Pants
 

I am a Softball Canada umpire. Currently, our official supplier (who I will leave nameless because I believe that if you have nothing nice to say...) makes a terrible pant. I won't go in to all of the reasons why their pants are so bad (wait....didn't I say something about if you have nothing nice to say?....oh well)

So I've been searching for a navy pant elsewhere. I'm looking for a flex waist (if possible) in both base pant and plate pant. I'm not interested in any combo pants (sorry Smitty's). Are the ASA approved pants good? Is the navy blue a nice, dark blue? Do they turn purple or grey? I see from the Official Gear site that they are Fechheimer Pants, but when I called Fechheimer today, the customer service agent claimed that Fechheimer only makes Heather Grey umpire pants. And BTW, I love Fechheimer pants, as I do have a couple pairs of Heather Grey from them.

Anyone help me make a decision?

Buy the pants from ASA. They carry both blue and grey and will last twice as long as any other suppliers. They are great.

Do they indeed have the flex waist?

I'm SC, too. My current pants were $20 at Walmart. Stretch waist, wide enough for shin guards. I do plan on getting a good pair someday.

The best pants I've found - navy or heather gray - are from Honigs.
I used to say that about the Fecheimer navy and the Cliff Keen grays, then I tried Honig. No contest. Now I get all my umpire pants from Honigs.

Do the ASA pants have the flex waist? They say so on the site, but I just want a confirmation, if someone can confirm it for me.

I learned from an old timer a lot of years ago when I was an young pup that to take all of my new pants and even ball bags to a good seamstress and have then double stitched.
In 35 plus years never ripped any of them out.

Also helps to buy your pants a size bigger than you think you are...

I have a pair of Honigs. The Susan G Komen group thanked me for wearing them last week. ;)

I have a pair of ASA-approved Fechs that would also work in this application... ;) I think it has more to do with the "heather gray" color than it does with the manufacturer. I'd like to try the darker gray baseball uses these days, but NOOOO, we can't be copying those guys! ;)

My biggest gripe about the Fechs is the waistband and clasp. They are not up to the use. Compared with CK, the waistband does not hold the shirt in nearly as well, rolls far too easily when you go set, and the single clasp fails more easily (i.e. pulls out of the fabric).

Honigs has a good rep, but I have not bought any of their pants since I bought my very first pair of umpire pants years ago, and the ones I bought were their "budget" line.

1. Honigs
2. ASA
3. Believe it or not, JCPenneys.

I have 2 plate's and 2 pair for the bases from Honig's. Since they are the best supplier in Europe! If I wasn't allowed to use my Honig's-stuff, I think I would be almost naked behind the plate! Cap's, mask, pants, base- and plate-shoes, ball-bags (in same color as my pants!), a big bag, compressionpants, socks and for rugby a whistle. Always exactly what I wanted from them, for the right price and on time delivered in Europe! I can even pay in euro's at their site.
On top, the ESF (European Sftball Federation) want us to buy out top shirts, caps and jacked at Honig's-Europe!!!

If you're buying the ASA Fechs, buy them big. They usually run a couple of sizes small.

Does Honigs' pants meet asa championship criteria?

No

ASA is not a concern in my ASA district because nobody in district 4 in Pa goes to a real national. The local district commissioner has complete control of who goes where from his district.
So, I cannot speak to whether they meet ASA requirements for championship play.
They are fine for NCAA ball..