Carhartt Men's 'K87' Workwear Pocket Short-Sleeve T-Shirt

I own a number of the K87 shirts, and they have been my "go to" t-shirt for casual wear. However, I just received a new one from Rugged Outfitters that may be a counterfeit. The tag indicates made in Haiti, but after the initial wash the cloth feels like it's 30% cardboard, 60% cotton waste and 10% hemp. This just can't be a real Carhartt. A second K87 from Rugged Outfitters in the same shipment is just fine, exhibiting Carhartt quality, as expected.I'm returning it, and will buy a replacement. If it turns out this is not counterfeit, then Carhartt is selling out their reputation, and this brand will become dead to me. Not sure how I will tell, except to watch for other, similar reviews. If it is counterfeit, Carhartt needs to step up their surveillance program.This is a huge potential disappointment from a brand I have trusted for years.

Not that it's necessarily Amazon's fault, but I was very disappointed in the Carhartt t-shirts I ordered via Amazon very recently, compared to those I bought in-store at Sears two years ago. The ones I bought at Sears were manufactured in Haiti and exactly what I was looking for: 100% cotton, NOT stretchy, and of a relatively heavy weight. Now, after two years of heavy use and many washings, these shirts are still wearable but beginning to look a bit worn. So I purchased what I thought was the same shirt from Amazon--but when they arrived, I was dismayed to discover that they seem to be a lighter weight. Even worse, although the tags claim that the shirts are 100% cotton, they are slightly stretchy, which leads me to believe they may contain perhaps 1-3% lycra. The Amazon shirts were manufactured in Guatemala. I want a heavier, 100%-cotton t-shirt with no lycra and no stretchiness and will go back to shopping in-store for t-shirts so I can see what I'm getting before purchasing.

I admit that I read the reviews of horrible consistency but the main review I read was posted in 2013 and I stupidly believed Carhartt might have listened in two years. Boy was I ever WRONG!! Sadly I also read far too many of the perhaps BOGUS FAKE REVIEWS that have infected Amazon and hit the purchase now button. DUMB, REALLY REALLY DUMB.... D'oh.....On October 22, 2015 I ordered three Original Fit K-87 t-shirts all on the same order and all came in one package. Here is what I got.Burgundy K-87 T-Shirt - Made In MexicoTan K-87 T-Shirt - Made In HaitiCharcoal K-87 T-Shit - Made In HondurasNone of these shirts fit like the other & none of them are the same weight cloth. This is a ridiculous JOKE. This is my absolute last Carhartt purchase. I keep waiting for the Candid Camera guy to poke around the corner and tell me this was just a joke or that I wake up from the bad dream. Sadly I am awake, and this is what a once good name, Carhartt, has become, a PATHETIC JOKE....It is a shame the failings of America, or rather race to the bottom, have now impacted Carhartt too..... If I had wanted to gamble I would have gone to Vegas... Sad, very, very, very sad... Carhartt you should be ashamed at this horrifically inconsistent crap you foist upon us!Three shirts, three countries, you can't make this crap up....!!

This is the best shirt out of several brands of work shirts I have tried. I tried stocking up on Duluth Trading Long-Tail t-shirts because they had extra room called a 'tradesman fit' that's the opposite of a slim-fit shirt, that and they are a few inches longer on the bottom to prevent plumber's crack. The problem I ran into, price. Duluth Trading stuff is really nice, I mean REALLY NICE, but it's too expensive. From underwear to shirts to pants, I love their stuff to death but I went broke just buying 2-3 days worth of clothing.So began my search for alternatives. For a few days I wrapped my mind around all normal shirts being too short for me. One, I do not like plumbers crack and I bend down and kneel down a lot. Two, I conceal carry. Long shirts do 80-90% of the concealment for you if you have one, otherwise you have to dig a holster inside your pants and dig into your hip hard. Extra-tall sized shirts is a cheap alternative to the semi-custom size of the Duluth Longtail t-shirts. Next criteria I needed, price. Well pretty much everything is cheaper than Duluth, except maybe UnderArmour. But UnderArmour stuff is generally tight-fitting, so they lose that competition. These are shirts I bought in Tall size to supplement my existing longer Longtail t-shirts:Fruit-of-the-Loom (FOTL) cotton t-shirt from Wal-Mart: Average fit around my body, feels like advertized size. Thin material. Cost $8 in Wal-Mart, cheap but it's not a quality shirt at all and doesn't compete with the rest. It's just a grade lower. It's a cheap shirt but I would still gladly wear this if I didn't have my other work-shirts.Hane's Beefy-T's 6.10z t-shirt: Cheap, less than half price of Duluth. Material is too thin for me for a work-shirt. Yes, even in summer I like thick material as it wicks more sweat away. The material was too thin for a work shirt, same thickness as the FOTL shirt. Slightly trim fitting, after break-in they are what I consider 'normal' for their advertised size, slightly more trim than the FOTL. $10 with Prime.Dickie's Big-tall heavyweight crew neck short-sleeve: thicker than the Beefy-T, but just barely. Same price as Beefy-T. Very trim fitting for advertised size, I would consider these as a 'trim fit' for very lean individuals to be comfortable in. Even if I was in the same shape as I was at 21, these would still be tight fitting.Duluth Long-Tail t-shirt (did not order as tall, ordered at normal height): Thick material, comfortable in summer by wicking moisture better and comfortable in winter since it's thicker. Two or three inches taller than other standard-sized shirts which spoiled me and now I order tall shirts from all other companies. I consider them nearly perfect shirts year-round but the price, I only have 3 because after shipping they run over $20 a piece from Duluth, and no Duluth does not have Amazon Prime shipping. Nice, very nice, but expensive to build a wardrobe with.Carhartt Big-Tall Work Wear Short-Sleeve t-shirt: Material is as thick as Duluth shirt. I ordered this in tall, and is 1 inch longer than the standard-length Longtail-T from Duluth as a result. Not quite as generous fitting as the Duluth shirt, but it's a good bit larger girth than the other brand shirts. Material is slightly rougher feeling than the Duluth but still comfortable even when bending non-stop. Costs $15 with Amazon Prime, 50% more than the Hane's and Dickie's but at least $5 cheaper than a Duluth shirt.My summary is the Carhartt wins overall. Thick enough, long enough, and I tested mine in 100 degree heat recently. Like the Duluth shirt, the thicker material worked to help wick sweat away longer than thinner shirts will. But I live in a very humid area a few miles from the Mississippi river. Very humid Mid-Spring to Fall. Lots of people might not need to fight humidity this much. I can stock 4 Carhartt shirts for a buck or two cheaper than 3 Duluth shirts, and anyone who works outside often knows you can often go through two shirts or maybe even three on a hot work-day in order to keep dry. So that means I can stock up on 12 shirts instead of 9 going Carhartt to carry me through a whole week without running out of shirts, even when a certain family member (you know who you are in each family) hides them in a clothes pile somewhere for a few days. The savings is enough to make a big difference for anyone buying a few shirts.

I have been a happy Carhartt customer for years. I have some of the older shirts made in the USA that are 13 years old and still good. These new shirts fade fast and wear down even faster. Plus the sizes are different from the country there made in. I just ordered 5 shirts all the same size and only one fits right. At this rate I would say these shirts are only worth $5.......