Tactical pants for fence jumpers

We’re going to go out on our soap box today and make the statement that if you’re tactical clothing manufacturer is not making pants with gusseted crotches, you’re going to be out of business in the very near future.   I remember when pants first started coming out like that and how much chuckling went on in the offices while sales reps were getting trained about the fact we all had to learn about the crotch area on the Blackhawk, Eotac and 5.11 pants.   While there are plenty of nice looking and nice fitting pants, they won’t work in the real world of fence jumping and Operator work.

It’s this time of the year where we run out of catalogs and listen to all of the hoopla about about what is going to be coming out around SHOT Show, but we never know for sure until later in the year.   As much as the tactical pants market has been flooded, there is plenty of room for fit adjustments and improvements on existing designs.   After all, everyone is basically just copying 5.11 tactical, right?   5.11 Tactical started it all and they still maintain the better part of it, but being that we’re dealing with a niche market, how big is the niche?

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Promag Magzines for the M1 Carbine and Mini 14

I never got on the M1 carbine bandwagon even though I know that it’s a fine gun.   There are are lots of bull shit stories about the firearm, but the biggest drawbacks about it are that the gun is designed for ball ammunition.  I  know there are claims about hollow point ammunition working in them, but I would not use this firearm with defensive ammunition in a defensive situation.  Just like it’s much famed 1911 WWII family member, it was designed for a specific task and it did the job well.   Many 1911 firearms have problems with ammunition and it’s all about the throat on the guns.   There are newer 1911s that resolve this issue, but it does exist.

When all of those WWII surplus guns started drying up in the 1980s and 1990s it was getting harder and harder to find decent magazines.  We sell a very good amount of M1 Carbine Promag magazines for the M1 carbine and they are available in 15rd and 30rd capacities.  When you use the 15rd magazines you’ll probable get a better balanced firearms, kind of like 20rd magazines on an AR15.   The M1 Carbine can be a more effective firearm in some situations compared to a handgun, but be realistic about the ammunition that you are feeding them.  There are also good reports about the Promag magazines for the Mini 14 and Mini 30.

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Why does the industry think Concealed Carry Pants need tons of pockets?

That really is one of those big questions that doesn’t get answered by the big clothing makers because they don’t really want to answer it.   Concealed Carry pants are really from most people that ask about the stuff we sell, all about being able to wear them at work and pocket carry.   It often amazes me that what is marketed by a few companies always has supposedly hidden leg pockets with tabs that flap in the wind when you walk and tell everyone you have a pocket there.   Was Michael Jacksons famous leather jacket a ccw coat?   Probable according to what we’ve seen show up here.

What everyone really wants is something with big hand pockets and if it has extra pockets, they should be shapped to look like normal pockets.  To date, the only real pant that we have sold that wasn’t in the tactical pants category are the new Woolrich Elite Series Chinos.   Other than that everyone else has something that we would consider to be tactical.  If the rear wallet pocket has big pockets around it, it looks like rock climbing gear.   It’s all about what you want, but if you want CCW pants, you’ll have a hard time finding it in the tactical clothing world.

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Blowout pants report

There seems to be a shift in the tactical pants market now to going for the gusseted crotch on all of the new tactical pants.  While this is old news to some people certain tactical clothing companies have been really slow at keeping up with what’s  new.   While several clothing makers are looking to get out of China for making apparel,  we are hoping that 2012 means making better clothing without crazy skyrocketing prices.   We’ve been selling Woolrich Elite Series Tactical clothing for several years and got hit with a few price increase recently, but compared to some clothing makers, not all that bad.

Trying to find a good  pair of pants for less than $40 dollars pretty much means shopping on Ebay, Tru-Spec, 5.11 tactical or Woolrich Elite.   While there are always preferences to consider when people tell you which tactical pants are best for them.   We have known for a very long time that the patns going for under $30 are not going to last unless they are discontinued or clearance items.  The best deal in recent months were the Woolrich Elite Style 444904 pants which were a very sturdy cotton canvas material that were identical to to the 44429 pant but with a lower ankle pocket.   They were a little heavy for some people’s tastes but they  did not shrink like some of the competitors did.

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Concealed Carry and potential injuries

When I look at all of the holsters that we carry and all of the ways someone can carry a gun, it’s almost endless, but there are the most popular ways of carry them and some really bad ways of carrying.  If you are carrying and your not that comfortable with the position of the holster, you really should try carrying to see if you can adapt or just completely overhaul the weapons that you carrying.   IWB is in my opinion the best way to conceal a firearm.   Something many people don’t think about is that when you are in public places people can brush up against you and if you are carrying a Blackhawk Serpa or paddle holster under a shirt, people will figure out what is going on.

I’ve seen a lot of fancy ways to carry and the small of the back is to this day, the one I strongly advice against.   If you are carrying in this manor in a car there is a serious chance you can have spinal injuries if you are in a car accident.   Desantis holsters are a bit different from Galco holsters and Don Hume holsters, but there are differences in holsters designs and the angles that they made in.  For some people they like the idea of having a roto tilt holster or angled forward or back, there is no wrong chose in these regards but being able to pull a firearm during a close up fight is something to consider and how much injury can you sustain if you fell on your firearm.  The small of the back is more of a liability in these regards than any other mode.

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Keeping a backup plan for bad weather while on the road

There is nothing worse than being stuck on the side of the road not being prepared.   Fix a flat is always your best friend but sometimes there is snow and rain involved.   One thing that many forget to put in a car is a flashlight or flares.   Even police officers are afraid of traffic and one of the most hazzardess situations is being  broken down on the side of a high traffic highway.   In the day and age of people talking on cell phones and texting people have the bad habit of over compensating when they see something and then swerve and loose control.   I’ve seen this happen.

Things change when you get older and have your own family and you get more concerned about their safety and avoiding bad situations.   Have a first aid kit, fix a flat, flashlights, cell phone charge, emergency battery jump starter and a good rain coat like the Woolrich Elite Waterproof  parka jacket really cut down on being in a bad situation.   First aid kits have gone a lot way and some of them are  better than what medics had back in Vietnam.   All of these items can be stored in a car and take up very little room

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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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Carrying rifle magazines off a tac vest

A well designed tactical vest is almost always the best place to to carry your gear, but the gear should drive the mission.   The reason Molle vests are so popular is simple putting it, you don’t always need the same gear to get the job done so why expect the vest to already be designed for everything.  Sometimes to many attachments is the real piss off and you want simplicity.   There are still times when all a guy needs is a vest for flash bangs or grenades.   Those can be important roles for achieving a mission accomplished.

The tactical clothing market is easy 1000 times bigger than it was 6yrs ago and quality and cost are one thing, but the other is about usefulness.  One tactical pant that catches the eye are the Woolrich elite tactical pants in Style 44447.  These pants were designed after the ACU style pants are are probable the most popular carbine operator pant.   There pants are lightweight cotton ripstop and can hold up to 6- 30rd pmags in or any AR15 30rd magazine for that matter.   If you aren’t in a situation where a tactical vest is appropriate, the Woolrich Elite pants make getting gear easy in the prone positions.

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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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Boot specials for November

This month we are going to be running another large Original Swat tactical footwear promotion because we just love doing them.   With this economy, people are scrounging the clearance sections of some of the large product distributors and there are some pretty good deals out there.   With the implosion of a few businesses this year, there is yet another big flood of good quality clothing for discount prices.   One thing we really like around here at Rogue Elite is a company that backs it’s products.  With tactical clothing an apparel, we get people that tear things or have them fall apart in a short time period and most of the time they come back to us and not to the manufacturer.

Original Swat Footwear has over 10yrs experience in the tactical footwear community and that’s not a new business.   There tactical boots are hands down the best deal for the money because the company backs their products for 1yr.   We have guys walk in here all the time and tell us that they spent $150+ for boots that only held up a year and now they get their money’s worth with the Style 1152 Original Swat boots.   The 1150 and 1152 boots are probable the most popular sellers for military persons.    The traction of the footwear is different depending on the type of boot, but some of them work very well for low key low profile use.

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