All posts in Tactical Pants

Rumors abound about Woolrich Elite Series Tactical

tactical pantsWe’ve heard some recent and credible rumors floating around the gun community that the Woolrich Elite Series Tactical line is being sold off.   It’s pretty obvious that the product line was basically smothered by the corporation but it seems that there were too many good products in the line to not have someone with investment potential to rebrand and relaunch the product line.  We heard rumors like this from The Eotac line and both companies were basically started by the same person.   I would like to see some production changes in the line because there were some stark product differences as far as function and durability, but those were slight.  We’ve been getting our feet in other angles of the tactical clothing industry but there was too big of a customer base for it to just disappear.

There regular clothing lines that you see in shopping malls just isn’t going to have the function you need and there is a good possibility that you will either ruin some of the clothing or get unwanted surprises.   What I mean by this is if you are pocket carrying a sidearm in a regular clothing pant poket there is a good pants it’s going to wear through quicker, a good  pair of tactical pants is going to have a ripstop pocket to increase durability.   I’ve had keys from my car wear through pants and the last thing I want is a magazine or a gun wearing through. Other things to think about are how the pockets are sown shut, tactical pants are not sown to the seams which prevents a device like a knife, gun, magazine or flashlight from falling out when you lean back in a chair.  I’ve seen and felt it happen with regular jean pants so be careful, hopefully the rumors we are hearing are true about Woolrich Elite Series Tactical.

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Why would you want to wear Tru-Spec products? An honest review of their tactical pants

truspec tactical pantsWe did not know what we were going to be carrying when we found out several years ago that the Elite Operator Tactical line was going to cease to make clothing and also the warning signs about what was going on with the Woolrich Elite Series tactical line.   Those products were very popular with customers that wanted comfort and tactical clothing that fit the way it was suppose to.  In all of the  years we sold those products, nobody called us up complaining that pants shrank or road up on them when they sat down.   Fabrics and quality control are things that not every camouflage pant is going to have.  There are some paintball camo pattterns that are cool but they are very much a BDU and not very comfortable.

The new Tru-Spec Gen 2 BDU pants are really the best BDU pants we’ve sold because they have a zipper fly and not those out dated button down fly.   The Tru-Spec 24/7 series pants are uniquely designed have have very specified pockets for knives or flashlights.  The truspec tactical pants like the new boot cut Gunny pant is a more updated look with open pockets and larger knife or flashlight slots.   These have been the most popular tactical pants for us right now because of the prices that we sell them in comparison to much of the Blackhawk and 5.11 product line.   Much of this is about preference, but quality is definitely there.

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New tactical pants for this Fall? How about lower profile pants?

tactical pantsIn 2013 we saw the launch of the Tru-Spec Simple Tactical product line and considering how well it has sold so far I expect that there will be a womens line and possible a few more colors.   The Simple Tactical product line is basically a mild tactical pant that probable has 40% fewer pockets if you compare it to 5.11 or other Tru-Spec tactical pants, namely the 24/7 series.    That’s a really nice pant for $39.95 and sometimes you can get them cheaper especially during the 1,2,3 sales that Tru-Spec has done atleast 2x’s.   Some people don’t like particular waistbands and the Simple tactical is more stretch.  You will notice that those will be tru to your waist size and you won’t be able to stow gear is pretend you are really a smaller waist.

This year we took on a few 5.11 products which we normally stayed away from but now that Woolrich Elite Series Tactical is no longer making their product line, we brought in the 5.11 covert Khaki 2.0 which is a good improvement over the regular Cover Khaki.   These pants are now the least tactical pants we (looking that is) and after washing an wearing I didn’t notice any of the shrinkage that so many of our customers complain about.  I guess 5.11 put a little more quality into their white color tactical clothing.  We’re still testing out various types of shirts to see if we can find anything anywhere near as nice as the Woolrich Elite Series concealed carry shirts.   We really missed that product line.

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A very successful year in Delaware County

philadelphia police supply storesThis year was a very successful year for us in the Delaware County area in launching our tactical store and we double the size of our business in the first 6 months.  People are still finding out about us via word of mouth whenever they need a new holster, police boots or even just Ambulance companies hiring and people  needing to get a pair of pants.  Much of the product line we stock in our store is for people to checkout instead of buying it online.  Duty gear like handcuff keys and various police belts are things that people in the Law Enforcement industry lose or wear out over time and are always in need of.    Police vests, tactical pants, uniform pants, belts, hydration unites, SWAT team bags are things that are always wearing out and need to be replaced.

We’ve learned there are so many types of handcuffs, swivel and hinged doesn’t always narrow it down, some are different weights and types of metal.  The items we have brought in this year are the Safariland lightweight handcuffs and in our region there are no Philadelphia Police Supplies shops around here and many of our Law Enforcement Officers are very happy to see a business like this open up.   Tactical vests, body armor are all things people need to be sized up on and this is something that has to be done right so that there are fewer returns.   We stock a large number of Blackhawk serpa holsters, safariland products, pepper spray, mace, tasers, batons, police badge holders and more and more duty gear.

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New 5.11 Covert Khaki compared to Woolrich Elite Chinos?

tactical pantsI really don’t know why all of these tactical companies left standing only deal with the Poly Cotton variations of clothing and never deal with the 100% cotton ripstop material.  Tru-Spec has a cotton canvas pant as well as the well known 5.11 tactical clothing company but there is a nich part of this industry that is having a really hard time finding a good quality tactical pant that is really comfortable doesn’t feel stiff when worn.   Plenty of our contractors and even electricians are not allowed to wear the polycotton materials because of the possibility of flashing or exposure to high heat.  Ask anyone in an emergency room what happens during fires and what the best type of clothing is to have on in those situations.   Many of our tactical shirts have nylon in them instead of polyester for this reason.

When it comes to having a true CCW pant, there really isn’t much out there.   They are either very cargo looking tactical pants or they have so many zippers or funky cuts to the clothing that you already know they are tactical pants because your suit pants aren’t going to look like that.   Now that Woolrich Elite Chinos are  not being made anymore, the new 5.11 covert khaki 2.0 is an improvement over the previous covert khaki pants and when I had a customer come in here and ask me if we carried them, I was surprised to find out they were 5.11 pants in the first place.   These pants do have the side zippers but they are hidden very well and the tabs are very small.  They do have a sheen to them which makes them look more like suit pants and they have permanent creases that give them that professional look.

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What tactical pants work for you?

blackkhawk tactical pantsI’ve been wearing Tru-Spec and Blackhawk pants for almost a year and my tastes have changed dramatically.   I started out with the Tru-Spec 24/7 Series pants but had a few issues with my wallet being kicked out of the ID pocket and it started to bother me so much I re-considered wearing the Blackhawk Tactical pants.  I normally carry pepper spray in the front pockets of my Woolrich Elite Series Tactical pants and my Eotac pants but only Blackhawk and 5.11 tactical had a pocket that was similar to the platform that I was use to.  I attempted to get into 5.11 tactical pants several times but have gotten so much negative flack and proved it myself with several wear tests that it’s hard for me to even have a 5.11 tactical product in my clothing rotation.

The Tru-Spec 24/7 Series pants may not work for you but the quality is defanitely there.  I would defanitely say that the Blackhawk tactical pants that I’ve been wearing for 4 months now have grown on me.  I wish the side cargo pockets were about 2 inches deeper and I wish they had an ID pocket in the seat area on the left side.  If Blackhawk Warrior Wear did that these might become my favorite tactical pants.   I will be making my switch to tactical shorts in a few weeks after an unseasonable cold Spring.   I’m not sure that here in Pennsylvania the Poly Cotton rip stop pants will be comfortable in 100F weather but I will definitely be posting  about various tactical pants and tactical shorts.

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You carry a firearm and have to think about Fall, Winter, Spring and Summer apparel, here’s some suggestions

tactical apparel It looks like Woolrich Elite Series Tactical is no more and the clothing has been drying up for some time now.   They never seemed to be able to move on and market their products after Backyard outfitter ceased marketing their products.    Even after all of these years of selling things that competed in the market against the 5.11 products, we still have customers coming in and bashing the 5.11 product line as having sub-par quality control.  It’s one reason why we don’t stock their clothing in large quantities.   Much of the fabric shrinks or falls apart and we don’t want to deal with the customer complaints for tactical pants, tactical shirts, tactical vests or jackets since this happens so much.   They are truely a monster of a company but there are better quality products out there for less money.

Finding shirts that fit you is something you are going to have to try out for yourself, the Blackhawk and Tru-Spec product lines have very good quality control, but sizing and fit are going to be different.  Everyone asks us how the cut is and every shirt and even some styles are cut differently.   TruSpec tactical apparel has uniform and tactical shirts as well as concealed carry shirts and the fabric, lightweight and ultralightweight tactical shirts are very different.  The gunny tactical line gives a different angle to the product line and the Tru-Spec 24/7 Series clothing and the Tru-Spec Simple Tactical clothing is going to really cut into Blackhawk and 5.11 tactical market just based on quality control and price points.

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Somtimes our style of tactical pants changes for a reason

tactical pants Lately I have been carrying different gear with me at work and during classes.   Recently I was on a road trip and re discovered ankle and shoulder holsters and forgot what it was like to carry in those positions while driving 8hrs in a day.  There are plenty of reasons to consider ankle carry holsters but they are really meant for backups.   One thing I have noticed with various tactical pants is the cut of the pants near the ankles.  Not that I think people need bell bottom pants but this is something to seriously consider when you are carrying in this position.  Some styles of pants will not give you the movement you need and you will end up with your pants riding up on you.

When it comes to carrying handcuffs and batons, wallets and other paperwork, you are going to see huge differences in the types of pants out there.  Call me an old timer but I still don’t have Vertx tactical pants in my wardrobe although in 2013 I plan on getting some.   I have found I have learned to love the  Blackhawk lightweight tactical pants because they are holding up very well to all of the useage I have given them and the only negative I have so far are the lack of a left side wallet or ID pocket.   The pockets are a little too  deep for a wallet and I often feel like I lost it because it’s about 2-3 inches lower than it normally would be.   It’s not just about the material like 100% cotton ripstop or 65/35 poly cotton ripstop.

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A place to walk into and walk out with the stuff you want

Now that so many people do their shopping on Cyber Monday or just order things from Amazon and Ebay, many small business have been put out of business.  One thing that hasn’t changed though are returns and exchanges.  Sometimes people mis ready technical details about the size of a product or they order a wrong color.  When it comes to buying shoes and certain types of clothing, people really want to walk in a shop, hold it in their hands and then walk out the same day.  We’ve had several people tell us that we should stock certain products and many of our nearest competitors do now.   Nobody wants to walk in a retail store, order something online and then go back in and pick it up when you can easily go home and look it  up on google and get it in a couple days.

With holster sizes, flashlight and laser accessories its very hard to know what you are getting with a gun holster.    In the area we are in we draw a lot of customers looking for Philadelphia Law Enforcement supplies that are willing to drive several hours just to try it on and get it right the first time.  You can be one size in on line of tactical apparel but another size or in between sizes with another and  only when  you are standing in front of a mirror will you know if it’s for you.   Whether you’re looking for a gun holster for your Glock 21 with a TLR-1S light or a new pair of boots, we stock most of what local law enforcement personnel are looking for.

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What’s coming out at SHOT SHOW this year?

We’ll find out sure enough, I’m sure every major company will have something new to advertise but it’s usually the same thing every year, there are winners and there are losers and it usually takes about a year to two years for people to test out a product before it can be declared to be a good thing.   I have seen plenty of people rave about a certain firearm when it comes out and 3 months later there is a recall on them.  I saw it with Springfield’s XD models and even LWRC had some significant changes to their designs since they relaunched the company.   Many new products become the products that are hard to get parts for especially if they don’t catch on and if you own one, 20yrs from now you’ll wish you had something different.

The tactical clothing market is in full force and a bad economy might weed out some of the higher end products this year.   I think the best and newest tactical pants we’ve seen lately are the Vertx pants but those are very expensive and may not hold up in a bad economy.   Blackhawk and 5.11 tactical and Woolrich Elite have done some significant price increases and from our standpoint, that is going to  hurt them if somebody else can put a good product on the market for less money.  We’ve seen many Police Departments spend their money on Tru-Spec products because they were better priced than the 5.11 tactical pants.

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