Clothing prices and companies leaving China

We’ve all been aware that for the last few years the value of the US dollar has declined but so has the entire World economy.  Cotton prices have gone up almost 80% and even trying to get stuff made in India which is an alternative to China has been a problem.  We’ve  heard credible rumors that a certain tactical clothing company had serious production issues and basically got done in by Corporate squabbling, a bad economy and product issue in China.   We also got notice this week that Original Swat Footwear has pulled their factory out of China and no longer makes stuff there.

Tru-Spec makes all of their own clothing and has their own factory and seems to have done fairly well even in a bad economy which has made us invest in the product line.  One thing that is very important those wearing tactical pants is not only the quality, but the availability.  There are some product lines that become so scarce at certain times of the year that customer get tired of the backorders and they move on to another product line, if this happens with a new clothing company, you’ll be sure to see that it won’t gain any traction.

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Price points on pants, made in the US or made in China?

We’re still shuffling around trying to see what products we’ll be adding on to our product line for 2012 and there are plenty of things to consider.  One of the things we have always had to consider with tactical clothing is this.  Will people pay more than $50 for a pair of pants?  Most people don’t go out and buy one pair of pants unless they are looking to try them out for the first time, but for the people that have to wear the clothing 5 days a week or more, they will probable want 3 or more.  If you buy pants that cost $30 and buy 3 of them, yous spent $90, if you buy 3 pairs for $49.99 you spent $149.97 and that’s $60 dollars more.   Was it worth the buy?

If you figure that in and the cost of shipping how many gun shops will be able to sell that much clothing and make a profit.  We’ve always sold higher end products but when it comes to clothing, some people just don’t really care too much about their tactical pants and they just want cheaper clothing that doesn’t cost a lot.  After evaluating some of the product lines in 2011 we’re looking over what sold and what didn’t and looking at taking on some new product lines.  Will you pay $60 or more for tactical pants, what if they’re made in the USA?

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Lighter Carbines and short magazine capacity?

At first thought many might think that to be a stupid thing to do, but for anyone that has taken a carbine course, lighter firearms don’t wear down an operator the way a heavy one does.   For all of the people that are bench rest shooters, a heavy AR15 barrel is something they want, but in a real fight, the difference between sub-moa and 4 MOA is pretty much a none issue.   I have never shot an AR15 that did worse than 2 MOA and most of them were about 1.5 MOA or better.  Rifle slings can make a bigger difference in comfort also so research that before you alter your firearm too much.

Once you have to get down in the dirt and fire from behind cover, you can really feel how well your firearms balance is.   If the stock doesn’t fit you right it can royally suck to shoot proficiently.  Magpul pmags are the best gun magazines I have ever used for my AR15’s but I have been using 20rd magazines more and more because of the balance it gives me with my firearms.   Sure I’ll use the 30rd magazines if I really need to, but for urban environments gun magazine capacity over 15rds is good enough for anything but a zombie attack.

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More feedback about the Woolrich Elite Chinos

Just got off the phone with a customer that was looking for “discreet pants”  I know what he was looking for, but I asked him “Woolrich or Eotac?”   He said the Eotac discreet denim pants.   I told him that the product line is no longer being made and that all we have left are a few sizes.   The conversation went on about how hard it is to find pants that aren’t tactical.  So many companies are marketing to the concealed carry crowd, but 90 percent of them are not doing a good job.   There have been obvious fit improvements for some of them, but they still are way too tactical looking and that absolutely might get you killed in some situations.

Since the Woolrich Elite 44910 and 44909 pants have been discontinued and now that Eotac is out of business, the Eotac style 204 and 205 pants are going to be gone for good it seems.   Now what, the only answer we have for customers when they ask us about pants for concealed carry are, do you want tactical pants or the Woolrich Elite Chinos?   There are preferences in pocket locations, and Tru-Spec does a good job on their fit and durability, but all of these look tactical to us except the Woolrich Elite Chinos.  Check out the Youtube clip on our website.

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Open Carry Holsters and firearm retention

Recently there was a major news story about a guy that was open carrying a firearm that ended up being used against him.   A group of teenagers used his firearm in a robbery.   Apparently there was video of the 2 attackers standing behind the individual with the gun and pulled it from his holster when his back was turned.   While this crime was evil and the attackers should be put on death row, the stupidity of open carry in many situations just doesn’t click.  Here in Philadelphia there was a law abiding gun owner that was arrested for Open Carry when it was wrong for them to do so because it was legal to do in Pennsylvania.

It’s not smart to open carry for both of those reason, you can piss off a Cop that isn’t use to seeing it or you could get shot in the back by two 15yr olds that were unarmed until you turned your back.  If you are open carrying, firearm retention holsters like Blackhawk holsters and Safariland holsters are our biggest sellers.   It is very difficult to get a good grip on a firearm and release it at the same time unless you are the one wearing it.   The angle of retrieval can be in your favor.

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Beretta 92 vs 1911 and locking holsters

There has absolutely been a trend away from handguns with manual safeties for a very long time, but for some reason somebody is always trying to put one back on them.   The Springfield XD is probable the latest handgun that has a grip safety, but that still won’t cause you to not fire if you are are reckless.  Most negligent discharges occur when holstering firearms and if your hand is pushing down, which it mostly likely is, you still might set off the gun.  And now you have played your hands into Glock ownership.

The nice think about Sigs and Beretta firearms is decocking them after shooting and having a not so much safety, but just a heavier trigger which is somewhat of a buffer to prevent negligent discharges during holster ect.   The Beretta 92FS or M9 has a safety, but carrying with the safety off is far safer than carrying a 1911 with the safety off, the Blackhawk Serpa holsters seem to be a very good combination for the Beretta 92 handgun and the carrying them with the safety off gives you the above mentioned heavy first trigger pull and you won’t have to fumble a thumb safety then have to release the holster, and then get to the trigger.

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Magpul gun magazines and accessories

There are so many configurations and variations with the AR15 that I don’t think the gun is anywhere near going away.   For years people bashed the M16 and AR15 for it’s well known drawbacks but improvements on manufacturing and metal designs has improved the direct impingement design that it’s way above what the M16A2 has been.   Ambidexterous bolt releases and magazine releases has helped keep the gun viable for left handed shooters and now those south paws don’t have to worry about getting more gas blown in their faces than a right handed shooter.

Stocks that are adjustable and can be adapted to left handed and right handed shooting means a more proficient operator.   The Magpul pmags are just a small sample of the extensive magpul product line.  Their gun sights, stocks, and grips are very different and you can easily have 3-4 AR15 rifles that have multiple roles.   Even though the 5.56 round has it’s limits the firearm is completely capable of being a DMR rifle if you have a good shooter and use the right kind of ammunition.

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Magpul Pmags you can never have enough

Gun parts wear  out and anyone that does a lot of shooting has to accept that.  You can keep your guns pretty forever if you plan on shooting them.   I remember seeing guys show up at amateur band nights with $3000 guitars and treated them like jewels but couldn’t play for  shit and got upset if they got so much as a scratch on them.   I remember watching a video where David Gilmore from  Pink Floyd was using Fender Telecaster that looked like a dog just got chewing on it, but it sounded incredible.

All firearms can be useful tools or for hobby shooting, it’s up to the user and owner to think about which guns should be rack queens and which ones will get run like a vehicle.   Magpul Pmags are so  inexpensive today if you compare them to what rifle magazines cost 10yrs ago and the Magpul Pmags are 8 times stronger.   We are selling lots of them with the windows although I personally don’t think it matters all that much to have them.   What really counts the most is having plenty of them.  For all orders over $100 we’re giving Free Shipping.

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SHOT SHOW is around the corner

I guess because we’re already so busy at this time of the year the last thing we want to have to think about right after Christmas is learning about all of the new stuff coming in in 2012 that we’ll have to consider buying.   SHOT SHOW is the post Christmas shopping season for people like us and at first it’s fun and eventually it just becomes a business trip.   Out of the hundreds of new products that we’ll be looking at, it’s rare for us to find more than a half a dozen new products that really spark interest.

This year we do  have a wish list, we’d like to see more concealed carry clothing come out and not another clothing company making knock off 5.11 tactical pants.   We’re down to about 4 companies that we carry products for and although each has it’s strong points, we’re overloaded on tactical pants and listening to  our customers frustrations about the constant shortages or lack of product improvements has caused people to keep shopping.  We’ve had products that had good designs but the fit was not very good and people moved on, other designs were good for weekend warriors but for those that jump over fences, the products were failing.  Slight production changes would have sealed the deal, but did anyone listen in 2011?

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Locking holsters it is about preference

We have been selling far more Blackhawk holsters than ever before but several Law Enforcement Agencies that we deal with have bad mouthed them and have told us that they have banned them from training classes.   There are flaws in the Blackhawk system and it is true that a dirty locking system will cause the gun to get stuck and it will be difficult to retrieve, but the funny thing about the videos that are floating around YouTube are that if you did the same thing to an M16, the gun would jam up also.

Many of our Special Forces and Law Enforcement still prefer the Safariland holsters although they do seem a little bulkier than other holsters.  There really are duty holsters and for the most part Safariland Holsters are best for that job.  People that bash locking holsters need to take new students to a range and have them use thumb break holsters and you’ll see in about 5 minutes that Safariland and Blackhawk designs are superior.   Not only is it about being able to get your firearm out quickly, it’s also about locking the gun in place so it doesn’t fly out when you have to run or are in an altercation.

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