All posts in Tactical Pants

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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Tactical pants and pocket placements, why you need more than one style?

There is not a single tactical pant that we sell that is great for everything.  Recently we had some customer walk in  here wearing Vertx tactical pants and asked us to start carrying them.   A few weeks before we had a large inventory of Blackhawk tactical pants because a ton of customers wanted those.  They also liked the fact they held up better for hunting.  Last week because of a news article about the Woolrich Elite chinos the most non-tactical pant we sell were our number one sellers.  I personally prefer the Eotac style 202 tactical pants but I guess I’ll have to fall back  on a close second place with the Woolrich Elit 44429.

I have been going back and forth about which pants I liked more, recently the surge has been towards the Tru Spec tactical pants because of the new national promo.   I have to admit that for $29.95 the Tru Spec tactical pants are by far a superior pant to the 5.11 tactical pants as far as quality.   The 5.11 tac lite prom pants are the  only tactical pants that I like from 5.11 but I had sizing issues and that is something that seems to be a constant.  Maybe people do need to consider more than a one brand and accept the fact that each one has an advantage over the other as long as the product is durable.

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Wearing the right clothing in the summer

This is one of those times of year that I’m not sure if I should be wearing a jacket to work or if I should be wearing shorts.  Up in this part of the Country, you can go to work in the morning with a jacket on and freezing and then by mid afternoon, you’ll wish you had a short sleeve shirt on and a pair of shorts.   So far this year we have gone from a very mild Winter, Warm Spring to close the windows and turn the heat back on in just a few days.   The biggest switch over I have to do this year just like last year is figure out what tactical shorts to wear, unfortunately there are some signs I may not be able get more of my favorite.

If you’ve got advice on what type of tactical shorts to wear this summer, we’ll be listening,  with what we’ve seen go on in recent months, we’re hoping to hear at some point that there are clothing factories making lightweight tactical pants in the United States and not elsewhere.  This month we are running our Tru Spec tactical pants promo and testing the waters on color and styles, there are rumors there are more tactical pants coming from Atlanco later this year.  Tactical shorts are usually pretty close to the same price as the tactical pants and considering the fact that you only get a few months out of them you gotta get it right, probable going with Tru Spec.

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What to do about tactical shorts?

We have been selling the Woolrich Elite product line for almost 7yrs now and one of our favorite shorts is the style 4905 which later became the 44905.   There was something that happened at Woolrich a few years ago where all of the products had numbers added to the sku number and an extra digit was made so some long time customers get a little confused.   These tactical shorts were well received because they have a 9 inch inseam.  The style 4908 which became the 44908 was a shorter 100% cotton ripstop short but does not have cargo pockets on the side.
This year we may be bringing in the Tru Spec tactical shorts because we’re seeing so much turmoil with clothing manufacturing that we have to be able to sell what our customer are demanding.   Last year we saw the demise of what was our number one selling tactical pants product line because there was so many problems making the stuff overseas that production became almost impossible.  We have also learned of new issues with making some of our favorite tactical clothing lines and we’re wondering if there will be more fallout later this year due to that.  Get your clothes why you can because the prices are going up.

 

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Knock around daily use pants for a great price?

I see that Tru Spec has there stuff in order when it comes to promoting their product and getting it out there and they are one of the few companies that has really gained ground on 5.11 tactical.   I just rewatched several Youtube clips about the Tru spec pants and the constant references to 5.11 tactical were on all of them.   I recently purchased some 5.11 tactical stuff to try to see if we could like it and carry it again and we’re only really interested in the 5.11 tac lite pro pants.   There were still the sizing variations and there was a  price increase on the product line which makes me think we’re going to see everything go up in price in 2012.

There are always preferences that people will have and not every pant out there is going to work for you, but the poly cotton ripstop seems to be the lowest maintenance pant which is probable why 5.11 tactical is lasted for so long.   You really should jump on board with this Tru Spec 1 2 3 promotion on the Tru Spec tactical pants we have going on if you want to test the waters for a great every day pant.   You may want to do some research about the pocket designs if you are carrying a knife because the Tru Spec 24-7 pants have nice pockets for flashlights and knife, but it will only work for you if they are the correct size. If you carry a large knife you might not be able to use those side pockets.

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Incase you missed it here they are

There are now our number one selling tactical pant and it’s not just because they have a very good fit and sizing, it’s because they are better than anything in their price range.   If we could all buy a porsche we’d own them, but most of us can’t afford it.  To get a pair of pants that holds up and doesn’t shrink in the wash for less than $30 isn’t going to happen unless you get some great blowout deal from a company going under.  We’ve been watching the clothing  business for over 2yrs now and it is incredible unstable.

At some of the Police and Security conferences last year and there was much discussion about where tactical clothing companies are going to be making their stuff.   We’ve got a great promo running on the Tru Spec 24/7 tactical pants but it’s only until May 31st.  After that you can expect to see a shortage in some of their stuff.  It looks like someone at Atlanco is doing a good job of promoting their product and we just signed on to do some fall outer wear promotion after summer.

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New Article about Concealed Carry

There was a recent article in the New York Times about concealed carry clothing being a new market.  Woorlich Elite Series really got the nich for their concealed carry chinos which are still the only non-tactical looking pant we sell.  While everyone likes to claim they have them, we don’t see it on our end.   The Woolrich Elite Series concealed carry shirts are our favorite because they are cut right and look good.   There are always variations in what type of clothing you should wear and sometimes it doesn’t matter especially if you pocket carry or use an ankle holster.

There is a market for concealed carry because in realty a bad economy means more crime, it does not mean that more people are going to get shot.  Sure some of these tactical pants are a little over done, but if you want to carry all of the tools for self defense or emergency reasons, you’ll probable end up destroying your pants because your knife clip or flashlight would eventually ruin it.   The Woolrich Elite Chinos are designed to have these features on the pockets.

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Tactical pants you won’t have to iron

The complaint we’ve gotten from some of our Law Enforcement officers that were trying out the Woolrich Elite pants and the Eotac did not like the fact that the 100% cotton rip stop pants had to be ironed if you did not take them out of the dryer fast enough.  We thought that was a non-issue in the beginning but more and more people have voiced it.  Since so many people out there have worn 5.11 tactical clothing in the past, just about everyone in the tactical shirt, tactical pants and other apparel get compared to 5.11.

We have 5 weeks left of the Tru Spec tactical clothing promo running and if you wore or are wearing 5.11 tactical clothing you really should check out these Tru Spec 24/7 pants.   The Tru Spec tactical pants that are a 65%/35% poly cotton rip stop are a lower maintenance pants that don’t look too bad either.   These tactical pants are probable less tactical and more ccw friendly since they have the knife and flashlight pockets already designed into them.

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What is the job at hand and will your pants hold up?

There are so many different types of tactical pants on the market  and so many people will rant or rave about a certain brand.  Sometimes they just brag about how they got a great deal on the clothing and and they fit, others will talk about the features while others will talk about the comfort.   Not everyone is going to like the fit of a certain tactical pant because body types can vary.   I won’t get too much into discussing this but in the 8yrs we’ve been selling clothing, not everyone can be happy with the same product.   In recent years the discussion has been about gussetted crotches and if the pants will blow out on the range, well that still can happen with any pant.

The real issue is with lightweight clothing, the lighter the material the more likely it will be to blow out if it does not have a gussetted crotch.  Some of the Tru Spec tactical pants they we have tested out do not have this type of stitching but we’ve not heard of anyone blowing them out.  I would claim that these are fence jumping tactical pants, but the fit gives you pretty good movement.   I’ve seen some of the Eotac pants blow out but that was due to design it was really a manufacturing issue.   There are so many variables in getting a good clothing product on the market and if we use consistency, quality and price points, the Tru Spec pants are probable number 1.

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Tru-Spec promo in full swing

There are so many choices in the tactical clothing market and even though I am shocked by the number of boot and clothing companies that are still emerging, we won’t touch those as a dealer until we hear from enough of our customers to warrant bringing it in stock.  When we first got in on the tactical clothing market, it was pretty much a 5.11 tactical clothing market and many, many in the tactical clothing consumer market were not happy with what happened to 5.11 tactical.   It seems that the original founders of the company turned it into a major money making tactical accessory and forgot about quality control and comfort.

Not every good idea can work and we’ve seen several discontinued shirts, pants and jackets in recent years that were good idea but they just didn’t sell.   When it comes to being able to find a stocking dealer for tactical pants that have a proven track record, you really can’t argue that the Tru Spec tactical pants are a very good pant for under $40.   We saw another tactical clothing company raise their prices on tactical clothing almost $10 a item and that really hurts in a bad economy.  The Tru Spec poly cotton rip stop tactical pants are very similar to the 5.11 tactical pants in regards to material, but have a very unique pocket design.

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