All posts in Woolrich Elite

New fit for the Woolrich Elite Algerian Jacket

We recently got in some of the Fall and Winter products that we are stocking in our new location and we got in a few of the Woolrich Elite Algerian Jackets.  Now that the Eotac versions of the Algerian jacket have almost completely dried up, we have been a little frustrated in finding a good replacement.  When the Woolrich Elite Algerian jackets first came out, we were not very happy with the fit.  There were abnormally long arms on the jackets and we saw a 65% return rate with the jackets.   This is a very much improved version of the original Algerian jacket, but the bad fit made it a dud for us.

 

I recently opened up a box of the Algerian Jackets because a few that we special ordered for customers went over well and we did not hear any complaints.   I pulled some of the newer production Woolrich Elite Algerian Jackets out of the boxes and tried them on.   It’s been about 4yrs since these have been in production and I’m just noticing now that the fit has changed.   This is a pleasant surprise for us because one thing that Woolrich has always had going for it is there fabrics and material knowledge has produced very good  quality clothing.   If you’ve been turned off by the jackets in the past, give them a try again because the only difference we see now between the Eotac version and the Woolrich one are the velro vs button front pockets.  That’s your decision to make though.

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Eotac and Woolrich Elite Product comparisons

Many of the same people that were involved with the startup of Woolrich Elite went on to work with Remington with the Eotac line.   From some peoples perspective they were the same products, but there were differences.   The reality now is that if you liked the Eotac line you’ve really only got one place to go back to and that’s the Woolrich Elite line.  We’ve heard rumblings that there is a new pant coming out from Woolrich Elite this year and we’re anxious to see if it’s an improved version of something that they’ve already had out or something completely new.

I’ll type out an Eotac vs Woolrich comparision.   If you liked the Eotac 201 pants, try the Woolrich Elite 44447 pants,  Eotac 202 pants, try the Woolrich Elite 44429.   Eotac style 203 lightweight tactical pants, try the Woolrich Elite Style 44441 pants.   There are minor pocket differences but you will notice a difference in fit.   The Eotac pants had a gusseted crotch which did give you more movement although there were complaints about Eotac pants being too tight in the thighs and people went back to Woolrich products or moved on to Vertx.

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Pants options for the shooting ranges?

There have been many times I have gone to IDPA competitions or local shooting matches and seen guys pack up gear and be on their way because they are afraid of the elements.   One of the funny things about the shooting community is the number of prima donnas that dwell in it with expensive firearms, but won’t run them like the are capable of.  One of those elements that firearms should be able to handle is the rain.  Especially when it comes to  using Military style firearms.  Some hunting rifles may get messed up in the rain but there are ways of preventing that.  Cheap optics will also become know and fog up on you.

One of the best things to market for this time of the year is rain gear.  For some odd reason we get a lot of rain in the Fall and the Summer here in the Northeast and most tactical pants are just going to hold water or get saturated.  Cotton Canvas has a bad reputation for this but this year we have something new.  The Woolrich Elite WaterProof pants go well with the Elite Waterproof parka.   Unfortunately Woolrich is only making these pants in black at the moment, but they easily roll up and can fit in a range bag for those rainy days.   It would be nice to see something in the future that is Hi visibility though.

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Sometimes you just have to wear different pants

Sometimes when we have to take over the work around the house that we are not use to doing, we have to put a different pair of pants.   When you have to do gardening you need to think about being in the kneeling position and sometimes throwing down a mat or old rug will help you get the job done without hurting your knees.   Some of the tactical clothing we sell actually ends up in the ER because the doctors that are wearing them like the fact the large pockets can be used for tools without having to worry about stuff showing or falling out.   There are some situations where we are putting a holster in a different position and the gear just doesn’t feel right.

One situation recently made me realize I was wearing the wrong pants for the situation was with the Tru-Spec 24/7 ligthweight pants.  These  tactical pants have a great fit for my body size, but the pocket locations for a knife or flashlight just didn’t feel right with the Blackhawk Holster.  When i had to reach for my knife I had trouble getting to it because the hold 3 o’clock holster and knife location didn’t work out so well.   If I was carrying IWB with my Sig 220 I wouldn’t have had  this problem, but it was another gear and accessory issue.

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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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5.11 Covert Casual Pants Review

Today we got in a large quantity of the 5.11 tactical line, everything from Tactical Polos, EMS pants and the 5.11 parkas.   5.11 really has the EMS market and from what our customers have told us, it really is hard for them to even look for another brand.   Yesterday we got some complaints about some of the product that have been discontinued, but not everything that has been  discontinued was for reasons other than it was a  slow seller.  Sometimes products changes occur and recently some major production issues coming from Asia caused clothing to completely dry up.

The 5.11 Covert Casual pants are to this day the vest fitting 5.11 pants I own, but I’m still very annoyed that there regular line does not fit me so well.   Some of this may be subjective about tactical pants fitting properly, but I have 12 different 5.11 pants in front of me and only this one gives me the movement that I need.   The Covert Casual pants are made in some very nice colors other than the boring Khaki colors that everyone seems to make pants in.   The pockets are a little over thought, but if you can use them, you use them.

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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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Tactical pants and movement

While studying up on some of the new tactical clothing coming  out in 2012 I was reading some of the reviews and comments on YouTube about them.  It’s funny how often you see people reference that everything is a rip off of 5.11 tactical pants.   I’ve only been in the tactical clothing business for about 7yrs and I have to say that, that is partially true.   It was 5.11 that really had the entire market and nobody came close.   The truth is they still have the market but there are several competitors that are pretty close.  Tru-Spec and Blackhawk probable gained the most ground but Proper is still a monster in it’s own category.

One conclusion that one must come to with tactical clothing is along with quality control, tactical pants must allow for movement.   There are plenty of styles of tactical pants that have been pushed out in the market only to die a slow death when people realized there were design flaws.   One thing that is absolutely a reality about tactical pants is that a gusseted crotch is a must.   The old standard stitching, double stitching, triple stitching isn’t going to cut it. It’s about reducing stress not fighting it.

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New Woolrich Elite Twill Jackets in stock

When we first got these in we  had very high hopes that it would be something we could stand behind because we’ve seen a lot of tactical vests and so called CCW vests come in the store and later become discontinued, bad designs or had absolutely nothing interesting about them.   We use to sell a lot of SigTac jackets but that whole scene seems to have dried up.   Woolrich Elite products have always been very well made but like every tactical clothing, something new always comes out every year but sometimes it doesn’t catch on for various reasons and then we can’t get them anymore.

 

Well this year we jumped on the wave and brought in a good chunk of inventory of the new CCW coat from Woolrich Elite.   The Woolrich Elite Twill Jacket was something we’ve been itching for around here and a much better though out and designed jacket than the SigTac jackets.   There are a lot of times that we get descriptions and product info from the manufacturers but Youtube is really the best way to explain a product in this technologically advanced age.    Brian Miller of Woolrich Inc has done several Youtube videos which really sell the new Woolrich Chino, CCW shirts and the Twill Jacket.   Even though we had these jackets in the shop we didn’t know all of the features until we watched the videos, Check them out.

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