Shorts.
I saw a lot of them at Nationals.
Fakulbee wore GAIA shorts. These cost $38 (they had a design on them, usually they're $34). Like most GAIA things that I have come in contact with, they were durable, comfortable and easy to put through the wash. As a slight downside, they are extremely heavy when wet or stained with mud. Also, going to put it out there, just a tad expensive?
I've never actually seen anyone wearing VC shorts, I don't think, but at $25 they're certainly a tad cheaper than GAIA. My previous experience with VC has been one of unbridled enthusiasm. They have excellent customer service, and they're definitely a bunch of really cool guys committed to upholding the Canadian stereotype of overly nice and informative. Feedback on their shirt material (which I really like, although it feels a bit too heavy even whilst dry) has pretty much been positive except the designs chafe.
Patagonia. Firestorm wear this, and I first experienced it last year when Robbie rubbed his Firestorm shorts in my face - although if you know Robbie and how tall he is, he was probably just trying to walk past me. Like other Patagonia items, they are extremely lightweight even whilst wet or muddy, and extremely comfortable due to their silky nature. However, like other Patagonia items, they can apparently chafe over time and are sometimes more rash vest than sports gear, while being (ironically) slightly less durable. $22 team price, $44 individual (!).
Five Ultimate: now this is one I want to try. Team Box wore these, and I'm not ashamed to say I spent most of day one and two trying to stroke Team Box players. It feels almost unnaturally soft, and according to their players had no durability issues throughout Nationals. Easy to wash, as well, and cost only $15 for a base short (so closer to $20 for numbers/design). Tempted to label this as the mithril of the ultimate gear community.
I'm not really going to draw conclusions about anything here because all of the above companies make really fine gear, I just thought I'd collect some observations from the frisbee community and do the obligatory 'gear blog'. Keep in mind Aussie readers that you'd have to jack up the price for each team member by maybe $5-10 to cover overseas shipping, which is usually somewhere along the lines of US$100-200.
T.
3 comments:
5 Ultimate shirts are a little heavy, but the shorts are the most comfortable I've tried.
wally, Five has updated their shorts and shirts quite a bit since the redbacks. (assuming you are redbacks wally). Most people don't like because they run small, so an XL is like an L, and they don't have anything larger.
Also gaining popularity in the states is Breakmark, and they are pretty silky too. Not too heavy when they are dirty either. I still think patagonia is the tops.
We loved the Five shorts, (although yes, the white goes see-through in the rain), they were such a nice stretchy material.
I love my Patagonia shorts too though. They're a totally different kind of material, but so so light. Feels like you're not wearing any shorts the first time you put them on.
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