All posts in Tactical Clothing

Woolrich Elite goodies on clearance

last year we picked up a  ton of discontinued Woolrich Elite products but had a shockingly bad winter sales for outwear.   One of our favorite things about the Woolrich Elite product line is that the fabrics they use are very well made.   For a company that has been around for over 180yrs, they must have some secrets that have kept them in the business for so long.  These were originally marketed as a CCW sweatshirt, but they really don’t have any features that are concealed carry friendly other than the fact they are cut a little long.

We picked up a large quantity of these and since we had such a warm winter, they didn’t sell so good so we’re trying to make room and clear them out.  We have a large international and domestic customer base and these Woolrich Elite sweatshirts are being sold for 50% below what we use to sell them for.  Even though it’s hot as hell here in Pennsylvania, we know there are customers in Canada, Alaska and Afghanistan that might wants these.   Check out or clearance and sale section as well as the new Woolrich Elite Series tactical products like the Twill Jacket.

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Short sleeve ccw options, check out Woolrich Elite

When summer rolls around it’s usually time to put the full size auto away and switch over to your compacts and smaller frame guns.  The Hawaiian shirt thing doesn’t work for skinny guys and I’m sure we’ve all seen the movies where the undercover narcotics officers are wearing them.  The bad guys know you have a gun tucked in there and they probable won’t be surprised to see the muscular and fit guy with the shirt and sunglasses is a narcotics officer. After that, if you don’t wear an untucked t-shirt you’re probable going to end up having to pocket carry.

Everyone of the tactical clothing companies has it’s pros and cons and some of the fit and designs are really just personal tastes.   The one company we’ve been very impressed with when it comes to CCW shirts are the Woolrich Elite CCW Shirts especially the short sleeve ones for this time of year.   I personally have been very happy with my ability to pocket carry a j-frame, tuck a shirt in and still be able to pack a Streamlight tactical flashlight and my gerber pocket knife all in my ccw shirt.   I’ve seen a few of the Blackhawk and 5.11 attempts at making tactical shirts but they just didn’t work for me.

 

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Finding a comfortable shirt that holds up to wear

I was never a big fan of tactical clothing up until about 2008 and I had lots of experience with 5.11 tactical gear and Woolrich Elite products.  5.11 tactical pants have a well known reputation as being the leading tactical pant that everything else is compared to.  Quality from t he behemoth of a company has absolutely waned and it is obvious that people were looking for something more.  While the tactical pants market is pretty much bottle up, the tactical shirt market is wide open.  I personally think there are more opportunities to make a better shirt than ever before.

Most tactical shirts feel like a uniform and are not very comfortable to wear.  The only tactical shirts that I really still like are the Woolrich Elite 44901 short sleeve tactical shirts.  These have a vented back and have a very loose feel.  They had a great shirt called the zip up instructor shirt but for some odd reason it was discontinued.   It was basically the same shirt as the 44901 but had a zip up shirt with false buttons which made it look like  a regular tactical shirt but great for hot weather or even for wearing over a shoulder rig.

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Blackhawk lightweight tactical pants are a hit

Sometimes when new stuff comes out we just sit back and let our customers tell us if it’s a good product.  Now that several of our tactical pants competitors have fizzled out we’re looking for tactical clothing that is made our customers don’t complain about.   I will admit that these tactical pants have a different fit to them and when I move in them they do not seem as comfortable as the Tru Spec and Eotac pants that I am use to.  But to each his own when it comes to fit and comfort.  Material makes a big differences to me in certain climates and although I have worn 100% cotton ripstop pants for 7yrs. The Tru Spec and Blackhawk Poly Cotton blend do not really bother me at all.

Some people want to get away from the 5.11 tactical pants that they have been wearing and right now there is so much out there to keep against 5.11 tactical clothing.  I see a few companies have attempted to design their own tactical pants but those are really just cheap range pants or better yet, yardwork tactical apparel.  We’re still waiting to  find out about all of the manufacturing changes that are taking place and hoping we don’t have any distruptions in product lines again.  TruSpec seems to be very aggressive in getting their products on the market with month long tactical pants and tactical polo promotions.  Next fall we will be on board for some nice outer wear promos.

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What people are saying about the differences in material

When we first got into the tactical clothing business Woolrich Elite Series was the first company to come out that was different than 5.11 tactical.   The 5.11 pants and shorts we were wearing were a poly cotton ripstop material and not cut very well.   I have some of the 5.11 covert carry jeans and they are just downright lame as far as design and fit.  The Woolrich Elite jeans were a good idea but the colors and fit were not very good.  To date the only concealed carry jean that we sold that got a good response were the Eotac 205 jeans and we are sadly not going to see those again.

The cotton canvas pants seem to be liked because of the comfort of the material but when people want lightweight pants, it’s either 100% cotton ripstop or it’s going to be a poly cotton blend.   We had an electrician come in here and say that the TruSpec tactical pants we sold were not approved for his job and only the 100% cotton ripstop pants were due to fire safety.  Both pants may look the same but they are not the same when it comes to moisture resistance and comfort although I find the TruSpec pants to be best fit for me for the poly cotton blend.

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Tactical Clothing is mostly about preference

I just got off the phone with a customer that asked me if we sold clothing that was “true to size” i informed him in the last 7yrs of selling tactical apparel, that I can’t answer that question because the times that I did, it was usually a customer looking for an answer so that if the clothing didn’t fit, he’d blame me for tell him that it would fit him.  We’ve sold many Wilderness belts over the years and although we never get complaints about how the belts hold up, there are so many sizing issues with these belts that even The Wilderness has a disclaimer on the end of their order processing about not taking back returns.

The differences between Blackhawk, Tru Spec, 5.11 tactical, Woolrich Elite and even the rare inventory of Eotac clothing that is floating around can sometimes have more to do with quality control than original design differences.  We’ve pruned much of our tactical clothing product lines and discontinued much of what got too many complaints about.  The differences in fit between such things as tactical polos is considerable and we’ve always been a big fan of the Woolrich Elite  product lines although tru-spec has gained some ground with us.

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Lots of Turmoil in the clothing business

We have just got word that their were riots in the Apple factory in China and another one of our product lines is having trouble getting stuff made over there because of some of the flooding.  What the heck is going  on with that place?  Everyone seems to think we have to tip  toe  with China because they own so  much of our debt that they can pull the rug out from  under us.   The truth of the matter is we actually still own them.  They won’t get anything out of us if we go down and right  now they are actually having the rug pulled out from under them.   We are at a total of 4 of our major product lines has pulled out of Chinese manufacturing beacuse of the labor costs and price increase on raw products.

I have no idea what is going on with the clothing industry.  We have done some really big promos with Tru Spec and Blackhawk products as well as the Woolrich Elite tactical pants  product line and we’re under the impression they are all having some issues.  We are testing out some of the new products form Tru Spec this summer because one of our favorite clothing makers, Woolrich Elite isn’t making the 44905 shorts at the moment and that is something that really concerns us.

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Differences between TruSpec and 5.11 EMS pants

5.11 EMS pants seem to be on the majority of the paramedics in our area but we’ve noticed many were not happy with the fit of the pants and wanted to try the TruSpec.  Since we’re testing out various tactical and EMS products we’re tip toeing with our inventory.  Today a customer asked us if he could try on the TruSpec pants and find out what the differences, by the time he was done wearing them around the store.  He was teaching us more about the product line than we knew before.

The Tru Spec EMS pants look almost identical to the 5.11 Tactical EMS pant but there are some noticeable differences for anyone that wears one of them long enough.  The major differences between these Tru Spec EMS pants and the other are the rear pockets.  The back left pocket has an ID pocket and the right side has the trademark 5.11 sash.   The TruSpec pants have a flap that is the same as the regular tactical pant and in all honesty a much normal looking design.

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Switching from 5.11 tactical clothing to something else?

When we first got into the tactical clothing market it was pretty much all 5.11 tactical pants.   The stories about Royal Robbins becoming 5.11 and some of the changes that occurred left many customers disappointed.   I don’t know  how a company can make 5.11 tactical pants in 3 different Countries and expect the quality control to be there but I guess they don’t.  We’ve watched several companies attempt to cut into the market and fail and much of it was about production issues and quality control.  If you buy a pair of pants and like them and buy them again later, the same thing, and the sizing is different or it shrinks and rides up on you, you look for something else.

Some people just don’t understand what it takes to do business in foreign Countries.  It’s not just about a manufacturers ability to make a consistent product, its also about being able to make the product the right way and things like tactical pants sometimes need to be modifed if customers demand this.   I have witness such minor product fit changes that were welcomed and the sales went up.  Other companies were asked to modify their products and they didn’t and lost out to the competition.  5.11 has a real Winner with the Tac Lite Pro pants.

 

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These shirts look great

The Woolrich Elite concealed carry shirts are really nice and we’re surprised to see how many shirts they have made.   I guess it was an easy switch to change their product line over from the Woolrich Elite main line to the Woolrich Elite Series tactical line.   The 44916 seems to be the best CCW shirt that came out last year although they did discontinue the 44915 and the 44913 shirts.  Those shirts are now on sale at a discount but they are still in stock. The velcro side flaps are somewhat boring but the shirts are a great bargain and better looking than what I see from Blackhawk and 5.11 tactical.

The newest ccw shirts from Woolrich are the best yet.   These have magnetic false buttons that you might want to use a shoulder holster or something like a deep cover concealment shirt.   The Woolrich Elite CCW shirts we have are very different in pattern and look to the 2011 ccw shirts and they are hands down the best ones.  I always recommend anyone that is using a shirt for ccw should avoid throwing them in dryers and let them hang dry.  We have not gotten any complaints about shrinkage on these shirts but it will slow down the inevitable shrinkage that occurs with all clothing.

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