Suggestions for team armbands

[canabubba]

Hey guys

I run an all-age club here in Manitoba, and would like your suggestions on team armbands.

For the spoilers:
First - Yes, they are necessary.....our members have every kind of camo immaginable, some show up in t-shirts and jeans, etc, so there's no way to split teams by camo.

Second - Yes, I know that in "Real Life" armies don't use armbands, but this is make-believe.....airsoft, you know? We're not that hardcore.

Anyway......We're going to need somewhere in the neghborhood of 200 of them, so buying them for $4 each from online retailers is pretty much out of the question.

I have sent some requests to industrial rubber-band manufacturers for bands roughly 10-12 inches around, and and inch and a half wide, in various colors.....we'll see what they come back with.

We've been using duct tape, but that shit's expensive, and we'll go through $30 worth in a day (we can get over 100 guys out to each game, every other weekend, spring to fall.)

For the teams who DO use armbands, what's your solution?

[kullwarrior]

As a small game organizer myself I've been seriously consider getting head bands instead of arm bands
Coloured head band (like Bandana) would probably work more effectively than arm band since people have to stick their head out to look.

For arm band it's duct tape -too expensive as you said.

[Drake]

Paintball places sell colored arm and wristbands for under $5; just have participants purchase one. If you have 100 people playing you could probably get some wholesale, or at least at discount, and sell them yourself to the players in your group.

[Grudge]

http://www.actionarsenal.com/webstor...d---Orange.htm

[Reaper87]

http://www.paintballgear.ca/product/Team_Armbands.html

[Kos-Mos]

Find someone with a sewing machine and spend a few days making them? Not hard to do at all.. and you only need 2" or so of elastic... or velcro if you want to go fancy.

For material, go to the liquidation section and buy 1m of 50cent colored fabric... fluo colors never sell anyways.

[Armyissue]

long cut bandanas. Bigger fabric panels that are in two opposing Tactical colours. Neck Head arm what ever.
Then you can charge $5 and the players can keep them game souveniers. with your custom screen printed logo on them. Keep them and play them again, they get the discount.

[Rickshaw]

What about trail tape?

[canabubba]

Thanks for the suggestions, guys.....good ones all around.

In order to make sure everyone is using the same colors, we need to supply the items, so having people order them independently or supply their own doesn't work, hence we need to supply them.

The paintball places don't have nearly the supply we need.

Duct tape and trail tape end up on the ground, which is just a mess, especially on other people's private property. Our goal is to have something re-useable.

I like the bandana idea....I'll look into it.

[Rusty Lugnuts]

I supplied armbands for the last game i hosted, they were stretchy. the problem was that they rolled up when sliding them up your arm, they became coloured bands of 1/2 inch instead of 1 1/2 inch. Airsoft players don't have patience to fuss with them. Next attempt will be some kind of wrap around velcro affair

[Drake]

Depending how High Speed your group's setups are, you could just make some velcro backed IFF style panels/patches (1" x 2") they can wear on their sleeve pockets, helmets, etc.

[Ricochet]

Originally Posted by Drake

Depending how High Speed your group's setups are, you could just make some velcro backed IFF style panels/patches (1" x 2") they can wear on their sleeve pockets, helmets, etc.

This is not a bad idea, but anything with Velcro on it will end up pricey.

Easiest answer is flag tape. One inch roles of green, red, orange, or yellow; and this shit is cheap and fairly tough. The downside is the garbage that may end up floating around your field.

You can get simple fabric armbands or patches as Drake suggested with velcro,!for cheap-ish if you buy in bulk. This option will inevitably cost you a few bucks, but there are ways to negate that. First off buy more than you'll need as some will get lost or ripped over time. To pay for the majority of it raise your prices a little, have a barbecue, an airsoft auction, have membership fees, set up a monthly donation system, newsletters. Any of these could quickly pay for half or more of the proper product if your clever.

[Unregistered_]

Coloured hockey tape?

Ugh. Hate arm bands.