All posts in Hunting Gear

Getting it out there !

For those of us that live in the civilian world and don’t have the dress code standards that Law Enforcement and Military men and women have, we have more leeway on what we can choose to wear.   A big thing to get in this business is Military and Law Enforcement contracts.   There are districts and Departments that have specific colors and dress code standards on uniforms and tactical clothing.  If you can get them, you may be set for a very long time.   Whenever a new line of clothing comes out it’s always a big deal to get it out on the public circle and get people to wear it.   If it is over priced or a pain in the butt to clear it stay around very long in this economy.

I’m not sure where the military contractors are going to go now that Iraq and Afghanistan seemed to have maxed out on man power and I doubt there will be another serious influx of personell there so massive expansive of the tactical pants and tactical clothing may be over.  The big thing for clothing companies to do is get to the police departments and get them something that actually functions well and can be used in the Narcotics, Homeland Security and under cover work.   Vertx seems to have done a really good job in growing some legs in that market.

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Hottest Seller for the M4 Carbine from Trijicon

Sometimes we get a new product from a company that just flat out blows away the previous production line, but recently we have noticed that our most consistent selling M4 Optic is the Trijicon TA01NSN ACOG.   This is probable the most practical setup without over complicating the system and putting higher mounted parts on the already high sitting combat optic.   The Trijicon TA01NSN has backup iron sights for close up fighting.   For those trained with iron sights, nothing gets you back to the basics and away from glass optics that those metal or composite posts.

One of the best things about the ACOG system is the optics come already mounted.  We have all witness some shooters have a really difficult time with long range shooting because the optics they are deploying are not leveled properly.  The Trijicon TA01NSN like it’s fellow ACOGS can come on a carry handle or it’s only mount.  Nothing to adjust with the optic like you have to with scope rings, these optics are already leveled and once they are sighted in they can be removed and should remained zeroed.

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Keeping it simple for CCW

Recently we got some requests to bring in The Wilderness Titanium belts which we kind of avoided because they are so expensive.   They aren’t expensive for the people that want to get the most out of a belt and knock off a few ounces of weight.   So many people in the civilian world don’t understand that you really can feel the difference at the end of the day between carrying 15lbs of weight vs 20lbs.   Your feet and your back will know it and reducing weight not only means less weight, but it can mean adding on another important item without going over your comfort limit.   My back and my feet hurt when I hear these stories about what our troops are carrying for their daily chores.

When we open the discussion about concealed carry, the weight issue still means something.  I can run through the list of close friends that are highly trained in carrying firearms and they all gave up carrying full size 1911 handguns for j-frame revolvers.   One of my favorite CCW is carrying a Smith & Wesson 637 in Don Hume holsters.  The Jit holster rides up high, it weight practically nothing and it doesn’t take up room in a pocket with is another popular mode of CCW.   Pocket carry is nice, but lets remember that carrying a gun in a pocket means not putting anything else in there, but what if you need the room for keys or other gear?

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Movement and fit with tactical pants

Although I might blog about tactical clothing for the majority of the time, I’m really not a big fan of the whole industry.   If you want concealment, putting the name Blackhawk or 5.11 on your clothing falls under the category of “Not Really” if you want to be running stealth operations.  I’ve seen enough drug busts go down that anyone working in Narcotics knows this.   I’ve often been impressed by the types and looks of some of the people that run Narcotics operations in Philadelphia and how good they are at tricking the bad guys.  Sometimes the guys running behind the scenes sitting in cars get to wear the tactical clothing, but not the front men.

Normally the guys doing the fence jumping are the hardest to impress.   Those are the guys that call up a day after the wore the clothing and tell us they blew out the tactical pants.   I must have worn about 20 different types of pants in the last 4hrs trying to find something that fits me right from my personal experience, movement is something that is really important to me.  The  number one place guys blow out pants is at the gun range.   As soon as they kneel down on the ground they’ll know what the fit and flexibility is.   What is claimed as tactical might be all about the looks and pocket designs, but they may not operate with the operator.

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Concealed Carry Pants, Right?!!?!

I have always been more of a jeans guy and that’s the straight leg style not the baggy pants.   I have always been looking for a good pair of CCW pants that really just had nice big hand pockets so I can drop a gun in their and not have to worry about it popping out or sliding out.  Regular clothing won’t cut it and there are safety issues with pocket carry if you are not careful.   A good pair of CCW pants won’t have the pockets sewn directly into the seams because that will allow the gun to fall out in certain positions.   The Woolrich Elite 4909 were too baggy according to our customers although many of same customers that came back for the Eotac version said the Eotac pants were too tight in the thighs and the rear pockets were unnecessary and made the pants look tactical.

I ran out and picked up a pair of the 5.11 Cover Carry jeans shortly after I heard that Eotac was no longer going to be around and was trying to find another line of clothing to fit into the concealed carry market.   No such luck on the Covert Carry tactical pants, they aren’t suppose to be tactical but they were over thought and useless.   I rarely trash a pant design but you couldn’t even carry a j-frame in the hand pockets.   If you ask me for CCW pants, the only pant that I am going to tell you looks CCW are the Woolrich Elite Chinos, it’s somewhat of a relief to actually have the confidence to tell the truth.

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Don’t sell your AR15, get a new upper

There are plenty of upgrades and things you can do to a less expensive AR15 to make it better.   As long as it’s a Mil-Spec gun, go ahead and replace the springs first off, make sure the proper areas are staked on and don’t get carried away.  Staking your gas key is probable one of the biggest things I’ve seen AR15 owners not pay attention too and if you shoot enough rounds, you’ll find out what  happens.   Gun magazines are an obvious area of importance, but many still think that they will get good reliability out of their guns.
I call bullshit on that one and the complacent gun owner is going to be the one that has the firearm go down at the wrong time.   It’s been a few years, but not that long that a guy who had put on a Spikes tactical upper receiver  on his gun stated that he runs his guns dry and doesn’t have problems, well that is another individual that is going to get a shock when his MOA AR15 goes down after rapidly firing off 30rd and that dry run firearms goes down.   Complacency is something that really catches up with a gun owner or Law Enforcement officer.   If you want a better gun, learn how to upgrade it or maintain it properly and just buy a better barrel or upper receiver.

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Here’s a review on tactical pants from someone that drives a lot

As previously mentioned there are a  ton of people out there that aren’t carrying firearms around with them that wear tactical pants.   One of my best friends actually is a carpenter and he uses them for work.    The Woolrich Elite style 44429 pants have knee pad inserts that you can use for a pretty long time and don’t get bulky or snag on  you because they are inside the pants not outide.   Cargo pants and front pockets are tactical pants can be very useful when you drive a lot and even the discontinued Woolrich Elite 4904 pants were really good for this because they had a lower ankle pocket.

Ankle carry is not a very convenient way of carrying a gun, but if you are on the road and drive a lot, it does have its advantages.   When  you have a seat belt on and it’s hard to move around, its good to know that getting to your Wallet or firearm in your tactical pants is easy.   Woolrich Elite pants use to be very difficult with their ID pocket but they removed the velcro and improved on the opening.   Right now I find the TruSpec 24/7 pants to be the most comfortable and easiest to work in pants, but I find the side knife pockets to be blocked whenever I have to carry a large size auto in a holster.

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Shoulder holsters, still a useful method of ccw?

You bet it is but don’t go to a Carbine Course and expect your firearm instructor to let you carry that way on a firing line.   There are a lot of really nice CCW shirts from 5.11 tactical and Woolrich Elite that can actually be quite useful if you are carrying a firearm in a shoulder holster.   There are many different types of shoulder holsters so don’t think everyone of them is going to make you look like a Miami Vice character.   Not all of them are going to cost you $100 either.  The one thing that seems to have changed though is a direction away from Vertical carry.

I’m not a big fan of standing in front of firearms and I do understand why should holsters are not allowed on many live firing training but they are still one of the most comfortable ways of carrying a large firearm.   Galco holsters are probable the highest prices shoulder holsters while Uncle Mike’s holster, Bulldog holsters and Elite Surival holsters are far less expensive.   The magazine holders are something that  you may have to think about because not everyone is going to want a 2 double stack magazines on them.  Sometimes that can be a bit too much tug and pull on your and your shoulders will know it.

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We want to hear from you

There are few tactical clothing companies that have really gained some traction in the tactical community and others have fallen off the face of the Earth.  Some were due to poor quality, bad designs or the economic problems of making clothing in foreign Countries were cotton prices have sky rocketed and that’s going to put a shot to the market.   Some companies seem to be more secure than others but we recently heard that some clothing manufacturers have raised prices almost $20 for a pair of pants.   Meanwhile, you can still get some 5.11 tactical pants for under $30.   I’m still amazed at the people that won’t pay more money for something that will hold up better thus making your money stretch out.

We were in this debate years ago when the tactical market exploded and competition was everywhere.  Since there have been cutbacks in military deployment and many of the private security contractors have left Iraq we have noticed a bit of a slow down, but it’s still up from a decade ago.   Woolrich Elite tactical pants are a few bucks more than some of the competitors but to this day it’s still one of the least complained about products we’ve sold.  Every once in awhile there are complaints about buttons falling off or tearing, but that’s all.   All clothing will shrink even if washed properly, we want to hear from you about what  you want us to stock and what you think about the situation in the tactical clothing industry.

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Changes in weather changes in clothing

In 2012 you can be sure there will be some pretty big changes in the tactical clothing market.   I expect there will be a few people fall to the way side because there are still production issues with making clothing in China and the economy isn’t getting any better.   Lots of police and government workers are losing their jobs and that will eventually affect the people that supply them.   Locally there were huge layoffs in the Trenton and Camden area and for the first time we saw unemployed cops.

Now that things are really getting tight, if you are looking for some really good deals please take a look at some of the great deals we have on clothing.   There are some really good Tru-Spec, Woolrich Elite and Eotac tactical pants on clearance and on sale.  We have a significant amount of the Eotac style 202 OD greens left.   For $34.99 you are saving on money and getting a better quality product.

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