Subscriber Discussion

What Company Branded Clothing Do You Have Your Techs Wear?

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David Matyas
Jan 14, 2016

We are looking into having our techs wear clothing (jackets, shirts, ...) with our company logo and info.

What do you have your techs wear (summer, winter where it is cold), and where did you find a cheap place to buy them? So far we are thinking about a 3 season jacket and some sort of t-shirt.

Thank you

JH
John Honovich
Jan 14, 2016
IPVM

David, good question!

Related, do you make them wear them everyday? And do you require them to tuck in their shirts? I only asked this because one tech strongly protested over having to tuck in his company shirt. It was kind of wild.

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Daniel S-T
Jan 22, 2016

I will admit that I have been this tech. My last company just let me get away with going around untucked, never said anything about having to tuck my shirt in so I didn't. The company I work for now is pretty adamant about tucking in the button down shirt, but don't seem to mind leaving out polo shirts untucked. So if I'm wearing the button down, and in the office I leave it tucked in, otherwise it's probably untucked. I mean it's going to come untucked throughout the day, that's always been my logic.

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Ethan Ace
Jan 14, 2016

I've never worked somewhere where field staff wasn't required to tuck in their shirt. And I worked for an electrical contractor. On construction sites it was ignored a lot of the time, but any commercial setting, always.

Off-topic: That company had optional uniform service, which for communications/security types was polos and khakis. The uniform service was amazing, btw...It was cheap and I didn't have to do work laundry. If you didn't go for that, you could wear plain or industry-branded polo shirts or collared shirts. No T-shirts.

The companies I worked for went for expensive outerwear. Carhartt and Columbia. I still use the Columbia jacket when I'm doing outdoor work.

The polos I remember were Hanes. I remember because it was a big argument between a couple people because someone else wanted to get generic ones. Hanes won out. The thought was that cheap shirts with your branding on them are kind of like driving around in a beat up station wagon. It doesn't reflect well.

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Undisclosed #1
Jan 14, 2016
IPVMU Certified
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Undisclosed #2
Jan 14, 2016

I make my techs wear fedoras embroidered with a company logo made from hemp thread. But then again, some people think I'm a hipster anyway.

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Jon Dillabaugh
Jan 14, 2016
Pro Focus LLC

I bought cheap polo shirts and had my logo embroidered on them. I should have spent more on higher quality shirts. The collars never stay flat. They wrinkle in five minutes of use. Looking for a new source to get some replacements made. Probably will shop local, as opposed to online, like the first time.

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Mark Jones
Jan 15, 2016

Higher quality polos with logo and khakis. All provided for them at our cost and mandatory. Uniform means just that. Recognizable. Yes they must tuck them in and look squared away and presentable. I wear them also. The office staff has the option.

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Undisclosed #1
Jan 16, 2016
IPVMU Certified

I wear them also.

Front-line General, eh? :)

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Ross Vander Klok
Jan 15, 2016
IPVMU Certified

Pay money for quality shirts. I can not stress that enough. Go with a 5.11 brand or something similar. Like Ethan said a uniform company is the best way to go because they deliver, pick up and launder everything, but that is pricey depending on where you are located. I know our Maintenance group uses Cintas for their uniform service.

Cheap shirts wear out faster, fade faster and also start looking like crap WAY faster. We use whatever brand is cheapest at the time of the order and some of them only last about ten washes before they start to fall apart.

For pants the best brand, hands down, is 5.11. We have tried Columbia, Carhartt, Dickies, L.L. Bean and Cabelas over the years l and none of them come close to touching 5.11 in terms of quality.

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JH
John Honovich
Jan 15, 2016
IPVM

Ross, thanks. Btw, for those who are not familiar with 5.11, like me, here is their website and a video on one of their pants below:

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Ross Vander Klok
Jan 15, 2016
IPVMU Certified

Sorry, should have linked to them. There are a couple companies in our area that carry the 5.11 brand so we buy from them locaaly instead of ordering online, but that also gives us ability for our crew to get properly sized.

We actually standardized on the Stryke 511tactical.com/stryke-pant-flex-tac due to the Teflon coating that prevents stains from setting in and they are also much cooler in summer.

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Daniel S-T
Jan 22, 2016

I've not tried the 5.11 pants, but so far I've found Duluth Trading Company Fire Hose work pants to be the best pants I've ever had for install work. A little pricer, but not that much more so than the Carhartts my work gave me.

They have a Duluth Flex option that's made of a thinner material. It's even more comfortable, but I found the pocket tore pretty quick. It feels tighter, and I guess the thinner material made it weaker?

AB
Alexander Brasowski
Jan 24, 2016

Daniel, I agree Duluth makes some great stuff. Pricey but good.

I have gone through 5.11 and Carhartt but so far Duluth has been my favorite. 5.11 is good stuff but geared more towards tactical and enthusiasts. I don't believe the knees are as forgiving to crawling and kneeling on concrete or rough surfaces without knee pads. Carhartt also makes some great pants but I did not like the way they came out of the wash/dryer: wrinkled and stressed in certain areas as if some areas shrunk and others didn't. Weird.

I use the Duluth Flex Fire House Pants for installation work and the Flex Fire Hose Foreman pants for office work and consultations-- they are the perfect mix of office/work. I tried the Middle Management Chinos and Office Rebel Khakis but neither fit me well.

Look for sales on the Duluth stuff as it is pricey without free shipping or % off.

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Chuck Janzer
Jan 17, 2016
IPVMU Certified

We use Cintas as a uniform service. Shirt and pants. 11 of each are issued. 5 per week, one on his body. We buy one jacket per year - generally 3 season. Shirt style is up to the tech, color and logo is not. I wear them too. I'm a short sleeve and sweater guy - year round. With Cintas, we are on the plan where we pay extra per week to have free repairs/replacements as needed. The company pays the vast majority of the cost. We charge the tech 50 cents a day for the uniform; they don't need to buy "good clothes" and we maintain them. This is a requirement of the job, and outlined at hiring. That small amount is 'buy in' to their job and has served us well. For the 20 plus years we've used a service, we've only had one instance of a tech that was extremely rough on his clothes. I have no idea what that man did to tear, rip and stain them. We finally told him he had to start buying them as they got damaged. He didn't last much longer.

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Undisclosed Integrator #3
Jan 19, 2016

In most states it is Illegal to charge employees for required uniforms. California will make you pay back the employee with interest and give the employer a big fine. You are able to make deductions from their pay check as a deposit, but the employee has to agree with a signed agreement.

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John Bazyk
Jan 18, 2016
Command Corporation • IPVMU Certified

We have a clothing service for pants and polos with logos. We also get them jackets at costco and have them branded at our printer. We used to order jackets, sweatshirts....etc from branding companies but found the quality to be low and cost to be too high. Costco has more options and our printer can embroider almost anything.

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David Lieberman
Jan 18, 2016
IPVMU Certified

I'd like to share the customer perspective as an end user. Appearance matters.

Polos are better than t-shirts. Button downs are better than polos.

Denim is better than Walmart cargo pants. Khakis are better than denims.

When a tech shows up looking professional, I give them that until they prove otherwise. When a tech shows up wearing a faded "This Bud's for You" t-shirt and cargo shorts, it gives the impression that they have no contact with the employer apart from having their jobs emailed to them, or that the employer doesn't care.

When a tech looks neat, I assume his gear is organized and I imagine the shop and the operation are the same.

It's also important to stress professional behavior. When a tech is unprofessional in his/her behavior (profanity, lax work ethic, loud voices, sloppy work summaries), I assume the entire organization is, as well. After all, what else have I got to go on?

Of course, I realize that it's all window dressing, but it also tells me who doesn't care enough to put a little effort into window dressing.

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Jason Neubauer
Jan 19, 2016
IPVMU Certified

David's post got me to write out our company clothing policy. We always have had the unwritten version and would let things slip by every now and then.

Thank you David for getting me motivated!

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David Lieberman
Jan 19, 2016
IPVMU Certified

Glad to help!

MC
Marty Calhoun
Jan 24, 2016
IPVMU Certified

All of our Staff Technicians have (1) OSHA safety jackets w/ reflective colors, (1) standard overcoat (8) T-shirts w/ company Logo ,and (8) POLO shirts w/ company logo. We supply replacements at any time as we feel the messy looking clothing equates to a possible messy job.

All technicians are given their fist pair of Steel toe boots from RED WING also. Second and on are on them.

Cheap place? No, we prefer to offer clothing that one would want to own not something the cheapest on a shelf.

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Mark Jones
Jan 24, 2016

Hey Marty, are those Red Wings worth the money? There is a shop about 1 mile from me and they are always busy. I just have never understood how.

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Marty Calhoun
Jan 25, 2016
IPVMU Certified

The Red Wings are a high quality product. We let the tech pick out anything in the store (usually in the 300 per pair range). I have never seen any worn out or inferior in any way. They are simply a very good product that's it. I assume that is how they can afford tom operate stand alone shops all over the country.

Thanks

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