All posts in Tactical Clothing

Pocket guns and getting dressed up for CCW

Many of you that are married may not have the option of dressing  yourself, but I have often been told that I can not wear a certain type of pant or shirt when I was going out because it clashed with what my wife was wearing.   CCW clothing options are very limited even though there are plenty of tactical clothing companies offering concealed carry or covert carry clothing.   I did a few trips to local gun shops and picked up Proper, Tru-Spec, Woolrich Elite, 5.11 tactical and a few other clothing options and the sizing variations was a nightmare.   I was buying 36/34  pants to 38/32 pants depending on the manufacturer and that was what I had to do to just get the fit right.

When it comes to shirt options, that’s a much hard sell.   I haven’t been able to buy anything other than 5.11, Blackhawk and Woolrich Elite shirts and a couple Eotac shirts, but there was not a lot of versatility.  If I wanted to do out of uniform Law Enforcement duty then the tactical clothing companies worked, but if I had to pass the Wife’s going out for dinner options, I did not have a lot to wear that didn’t get flak from her.  I highly recommend the Woolrich Elite Oxford shirts and the Woolrich Elite CCW shirts.

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New Woolrich Elite CCW Shirt

I have a beef with much of the tactical apparel community because much of what I see as labeled as “CCW” is really tactical, and they are no where near the same thing.    If the jeans don’t look like Levi jeans and they look like they have pockets all over the place, they aren’t concealed carry.    I also have a serious issue with the 5.11 jeans that I just picked up because they are suppose to be for covert situations, but the pocket designs are useless.   The internal pockets are useless and the hand pockets don’t even hold a 38 Special snubby.

I am not  a big fan of the fit of Woolrich Elite pants because they are a bit over sized in a few areas.   The Algerian field jacket has funky arm lengths.    I did however get to try out the Woolrich Elite Series oxford CCW shirt and I was very impressed with this.   There was a CCW shirt from Woolrich that had similar false magnetic buttons but the patterns were pretty ugly.   This Oxford CCW shirt is real concealed carry apparel and I am very impressed with the Loden and British Tan color patterns.  We were told they are coming out with a few other styles in 2011.

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Tactical and concealed carry, they aren’t the same

I’ve been selling and watching the tactical clothing market for over 6yrs now and I’m still not blown away by anyone one manufacturer.   There are good points about several tactical pants makers, but nobody is doing everything right.   I’m still blown away that the 5.11 covert carry pants I picked up a few months ago were so poorly designed that I couldn’t fit a J-Frame revolver in the pants.    How they heck was somebody not fired over that one?   From what I’m seeing on the internet, those pants I got for $40 at a gun shop are selling for $19.99 at some 5.11 tactical dealer and I can see why.  I also find it odd that 5.11 still stamps there logo so that everyone knows they are tactical pants.

I’ve been reading and watching a lot of YouTube videos and getting feedback on Blackhawk and 5.11 pants because they seem to have a lot of variations of tactical pants.  The materials are more diverse than much of what Woolrich Elite and Eotac pants are made from, but I’m not feeling the urge to sink a lot of money in them.   Most people wearing tactical pants want comfort.   I learned that several years ago when there seems to have been a big exodus from 5.11 and so many people complaints about the fit and feel of them.   Pants riding up on an operator and shrinkage were the most common complaints.

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Versatile waterproof outerwear

There really aren’t many options that I know of for someone that is carrying a firearm or other tactical gear to be able to still stow his magazines ect. in his outwear and keep the rain off.   Woolrich Elite Series Tactical also has water proof pants that range in sizes from Small-XXL.   Make sure you check out the sizing guide on this one and don’t make any guesses.   Your XL shirt sizes don’t mean you  are going to fit in a XL pant.   I find this to be a good option in the Fall and Spring and it’s always nice to not have to throw on a large heavy coat when you don’t have to.

My Sig 226 9mm is a very large firearm and once of the best balanced 9mm there is.   I usually carry 3-4 15rd pistol magazines and the Woolrich Elite Parka holds all of them without printing.  The front pockets have elastic straps that will hold them in place and a pair of handcuffs and knife also keep me ready for work.   This is too heavy for summer carry, but it’s easy to roll it up and stuff it in the glove compartment or under a  seat if I need to put it away for a Season or two.

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Woolrich Elite Outerwear

We were really wondering what was going on with Woolrich a few years ago after some of the people that were involved with the company split off and went on and started their own thing.   We were not sure if they were going to survive this bump in the road, but 2011 gave us a glimpse into some original products that are being added to their product line.  We have always had a high opinion of their quality, but some of the designs of their products really needed improving.   Woolrich has gotten the edge over some of the big tactical clothing companies in 2011.

I recently looked up several shirt companies from a few years ago and they were all out of business.   This year Woolrich Elite took the trophy with their concealed carry and tactical shirts.  The lightweight cotton rip stop shirts are much lighter for hot weather and still have the tactical utility uses.  The Woolrich Elite shirts primarily the CCW and Oxford shirts are outstanding.  They truly are concealed carry shirts that aren’t tactical looking at all.  If you want dress shirts that are cut for CCW this is your best option.

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Standard weight tactical pants

I am not a big fan of wearing tactical pants, I find that many of the tactical clothing companies are over do the designs of some of their pockets and I either find them to be too darn big or awkward sizes.  Not every has the same size phone and there really isn’t the need for carrying a knife in every pocket.   I also do not feel as though I need to keep a 30rd magazine inside my pants pocket.   For concealed carry pants there are even fewer options out there.   Try putting a j-frame revolver in regular clothing pocket pants and you’ll find out why there is a tactical clothing market, though.

I am not also not a fan of tactical shorts.  I have been wearing the Woolrich Elite Series tactical 44905 shorts for years, but the cargo pockets are roughly one half of the size of the pants pockets and I always feel as though I have to limit what I am carrying in the summer.   I always feel kind of naked when I can’t wear the Eotac Style 202 tactical pants which are my primary tactical clothing option.  These cotton canvas pants are very well balanced as far as utility needs and the rear wallet pockets are perfect for what I need them for.

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Adding tactical gear you can really use

When people talk about tactical gear, it usually pertains to the stuff they are hanging off of their M4.  One of my biggest pet peeves in the  tactical accessory market is something I refer to as the tactical gear snag.   I have torn tactical pants in the kitchen of my home because the pockets get caught on everything that a kitchen has to offer, and slings, pressure switches ect are all extra things that get caught on the same things, I’m definitely not a fan of pressure switches because if you have the right size flashlight and mount it in the right position, you should  be able to turn it off and on with your finger without the need for running wires.

One thing that I have found to not be a drawback are gloves, having a good set of tactical gloves like the Larry Vickers tactical gloves from Eotac, will not be as heavy and hard to feel like Kevlar gloves and the Vickers tactical gloves can be customized to what you want with your trigger finger.   If you do not like the idea of  having your trigger finger wrapped in a glove, you can cut these down to where you want your trigger finger to be exposed and the glove will not fray or fall apart.  This will work for left or right handed shooters.

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Eotac Style 202 pants

I’ve been growing concerned about some of the products I have learned to love in recent years because production issues in making clothing in China is having an impact on the availability of some of the tactical clothing out there.   I have gone from 5.11 tactical clothing to Woolrich Elite Series and then on to Eotac and picked up various tactical shirts, vests and jackets along the way.  I  had a Sigtac jacket for a short time, but kind of had no real use for it because I didn’t like the idea of carrying a gun in the jacket.  I always want the gun on my body and not in outerwear.

When it comes to the type of pants I want to wear, I am really stuck on wearing the Style 202 pants from Eotac.   I actually had switching over to the lightweight pants in the summer because the 100% cotton ripstop just doesn’t support the gear that I carry as well as the cotton canvas tactical pants.   The pocket designs on this are bellowed and hold more although snagging is a problem with all of the tactical pants I own.  Try washing dishes in the kitchen and you’ll learn to hate the cabinet knobs and handles.  I have a friend that has town his pants in the same area in his garage because of the same issue, but there are always compromises.

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Tactical shirts, pocket designs and fit

I try to test out as much of the tactical clothing market even if something really isn’t my style.   I’ve seen things that looked like good ideas really turn out to impractical, over priced and become impossible to find because manufacturing them was too difficult.   There are always things that the tactical apparel community tries out and then the next thing you know those well know 5.11 businesses on the west coast are selling the pants for $19.99 that were going for 49.99.   Not everyone is so harsh when it comes to testing clothing out because not everyone wears the stuff 5-7 days a week.  I’ve found the only way to know how well something is made and how much movement I will have is to test it out myself.

I am not big on the whole tactical shirt thing, they have pockets all over them, some  have velcro and others are zippered.   I still find that losing stuff in them is easy, but I get more use out of the pants  pockets than I ever will in a shirt.   Woolrich Elite shirts tend to fit very loose, this even goes for the p pants and vests.   Some people like this because it gives them more movement and if not tucked in,  can help in concealing a holster.   Tactical shirts make you look more like a LEO than the pants in my humble opinion so if I’m carrying, concealing a firearm doesn’t do much for me when everyone sees how much tactical clothing I’m wearing.

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2011 SHOT show is here

This year there will be several new Eotac products coming out.   The new Direct action smock and the Recce pant along with the new A-tacs cam pattern that will be made for the Style 201 lightweight pants and the Style 407 long sleeve tactical shirt.   We got a glimpse of the A-tacs pattern last June at the Police and Security Expo in New Jersey and got a lot of good feed back on the pattern.   Digital patterns have come a long way in recent years and it really has good darn good.   I remember as a kid thinking that most of the woodland cammo made you stand out just as boldly as if you were wearing regular clothing and it all didn’t make sense to me.

You can ask many of those serving in Iraq and Afghanistan what they thought about the camo they had back in Desert Storm vs. the stuff that is now.   The Style 201 tactical pants are lightweight combat pants that are very much meant for a Carbine operator.   These 100% cotton ripstop pants have a unique fitting that gives you more maneuverability over similar designs.  There are some really cheap knock of pants that look like this and go for under $30, but they will not feel the same.   If you have a chance to stop by the Eotac booth this year.  Check out the new A-tacs pattern camo.  If you aren’t in the military, you may want these for hunting.    Very good for the American bow hunter.

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