirt color or silk screen is silly. A tee shirt is for camping or work events, maybe a something for Patrol Leaders, but rank is pushing it

 

I also think that National has better things to do then pushing licensed vendors who make quality Scouting tee's out of business, do they really need more money?

 

Performance shirt - Not sure if I am a fan. The boys are already at an age where they are hyper-aware of their body image, to some the form-fit matters little, to other boys it could be a big problem! Roll in the Adult Leaders and this could get ugly, both figuratively and literally!

 

If National is really looking to take over a licensed service I would go for Unit Management, get rid of the software, give me a web interface direct to a databsse that National and my council share and whoa nelly I would be a happy man! Link it to my scout shop so they can set aside awards as they are earned so next time we come in we can just pick them up (or let us choose to have them shipped from Scoutstuff...) and well I dunno how more happy I could be

 

[Eagle1982]

What makes it a performance shirt?

 

Just making a T-Shirt out of synthetic materials does not automatically make it a performance shirt.

 

Cut matters. Shirts for various sports are cut different, with different features. With a shirt designed for backpacking, the seams may be out of the way, or done in such a way as to not irritate. For biking you may want those obnoxious colors. For rock climbing, you don't want the shirt to snag on anything, so you may go for a snugger design...

 

Besides, synthetics aren't the be-all do-all of fabrics. There are performance shirts with some silk content. There are performance shirts with a merino wool content. Cotton has gotten a bad rap, but works well in a variety of situations.

 

National should stay out of it, and leave it to the troop level, based on what the troops are actually doing.

[DeanRx]

If the question is: "Why would national get into the T-shirt Business?"

 

The answer is: Because its a revenue opportunity they are missing out on.

 

Not sure, but I thought BSA got a liscensing fee for authorized vendors anyways for BSA logo'd products. That's why you can't just go to your local T-shirt guy that does the Little League and soccer shirts and have him rip out a bunch of unit shirts with BSA logos on them... he's got to pay the franchise fee and be an authorized vendor.

 

A T-shirt per rank sounds bad when you're the one buying, but it sounds like a GREAT idea if you're the one selling

 

I wish they'd leave well enough alone. Too many uniform changes as it is. The dress uniform is not the best, but it serves its purpose for more formal occasions. If they want kids to wear it all the time at camp, then BSA needs to make MAJOR improvements not the least of which is cargo pockets and their locations.

 

BSA needs to take a page from the military (yup, learn from the supply gods) - and have a couple different dress unifrom styles (one of heavier material for cooler climate use and one more lightweight made of performance rip-stop material for hot summer camp and rough use). Then have a service / duty uniform (i.e. pants and performance T-shirt), for dirty jobs like service projects that will get you dirty / muddy / etc...

 

The idea that one uniform can do it all is crazy. That's why many units go with jeans and a unit T-shirt for service projects. Mom and Dad don't want Jr to ruin $80 to $100 worth of BSA Class A uniform while he's helping pick up litter out of the local creek bed.