Anyone have a favorite online company they buy basketball official's supplies from? Thanks ahead of time for the information.

Honig's Whistle Stop. Chances are that they have a distributor near you, since they have 6 offices across Canada and the U.S. Most of the other distributors only have one office, which is a pain if you're in Califormia and they're in Ohio. Quality product, good prices and a fair exchange policy, Honig's is tough to beat.

http://honigs.com/

BB Special
 

+POS has the best prices for orders in October, 20% discount, except shoes 10%. There website: http://www.pluspos.com
They are very prompt 1-800-323-5722. Officiating.com also has some supplies or Purchse Officials Supplies, http://www.purchaseofficials.com 1-800-767-2233 hope this helps.

Which sport?
 

Honig's is the best for football. They have the best overall equiptment for football. And the accessories for football are by far the best as it relates to football

Baseball it has to be +POS. Their stuff is by far the best. The shirts, the pants and the protective equiptment are greater in selection. You cannot go wrong with anything that has to do with Baseball season.

Now for Basketball, there is no one that is better in my opinion. You can get good things from differnet places. I guess because the stuff you use in basketball is not as extensive. You only have a shirt, some pants, and a whistle and shoes. It is not much complicated than that. And because most of the things that you can buy almost all of these places have the same products, basketball is a crap shoot. Unlike Football and Baseball, you are not buying many things like flags or ball bags, bean bags and down indicators. The only thing that might be difficult to decide what to buy is what kind of jacket are you going to have? And maybe the shoes, but like the other sports, that is all personal preference. I have found things from the National Federation that work or just as good. Usually whatever is cheap or will not fall apart, I have bought at some point.

Jerry is right, +POS and Purchase run some 20% off sales that offer very good prices.

However, I've had trouble and so have others when they tried to return things to +POS. In fact, there's a post on the McGriff board about +POS right now.

As for Purchase, if they're running a sale, they won't give you the sale price unless you ask for it. How stupid is that? The last time I ordered from them, I had to fax a copy of their ad from REFEREE magazine before the ordertaker would believe that the items were on sale. And then I found out that anything that they were out of stock on, did not qualify for the sale price. I don't do business with them anymore.

As I recall, http://www.calltheobvious.com/ offers pants in odd waist sizes, which is nice. However, the pickets and linine are white instead of black. I had an early evaluation where the evaluator asked me why I had this white flag hanging out my back side. (The pocket was partially pulled out.) Also their waistband can fold when you bend over, leaving a white sash.

Spell check? :)
 

differnet...is that like different and internet? very creative, I like it.


...and a scrunchie for my hair...:)

[Edited by Tweets on Oct 4th, 2001 at 02:21 AM]

(for those of us with odd waists):)

Honig's has the best catalog and selection for equipment and apparel. I have found that the best pleated pants for women come from purchaseofficials.com. Shoes are a completely different story. There are only a few styles that I have been able to find (I'm not particularly tall, so the converse whistle was the first shoe that I found that would fit - although I find since they are men's shoes they are too wide, too heavy and too clunky). So far I like the spot-bilt shoe and reebok's cross trainer.

In my experience, this is a no-brainer. Purchase Officials Supplies, http://www.purchaseofficials.com, is far and away the best I've had to deal with, particularly for basketball equipment. Company is owned by a current NBA official, so they know what we want. Friendly, courteous and prompt. Order online or call 1-800-767-2233.

I'm sure that most of this comes down to personal preference and with whom you have had the most success, but I have personally been pleased with Lester's Upstate Sports. I have always been treated courteously and promptly, and have never had any trouble returning merchandise. Their prices have seemed to be comparable to most other on-line sites I have looked at. I have bought from them the last three seasons for Basketball and Baseball and will probably buy again when Baseball rolls around.

Referee Stuff BB
 

I just received an order from Pro-Ref Sportswear in Newfield, NY http://www.pro-refsportswear.com. I had never used them before but I ordered a dozen Fox 40 CMG for $51.00 that's less than $5.00 each and Smitty 8.5" were $21.50 for a dozen. I used regular shipping which was cheapest $6.95 and they shipped the same day I placed the order, sent a conformation via email. I was very pleased. I assumed you were looking for basketball stuff, since that is just starting up. First games tonight and tomorrow night. Can't wait.

Jerry,

If you're going through a dozen foxes a year, you have issues.

I hope Mr. DeRosa has corrected some of the problems that Purchase previously had. Their prices are very good but the service has always been lousy, at least it still was when I stopped using them two years ago.

Jerry, you can order whistles directly from Fox40 with your associations logo or name on them. $3 for the regular Fox 40 and $4 for the Fox CMG.

Fox 40 whistle
 

BktBallRef,
Thanks, I have thought of that but have never tried because I was told you had to order 144 before you get that $4.00 price. Have I been misinformed? We changed to the Fox 40 CMG because once you use one, you won't go back to the plain. I have not broken a whistle since the switch and they are lasting a lot longer and they feel good between my teeth. By the way, I buy for our association "Fellowship of Christian Officials", so I'm not wearing out whistles a doz. at a time. But I will be blowing it more this year to clean up the rough stuff and illegal hand checking.

[Edited by Jerry Baldwin on Oct 4th, 2001 at 12:40 PM]

Web site?
 

Does Fox 40 have a web site to support direct ordering?

I'm not sure how many you have to order. Our association buys them and sells them to our members at cost. Fox40 embosses the side of the whistle with our "SAOA" logo. Ibelieve we called them and placed the order over the phone. They actually shipped before we paid them, which is very trusting and highly unusal in this day and age. I'll email the person who handled the transaction and see how many he had to buy.

I agree Jerry, that once you use a CMG, you'll never go back. It is definitely best to buy several and rotate their use. They last longer that way.

I ordered a pair of pleated pants from Honig Wednesday morning and they arrived via UPS yesterday. I like the quick service and the pants look to be cool and comfortable -- had never tried the pleated pants for officiating, but I always wear pleated pants for work. I am 6'6", 230 lbs. and I just think pleated pants look better, at least for me. I had never used Honig before so I thought I would give it a try based on recommendations from some of you here in the forum. At the beginning of each season, my association has a "vendor night" during one of our meetings. I usually buy from the same vendor because his prices are pretty good and he only lives about 10 miles from me in case I need to exchange something. BTW, one of our officials purchased whistles with our logo on them and we only paid cost (think it was $4.00). I will check with him and post something here regarding the company and number to order -- think they were Fox 40.