Woolrich Elite Chino Pants- more Feedback

Now that Holiday Seasons are upon us it’s time to be dressed up and CCW becomes more of a chore.   I’m sure not all of us have to where suit and tie every time we go over a relatives house during this time of the year,  but not having to dump your CCW gear just because you can’t wear any of your tactical clothing is a good thing and right now, I’d have to say that only the Woolrich Elite Chino pants fit the bill.   On a recent visit to Church,  I was able to keep my car keys in the same area that I stowed a firearm and they were both in different pockets.   It’s up to the user to determine which of the hand pockets they want for each item, but this is real CCW.

I normally carry pepper spray, a knife and a flashlight as well as a firearm, but that can be dangerous or a headache if you aren’t wearing the right pants.   The Woolrich Elite chino pants are not tactical pants at all, and they look just like regular pants.  The only thing that I would suggest to do is  not keep a firearm in the zippered pocket because it can be hard to get out quickly, but that is up to the user to decide.   The small zipper is a much better idea that the now obsolete 4910 pants that had a large zipper with a piece of fabric that flapped like a flag in the wind.

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Some issues with tactical pants

Recently someone stopped into our shop and explained to us that they had issues with the Tru-Spec EMS pants because there wasn’t a lining in them to keep their 5.11 tactical shirts tucked in.   Every department has a different standard when it comes to shirts and that is very much a reason why the tactical apparel market has exploded.   5.11 still has a stronghold on the EMS and Uniform market and only one or 2 other companies are close to them.   I’m not sure where the hi visibility apparel is going to go, but I’ve already seen some big changes in the color schemes.

Hi-visibility apparel is probable going to take a few more leaps forward and only the ones that use it are going to have to deal with the changes.   Looking at how big the tactical pants market is now, I really don’t think there are going to be any huge break throughs until there is some type of new fabric that is better than polyester or cotton.  Given that clothing prices have gone up more than previously, hopefully somebody is doing some research into something stronger and more durable.

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It’s Christmas shopping season, but there’s no laws on buying for yourself

I admit that I am guilty of buying stuff for myself at this time of year, the truth of the matter is that this tends to be a good time of the year to buy as well as immediately after the Christmas shopping season.  It’s very rare that people give firearm accessories or ammunition as Christmas presents because that can actually be more tedious for a wife or girlfriend than going to Victoria’s Secret and buying items that match.   When it comes to gun accessories on an AR15, you’ll probable have a frustrated female on Christmas wondering if she got you the right item.  Foliage green and flat dark earth aren’t in the Victorias Secret Catalog.

Now that there are different length AR15 rifles and it’s not as simple as the A1, A2 or A3 styles.  You might  be better off shopping for your on AR15 upper receivers.   You won’t find many options for clearance prices, but the used and hardly used guns parts are out there.   Spikes tactical uppers seem to be hot sellers right now because they are reasonable priced and of good quality for those that are looking for a good accessorized or plinking gun.   I’m sure there are people out there that think they are above that level, but Daniel Defense, Colt and LWRC are in another category.

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Mandatory training for all gun owners?

Unfortunately debates like this would break out on the gun forums in the last decade and all kinds of brew ha would break out.   Sure we do not need anymore gun laws on the books because the laws that are already written aren’t being enforced very well and Government restrictions tend to have no impact on crime.   Now that concealed carry has grown in many areas of the Country where it has  not been legal, more and more people are applying for permits.  In Wisconsin there have been big changes to these laws because crime has risen there.

There are levels of gun safety training and nobody does a better job that the NRA, even many that have been in the United States Military have not undergone much training with firearms.   The firearm training DVDs coming from Panteao Productions fills a hole that many gun owners and even military personel have missed out on.   From home defense, concealed carry, Carbine training from Paul Howe and Travis Haley, Dave Harringtons 360 pistol and many more will give you the broadest selection of shooting styles for defensive applications and competition shooting.

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Magazines maintenance another forgotten chore

 

Magazine maintenance is something that is getting talked about more and more in instructors schools.   Now that using USGI magazines is becoming less and less common in Law Enforcement, the notion that gun magazines are throw aways isn’t so common anymore.  Magpul has taken a huge chunk of the Law Enforcement market and the only time it’s time to toss a Magpul P-mag is when the feed lips are worn.   There’s not reason to run them into the ground, but the life of a Pmag is a hundred times longer than a USGI rifle magazine.

Handgun magazines are also getting stronger and stronger, but there are many thing in a pistol magazine that can wear down and cause a firearm to become unreliable.  Glock magazines are pretty darn tough but even these gun magazines need maintenance from time to time.   If you put a lot of lead down range, even  your gun magazine should get cleaned out.   One thing you should be very restrictive about though is not using lubricant or grease  unless you are preventing run from forming.   A little CLP wiped on and off the spring and inner magazine is Ok, but it should be almost dry so that it does not attract dirt.

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Belt holsters, its not the same for every firearm

I have found holsters that have worked very well for me in the past and did make a mistake at one point, after picking up a Glock 19 and thinking my Don Hume Jit holster was going to work just as well for that firearm as it did for a Sig 239.   It fit just fine but the gun did not feel as balance in this holster type and it seemed to swing a little too much.   Movement with gun holsters is something that should be avoided.   I have often taught students in classes where the first thing we did before we went to the training range was to try running 100yds and back and feel the movement of their gear and get rid of the stuff that didn’t stay still.

Gun magazines and radios should not move one bit and any gun that has play in it has the capability of not being where you want it to be if you tried to grab it.   The Desantis holsters that we sell to customers that fit this criteria are the Desantis Scabbard holsters.  These holsters will keep your gun securely up against your body and not bobble about.  There are many operators that improperly deploy secondary sidearms with the holsters they use which often comes up on day one with leg holsters.

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5.11 Taclite pro pants the best from 5.11

According to our customer base, the 5.11 taclite pro pants are the best tactical pants coming from 5.11 right now.   I’m not sure exactly when these came out, but we saw a ton of them at the Pittsburgh NTOA last year.   We recently attended a pepper spray training course at a prison here in Philadelphia and everything we saw was either TruSpec or 5.11 tactical.   We started out selling just about everything other than 5.11 products because there seems to be a very big market for non-5.11 tactical pants.

Much of the tactical clothing business is about preference and fit.   Not everyone has the same job nor are they built the same way so why would everyone wear the same tactical pants?   Blue jeans have a few color variations when you buy them new, and maybe one or two fits, but nobody expects to carry lots of gear in them.   The differences between the TruSpec 24/7 pants, 5.11 tactical and Woolrich Elite Series pants are pretty big.  The material and the designs give you big differences in usefulness will depend on what you are using them for.   Some materials prevent stains better than others and nothing beats 100% cotton ripstop for hot weather.

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Regardless of all of those .380 pistols out there

And I’m sure many of you own the Ruger LCP and LCR guns by now, but the Kahr .380 pistols are still in the top 3 as far as parts, magazines and holsters for .380 firearms.   I  own a few Walther PPK handguns but mostly for the nostalgia.   I personally think there are a lot of firearms that people own just because they like them and not because they are all that great of a gun.   There are many firearms in that CCW market that are almost like sports cars, they sit in peoples driveways or garages and get worked on, but they never go out on the street and on occasion, get taken to the race track.

Everyone and their dog is making a .380 pistol now, but the ballistics have not really changed that much and from my real world experience, I won’t carry anything smaller than a 38 Special.   Kahr firearms and Kahr magazines are still the number one selling CCW gun and magazines we see moving.  Their 9mm are very reliable and the prices are pretty good considering what you get from them.   There are a few older models that you might want to avoid, but the stuff they have out now very good for the price.

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Magpul Stocks and Accessories

If you’re ready to do some Christmas shopping for your husband or boyfriend, ask them if they need anything for  their AR15 and I’m sure there will be something that they wish they could put on there gun.   Everyone with an AR15 has something that they want to try out or mount.   There are different accessories for different things and recently I got a phone call from a friend that was looking for an AR15 for varmint hunting.   Varmint hunting is something that comes up from time to time and its more about magazines and bullet styles than accessories, but sometimes that might mean rail covers on everything.

I tried the whole folding handguard thing but it didn’t work out too well when I found out that it was cracking.  The Magpul MOE accessories are probable the newest thing that is going to cause the AR15 world to go crazy over.   Everyone put a fore grip on their AR15 and some people never knew why they should do it, now people are realized how difficult it is to shoot with something like that and the Angled foregrips from Magpul give you the best middle of the road option.   The Magpul MOE also cuts out a good bit of weight for someone that cares about that.

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Wearing the right pants for the job

I recently took a trip for work where I figured that I was better off getting there on time than going back home and getting changed into my Woolrich Elite 44429 pants and then going back to work again.  Every once in awhile I still need to make the novice mistakes of cutting time out of a project and then creating a problem.   Brain farts are coming amonst males and last week was one of them.   There are plenty of times where I want to go out and really am not in the mood for wearing any kind of tactical pants. It’s nice to be able to put on a pair of pants and just go and not have to load up all of the flashlight, guns, magazine holders and knife and just go.

Well, without going into too much detail, I missed not having pants with wide hand pockets and it go really annoying that my flashlight got turned on in my pocket because the other stuff that I had to put in there kept hitting the on switch.   Most good tactical pants will be big enough to fit a j-frame revolver and even if you aren’t carrying a gun in your pocket, that amount of space means keys, flashlights and magazines tend to not fall out of the pockets.  The way the stitching is done, the gear will catch on the pocket lining before and reduce the chances of something falling out.

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