Upcoming National Sale from Tru-Spec

We are going to be onboard with a major announcement about a 2 month sale on tru-spec 24/7 tactical pants.   Ever since Gunny signed on as the Official spokesperson for Tru-Spec we realized that the company really had some legs in the industry and due to customer responses, we decided to carry the line.  We’ve been in the tactical clothing business for a very long time and many people ask us about sizing questions.   We can tell you that if you wore Woolrich Elite or Eotac pants, that the Tru Spec pants that we have been wearing are all very consistent to that sizing.   I tried on Blackhawk, 5.11 tactical, Eotac, Woolrich Elite and others and there was a sizing variation.

If you wear 5.11 tac lite pro pants you won’t have a problem liking the Tru Spec tactical pants.  In our opinion Tru Spec actually lives up to their name and they have a very good style of tactical pants available.  We’re not  sure of the exact date of the Promo ad hitting but on April 1st through May 31st there will be a 15%-25% off sale on the Tru Spec 24-7 tactical pants.   I expect that inventories will be depleted around the Country by the middle of that promo so get in early if you can.   Khaki colors are usually the first to go and usually Black colors are next.

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Combat and Defensive experiences with the Trijicon optics

A few years ago I witnessed a shoot out in Iraq where a few of our troops took fire from an individual that was shooting wildly after our guys just finished clearing out another building.   At first there was confusion on whether or not we were being shot at or just hearing something going on a few miles away.  When the bullets started hitting us, it took a few seconds to realize that it was just across the street that an idiot with an AK was just spraying gunfire at us.   Most of the guys on our team had ACOGS and could positively identify him and returned fire, but I did hear an individual running a red dot optic call out that he had no shot.

It’s kind of odd to hear something like that with modern weaponry but some of the best close quarters fighting optics are terrible at medium range engagements.   On the flip side some of the Trijicon rifle scopes that are geared to close up fighting like the Trijicon Reflex sights are outstanding for close up engagements.  There are always tradeoffs to combat optics and until they get a zero magnification optic that can zoom in on targets at 600yds reliable, there won’t be a do it all optic.   Pick your guns and gear for the appropriate mission.

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Gun magazines and tactical vests and accessories

Every time you make a modification to a firearm you might have to either learn how to adapt to the the changes with your body or move things around.  I have always preferred to use a standard rifleman grip when shooting an AR15, but I stepped into the M4 Carbine world and messed around with various styles of foregrips.   I tried the Magpul, CAA, and some others that I can’t seem to remember.   I had a folding fore grip that I liked a lot but after about a year of using it, I noticed that it was cracking around the screw that locks it on and that was a real bummer because I didn’t trust the setup anymore.

Recently I started messing around with the Magpul products because we sell so much of them that I ought to start learning about them.  The Magpul accessories for the AR15 are very tough and I have yet to have anything break or crack on me.  All firearm accessories will break if you slam them around enough, but some products out there just royally suck.   One thing that I am in a bit of  a bind about is what to do about light placements.   There are some very unique flashlight mounts out there and they can really move the lights out of the way of your hands and give you more space to move especially during weapons transitions.

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New Product line and something cool to write about

When we first starting thing about what types of holster to bring, it kind of slipped my mind that not all gun holsters were leather or kydex.  I have a pile of holsters sitting in my closet that I used for training and forgot about how many stages of learning I was in.   To this day my favorite shoulder holsters were all nylon and I was happy to hear that Elite Survival has brought back the vertical should holsters that have been gone for a few years.   I won’t get into the reasons why vertical shoulder holsters have been hard to find, but these holsters are very inexpensive and also very versatile.

Many of the Woolrich Elite CCW shirts that we sell actually have applications that would allow shoulder holsters to work with them, so keep that in mind if you want a match between CCW shirts and shoulder holsters.  Elite Survival rifle cases  and Elite Survival gun bags are mostly made in the United States which is a huge selling point for us and their shooting bags and EMS have been a huge hit locally.

 

 

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Signs from Law Enforcement

I must spend about an hour a day watching Youtube to learn about various products.  Sometimes I don’t even bother going to the manufacturers websites because so much of it is all on the tube.   It’s much easier to watch a 10 minute video about a product than to read through pages of product descriptions and features.  There are a lot of things about clothing and guns and gear that aren’t spelled out very well and the funniest one that we’ve seen clothing companies talk about were “hook and loop” closures.   Basically they couldn’t just tell you that it was velcro and we’ve had people spend several minutes trying to find out what the heck a hook and loop closure was on a shirt.

When it came to figure out what the differences were and why there was so much drama flowing around on about the Blackhawk Serpa holsters being banned form various firearm instructors, we had to do some research.   After much research Safariland holsters seemed to be the chosen retention holsters for Police Officers in Pennsylvania and most of the Cops that I know are happy with them.   There are always trade offs with any type of holster but I would say that Safariland holsters are probable 25% better and safer to use than the Blackhawk Serpa holsters.  Idiots are capable of doing anything but the Safariland holsters don’t rely on your index finger doing anything.

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Don Hume Jit holster vs the Desantis Speed Scabbard

I have been  using the Don Hume Jit holsters for a very long time and I have several of them for my primary weapons.  For this type of holster, you may run into some flop issues with medium to large frame guns.   The bigger the gun the more likely you will want to have a larger full coverage holster.   IWB can be a uncomfortable carry method but it truely is the most appropriate.    Using locking devices or paddle holsters can cause snagging, make it harder to conceal.   The nice thing about Don Hume holsters is they are very reasonable priced and for $20 or so you can get a very good holster.

I compared these two holsters with a Sig 228 and a Glock 19,  most of this is preference, but it seems that when I used the Desantis holsters for the Sig 228 did not flop around as much as the Don Hume Jit.   There is about an 8 ounce difference between these firearms even though the sizes were close to the same size.   This definitely gives Glock and edge on the weight, but much of this is about how well you handle and shoot a firearm because it’s not about looks its about proficiency.    The Desantis Speed Scabbard is more money but I think it’s a nicer looking holster too.

 

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All that bullshit about gear causing accidents

I am a firearms instructor but do not teach more than a dozen students a year, but it still amazes me to this day that the same problems I saw on firing lines 20yrs ago still go on today.   The reason this happens is there are always new people walking up to the firing line and not everyone has the same starting point.  I admit that when I first started carrying a 1911 over 2 decades ago that cocked and locked hammer frightened me and at the time I felt like the gun was so close to going off that it was almost like carrying a bomb.   After that I remember looking at Glocks and then thinking “those things don’t have safeties” and then I finally came to the conclusion that ever one of those guns is ready to go off if you pull the trigger.

I have friends that have told me that they have seen 1911s shoot with the safeties were engaged and now that I think about it, I’d cry bull shit and say that it was more likely that somebody blamed the gun and not the shooter.   Blackhawk Serpa holsters are getting a bad rap these days even though the USMC just adopted the Serpa its primary holster.   Yes, certain types of guns or accessories can be cumbersome if there has been very little training.  This is something a firearms instructor needs to teach and another reason why it is very important that gun owners find the proper environments to instill these skills.

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Knee pads and tactical pants

There are some really nice knee pads from Alta that many of our customers have requested we sell.   We’ve been selling the Blackhawk knee pad and elbow pads for years, but after watching a really good review on the Alta knee pads on Youtube I was really impressed with the product line and there are some really good selling points over the Blackhawk knee pads. Not only are the knee pads a better option for material, the locking or latching knee pads are a better system than velcro.

Many of the tactical pants we sell already have knee pad options in them but they are a foam knee pad that goes inside the pants.  If you are looking for a lower profile look the knee pads are a nice option for range use on your tactical pants and will not be very bulky.  If you want to save your knees and not tear up your pants, you will want something over your knees.   All knee pads are going to cause you pants to ride up a little and varying types of material may ride up more than others.

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Did anyone find anything new in the tactical pants realm at Shot Show?

We weren’t able to get out there this year but maybe next year it will be a possibility.   There have been several new shirts marketed towards the concealed carry market from TruSpec and Woolrich Elite.  This is one area where we thing Woolrich Elite Series has really gotten a stronghold on because the patterns and fit is really good.  For some reason no matter what the sizes say on other clothing and what the materials are made out of, the Woolrich products just seem more durable and better designed.

When it comes to tactical clothing, I think there is still a wide open market for more jackets, vests, sweatshirts and concealed carry pants.   There is a company called CCW Breakaways that has an interested design, but it looks at first like a one trip pony.   I’ll be interested to see if there anymore tactical pants that come out anytime soon but now it seems that everyone is thinking about money and not so concerned about who is better than who.   There are always ways around having to spend loads of money on expensive items and sometimes you just have to work with what you’ve got.  If you are that hard up for money, just carry a different gun or get a new holster, forget about $60+ tactical pants.

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Summer and Spring options and the transition from tactical pants

We sell a lot of clothing via our online webstore and now that we have a retail location here in Pennsylvania we have people driving 2-3 hours just to try on some of the products we sell.  In 2011 we some of the most turmoil we have ever seen in the production of tactical clothing, we saw Eotac fall off the face of the earth, price increase,  companies leaving China and long waits to get in new production clothing.   We have heard from many of our customers that anything over $40 for a pair of pants is too much, but with inflation, it’s hard to stay under that unless you want to buy the failed tactical product lines.

Last Summer we were surprised to see how much the Blackhawk Lightweight pants sold and after trying them out for ourselves, we were kind of surprised people liked them so much.  Although these tactical pants seem to be made well, the fit on them just seemed too restrictive and several of our employees told us that they liked the Eotac, Woolrich Elite and TruSpec tactical pants the most.   Every style of   pants has a different appeal, but the hardest thing to do is to carry all of your gear in your tactical shorts that you were wearing with your pants.   The Woolrich Elite 44905 shorts

 

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