Who's behind Steel + Spectre? And what the heck does your name mean?

We're run by a husband, wife and dog team based out of Pennsylvania. We're not veterans, law enforcement, or professional dog trainers -- just a chaos-loving trio with a great respect and appreciation for exceptional animals, handlers and professionals.

Our first design, "The Smartest Dumbest Dog", launched as an experiment after we made a few shirts for ourselves in 2021, a year into dog parenthood and the pandemic.

When we realized we had something and needed a name, we wanted to align with our parent company, Spectre Reloading LLC. A late-night session resulted in Steel + Spectre: A nod to the duality of life, corporeal and ethereal, a modern yin-and-yang.

Plus, it just sounded kind of cool.

Today, our collection has expanded to help you show off what you love most: the incredible life you share with your high-drive working, herding and sporting breeds.

Our brand is authentic, irreverent, always evolving, and thrives in a little bit of chaos -- just like you, and just like your dogs.

Where we sell

You'll only find Steel + Spectre merchandise here on our site and on our five-star Etsy shop. We do not sell on Amazon, Ebay or other marketplaces.

A few times a year, we'll join an in-person vending event in Pennsylvania. We love the opportunity to share our brand and mission with the community and meet your pups!

Sourcing & Production

We design in-house using a combination of curated graphics and original designs, combined into unique offerings you won't find anywhere else. We use partners to fulfill orders on-demand to provide the best selection of high-quality products and reduce production waste.

We sample every item we stock to ensure quality and durability. As we get feedback on sizing, fit and overall satisfaction, we will update our offering to continue providing the best quality items.

When we can't take our own product photos, we do utilize mockups, using images provided directly from the production partner and/or using a third party mockup generation software.

Below are the partners we work with:

• A wonderful Eastern-US based print shop (Charlotte, NC) handles production and shipping of most tees, hoodies, sweatshirts and home goods.
• A Philly-based print shop (Philadelphia, PA) fulfills certain hoodies, sweatshirts tees and joggers.
• A kickin' sticker shop (New York, NY) prints our high-quality, durable, waterproof stickers. We ship these from Steel + Spectre HQ.
• A Western-US Decal Shop (Bend, OR) produces our vinyl transfer stickers and decals. We ship these from Steel + Spectre HQ.
• A pawsome print shop (Miami, FL) handles production and shipping of our in-house designed pet bandanas.

Blanks and Printing Methods

We stress-test our designs and products before offering them to you, and listen to your feedback about fit, durability, and print quality. We aim to balance offering a variety of colors with print and fit quality.

New designs are printed primarily on AS Colour Unisex Oversized Hoodies and Comfort Colors Unisex Garment-Dyed Heavyweight T-Shirts using Direct-to-Film printing. This is the lastest printing technology and produces a near-screen print quality with vibrant colors and extreme durability.

Tank tops offered are Next Level Women's Racerback Tank Tops using Direct-to-Garment printing.

You'll find additional designs on Bella+Canvas tees and Cotton Heritage hoodies and sweatshirts using Direct-to-Garment printing. We're slowly starting to migrate all hoodies to AS Colour and all tees to Comfort Colors based on your feedback.

Direct-to-garment printing is a method where the ink is jetted directly onto the garment, which allows for high-quality, full-color prints. DTG prints are soft, breathable, and durable.

DTG shines with natural fabrics like cotton, offering soft, breathable prints that are perfect for simple, bold designs.

Direct-to-film printing is a relatively new technique that’s growing in popularity. DTF prints have excellent color accuracy and detail, are durable, and look fantastic.

DTF works well on a variety of materials, providing vibrant, long-lasting prints (especially for complex, colorful designs).

Shipping

All products (unless otherwise noted) are made especially for you as soon as you place an order, which is why it takes us a bit longer to deliver it to you. Making products on demand instead of in bulk helps reduce overproduction, so thank you for making thoughtful purchasing decisions!

We currently do not ship outside of the United States. We're looking to offer this in the future, but right now cannot do this in a way that would still be affordable. We encourage you to keep an eye on our shop.

Eliminating Waste

While most clothing items are printed on-demand after you order, we do keep a limited inventory of stock to bring to vendor events and to create gift sets. Sometimes we overbuy certain designs or sizes, and we've placed these into a discounted "Ready to Ship" section, where you can find great deals on classic and new designs.

Giving back

A portion of your purchase goes directly to local shelters, pet foodbanks and K9 ballistic vest programs.

When we launched in 2021, one of our goals was to be able to give back to our local and extended community. Thanks to you, we're now in a position where we can begin doing just that! Each month, we'll donate a portion of sales to one of currently three fantastic organizations.

Earn Rewards When You Shop

See that little green REWARDS button at the bottom left of your screen? That's your ticket to savings each time you shop - and our way of saying thank you for being a loyal customer!

SIGN UP: Complete your Steel + Spectre account registration and log in to begin earning points.

SHOP, REFER & EARN: You have two ways to earn:

Place an order: Get 5 Points for every $1 spent

Refer a Friend: Give your friends a $5 reward and claim your own when they make a purchase.

REDEEM YOUR POINTS: You'll get a $5 rewards for every 100 points you redeem. To turn points into a reward, log into the rewards panel and get your points certificate code, which you'll enter at checkout.