Patagonia

For teams looking for a uniform that performs, Patagonia offers some of the best quality gear out there. I don't include them in the list of top providers, only because they are not essentially an Ultimate Frisbee company. Patagonia is a high end sportswear provider for minimalist sports like, climbing, skiing, and trail running. Thier mission is to build the best product while implementing solotions to the evironmental crisis.

Environmentally concious teams with a little extra money to spend can order Patagonia and stay true to thier values while playing in lightweight performance jerseys and shorts. The only downfall of ordering from Patagonia is the added labor of printing on your jersey and shorts since they do not provide this service. This may not be a set back if your design is of minimal importance or you have other means of getting it onto your gear.

Here is a link to thier Ultimate apparel:
 http://www.patagonia.com/us/patagonia.go?assetid=46720

Savage Ultimate

So who’s the guy in the yeti suit, and what does a yeti have to do with Frisbee? The answer is Savage, a quirky Ultimate apparel company, “born from yeti DNA in 2009”. Savage takes its’ name from the Ultimate term savage, meaning to play with the minimum amount of 7 players. Hence the seven-fingered savage yeti sported on their gear.

Savage gear is moderately priced quality apparel. Their material for jerseys is a bit lighter so it looks and feels cool. It is definitely a good option for a team on a budget looking for screen or spot sublimated jerseys. Spot sub jerseys from Savage include free players names and numbers which can cost $5 or more from other companies. Savage also offers white as a color for sublimation which is handy if your design includes white on a colored jersey.

Some may not be a fan of their lighter material,  but it definitely kept me cool during those hot summer league practices. I would recommend Savage gear any chance you have to buy it at a tournament. Although I may not have ordered from them personally for a team order, their prices are decent and I would definitely consider them an option.

 

Ultimate Skirts

There's nothing more intimidating than standing on the line across from a team whose girls are completely decked out in skirts. If you think about it, these girls are pretty bad ass. First of all, they can probably sew, sewing being no easy feat in and of itself. Second, they're playing the same sport as you, but instead of sticking to the norm and throwing on a pair of loose fitting ultimate shorts, they said heck no to the camel-toe, I'm doing this in a skirt.

I've been an avid skirt wearer since being introduced to the idea by a friend  last year. With the right pair of spandex, playing in a skirt can be a whole lot more comfortable than playing in ultimate shorts. Comfort debate aside, there's no arguing the cost efficiency. With two yards of fabric and enough elastic to fit around your waist, you can make a sweet ultimate skirt for about $8! From shimmery fabric to quirky patterns, the possibilities are endless.

Besides being a comfortable cheap alternative to shorts, making skirts can be a fun team bonding activity. My team began a ritual this year where we run to the fabric store together and have a skirt making party at someone's house, preferably someone with a sewing machine. Pair the skirts with a t-shirt decorated in puffy paint or spray paint and you have a fall team uniform fit to intimidate the shorts off your opponents.

This video provides instructions for just one way to make a skirt, keep in mind there are lots of ways to do it!

Custom Jerseys: Screen Printing vs Sublimation

An important topic for any team concerned about looking fly on the Ultimate green is choosing a design for their gear and getting it put on their actual uniforms. There are technically three different methods for getting that custom design onto a jersey. In order from least to most expensive, options include, silk or screen printing, spot sublimation, and full sublimation. “But how do I choose?” you ask. Well, it’s simple, how much do you want to spend? Silk and screen printing are the cheapest options because of their limitations to design. These types of printing layer ink onto your fabric using stencils. Silk and screen printing also provide countless color and fabric combinations, as well as less stringent guidelines for your artwork. On that same note, they are not optimal for large detailed designs as the ink can add weight to the fabric and make it heavy.

A step up from just layering ink onto the fabric, sublimation printing is a technique that heat presses the dye into the fabric so that the image is permanently embedded into the fibers. At high temperatures, the solid dye converts into a gas without ever becoming a liquid. The same high temperature opens the pores of the polyester fabric and allows the gas to enter. When the temperature drops, the pores close and the gas reverts to a solid state and it’s now part of the fabric. Sublimation is an impressive and detailed way to customize your gear, with it you are able to incorporate any color, gradient, font or effect into your design.

There are two different options for sublimation on a jersey, full body sublimation and spot sublimation. Full body allows for maximum design space and incorporation of every square inch of your jersey. Many processes will sew a single side seam so that the design can wrap all the way around the jersey. Full sublimation is the best way to go when it comes to large multi-colored designs; however, this method is the priciest option. A typical full sublimation jersey runs from $60 to jerseys as expensive as $80. As a cheaper alternative to full sublimation, spot sublimation allows for a multi-colored logo without the extra costs incurred for multi-colored screen prints.

During the design process, it’s a good idea to touch base with an artist from the company you’re planning on ordering from. As long as you keep the colors of your apparel in mind and the art requirements set by the company, your result should be a fly looking jersey you can’t wait to rep!