Flag Football Equipment

Of course, if you are a part of the DIY crowd, flag football flags and belts can be made by most any competent seamstress with a heavy-duty sewing machine. Here is a simple way of doing it.

1. Purchase a ¾” x 50’ roll of polypropylene webbing for about $12.00 from sources like American Home & Habitat Inc., 14396 Highway 1458, Sealy, Texas 77474 or order online at www.ahh.biz. This material can be cut and made into enough belts for twenty youngsters or twelve well-built men. You will also have to buy some “D” rings for the buckles from the same company at $22.00 for twenty belts. The rip stop nylon flag material comes in rolls 60-inches wide and it is sold by the yard at approximately $7.50 per yard from companies like Beacon Fabric & Notions, 8331 Epicenter Boulevard, Lakeland, Florida 33809. Their website is www.beaconfabric.com. They also sell hook and loop fastener systems such as Velcro® at $.69 per foot for ¾” wide adhesive back white hook and the same price for ¾” wide adhesive back white loop.
2. Gather the measurements for all the lengths of belts you need. Cut the webbing material for each belt adding approximately 6” for the pull tag and the buckle tag. Fold the buckle tag over and through two (2) “D” rings. Sew the buckle tag at about ¼” to 3/8” from the fold with a cross-box seam locking the “D” rings in place as the buckle. At the pull tag simply whip stitch over the end to reinforce it and to keep it from raveling.
3. Cut the flag material into 9-inch lengths. At one end fold it over to make a 1-inch pass-through loop for the belt to slide through. Allow for about a 1-inch extra tag for the loop beyond the loop. Sew the loop tag with the same type of cross-box seam used for the buckle tag.  Cut off the remaining length of the flag and set it aside for the moment. Cut and sew a square of the loop portion of the hook and loop fastener material onto the flag loop tag with the loop portion facing out. Now cut and sew the same size square of the hook portion of the hook and loop fastener material at one end of the remaining length of the flag that you set aside. You now have a detachable flag that will slip over the pull end of the belt. Make two flags per belt, unless you are making belts for three-flag flag football, whereupon you will need to make three flags per belt.

If you were to buy ready-made flag football flags and belts you could pay upwards of $40-$60 for twenty belt sets for the hook and loop fastener types. For Flag-A-Tag systems you could pay approximately $100.00 for twenty belts. And the Triple Threat flag football flags sets for twenty players could cost in the neighborhood of $170.00.

So, do the homework, and develop a plan to have flag football grow in your community. At least you will have enough information through this article to prepare you for making your own flag football flags.