Charcoal gray v heather gray
 

Softball generally requires heather gray or navy pants. Baseball seems to be moving toward charcoal gray. My gripe about heather gray is how rapidly it fades to a really crappy brownish look.

Does charcoal gray hold up longer? What I mean is, how long will charcoal gray pants still look like you are wearing the same color as your partner when his are new, and is this longer than if you are both wearing heather grays?

Charcoal vs heather gray
 

:DMy experience, is the heather gray turns "pink" when they fade from washing and in the sun. My wife does not hang them in the sun, but dries them in the laundry room hanging upside down. She does partially dry them in the dryer.
The charcoal's, Gerry Davis brand, are going on the end of their 3rd season, and show no signs of fading. I do like the GDavis pants and they seam to be holding up well. Yes I would buy them again.;)

Either will fade depending on the specific brand / year (different materials and dye lots even within the same brand depending on who / where they were really manufactured)and how they are treated.

Umpires who hang pants from a bar in the backseat of a car without covering the pants with a garment bag (or the like) and then complain about the pants fading are getting pretty much what they ask for.

The GD pants are, IMO, the best pants made for umpires. I've not used the polywools from Honig's, but their non-polywools (the step down from them) are complete, unadulterated garbage, IMO.

My umpire pants are either being worn in a game, in a garment bag, hanging in my closet, or in the laundry. The fading is not due to laundering, drying, etc., since the color behind my ball bags and behind my belt looks like new. Three out of four of my currently in use pants are Fechs, the other is Cliff Keen.

No, but they fade more when they aren't kept out of the sun when not wearing them.

Like others, I've had no fading with the GD pants.

Does that include GD heather grays? The Fechs I have seem to fade worse than the CK.

Does GD make heather grey pants? I wouldn't buy anything but charcoal these days.

He does now; he didn't used to.

I was given two pairs of Smittys for teaching a clinic this past Spring. They held up really well and I have no complaints about comfort or appearance. My GDs are just as comfortable and look to be the same color as the day I received them. All of my pants get ironed and hang from a bar in the back seat of my vehicle, along with my shirts and under gear (it was a cold Spring in Chicago, so that bar was full of UA). The windows are tinted pretty dark so that probably helps keep the gear from fading.

I wore the heather grey pants in the tropics of Asia for a few years. The color held up just fine - no brown or pink - and they wore well. The sun is really intense over there and the humidity made creases disappear. Still, they looked better than the Japanese versions I encountered on partners. The heather grey didn't seem to get as hot as the charcoal do now.

The Honig's polywools are the benchmark for all pants. Unless you have "in" to get MLB pants, which are a tick better, there's nothing even close.

The GD are quiet servicable, and stout. They're a bit darker in color. I don't care for their base pants, as I find them a bit thin in the legs. I use combos on the bases. I use the plate pants when working from a knee, with the little guys. No need to ruin the expensive pants on those games. I used the two or three times this year.

I've still got a few pair of +POS heathers, just in case. None are faded or pink. But I'm careful what I wash them with, and where I store them. Cold water, gentle wash, with like colors.

My oldest polywools are some plate pants in their third season and they're still going strong. They are a little worn in places but they are virtually the same color as the new ones I bought this year.

MTD, Jr., and I have been wearing the Smitty Heather Grays since he started umpiring (this is his 4th year) and they have held their color very well. We do not wash our slacks we always have them drycleaned. Why, you ask? Because, permanent press really means that there will be no wrinkles when the slack come out of the dryer, but the creas will not hold up for too long. And ironing them at home still cannot hold a candle to a drycleaner steam pressing. I have always drycleaned my basketball officiating slacks too (40 years now).

MTD, Sr.

My Fetchheimers are almost 18 years old and still look as good as ever. Fetcheimers never faded or went pink as the Honigs did. They hardly get work any more after HS season and as of next year, CT goes to the Charcoal Gray.

I have two pair of GD heather grey and they are just as good now as when i bought them.

At Rangers game last week and the umpires wore the new "polo" blue shirts with the heather grey, - looked SHARP!

And they did a great job that night also ...

Thanks
David

I echo what Rich said. The Gerry Davis are the best. If you work 100+ games a year, go with the GD.

Also agree with Rich on the Honig's Ultimates, they are junk. I've never tried the poly-wools, I've seen them and they look very good. Just too expensive for me.

I tried the Smittys, too. What is the half moon stitching on the plate pants all about? I guess it's for reinforcement, but looks like crap.

And as a side note, I did speak with a lady at Gerry Davis today inquiring about an end of summer sale or something. She said that wasn't happening this year.

MLB doesn't use heather gray.

I can see that i thought they were charcoal also, but I have GD charcoal and the ones they wore were lighter than mine - wonder which brand they use?

I would like to have that color compared to mine ... or maybe it was the bright lights that just made them look lighter.

Thanks for the info

David

Charcoal vs heather gray
 

:rolleyes:I could buy NEW pants for what I would have to pay to have them dry cleaned, in one season. May be 2 pairs.
During summer ball, they get soaked and smell so bad, they can only be worn once, and need to be washed.

Me too. My pants get worn once and then washed on a quick setting.

The GD polyester pants are darker than the Honig's poly wools. Pretty easy see at the plate meeting, but only us geeks will know once you're on the field.

I've been putting a few pair of my poly wools in the "hand wash" cycle of my washing machine, in cold water, and hanging them to dry. Then I hit them with an iron. Not as sharp as the ones I rotate to the dry cleaners, but pretty close. I use the dry cleaned ones for "big" games".

The GD charcoal pants have their place, and are fine. They don't match other folks brand of charcoal, but are starting to be ubiquitous in some areas. Plus, they're very stout, and have that neat, elastic waisband.

We've only been allowed to wear charcoal here for two years, so that's all I've bought the last few years. Just prior to that I bought a couple of pairs of Cliff Keen heather greys. I take care of my gear, and while these pants are comfortable and durable, they did "go pink" on me after a couple of seasons.

I do have some older +POS heather pants that don't seem to have discolored at all, and they were laundered, used and handled the same as all the others.

I have a car with a medium grey interior and where the sun shines through the back window, the rear seats are getting a pinkish hue! That does lead me to believe that sunlight plays a part in the fading process. I have heard others speculate that washing (chlorine or detergent) plays a part and others say that drying (heat) causes fading.

The charcoals I have are Cliff Keen and Smitty's. The CK's seem a little darker than the Smitty's. Kind of hard to tell without comparing them side by side with new pants, but they both do seem to have lightened a hair after two seasons. The CK's, when the light hits them just right, sometimes give me the impression that they have a brownish tint. Maybe that's a combination of pink and dark grey?

Back awhile ago I wondered if I could dye my old heather pants, to restore the color and maybe make them look like charcoal grey. A little research showed me that this wasn't a practical idea. Apparently, to dye polyester you need some sort of special industrial strength dye and the dying process has to be carried out at extremely high temperatures in a high-pressure vessel. Trying to do this at home would probably blow up your house! If you use the plain old "Ritz" sort of dye available in most stores, the dye will not adhere and will simply wash out when the pants are laundered.

Here's what's aggravating about Charcoal Grey. Gerry Davis, Honigs, Official Choice and Smittys are all different shades of grey. I'm not buying different sets to match my partner. Personally I like Honigs. I don't think spectators, players or coachrs are anal enough to see our pants don't match.

Agreed.

It's just us geeks what get in a tizzy about the color of our pants.