All posts tagged 5.11 Taclite pro pants

What’s coming out at SHOT SHOW this year?

We’ll find out sure enough, I’m sure every major company will have something new to advertise but it’s usually the same thing every year, there are winners and there are losers and it usually takes about a year to two years for people to test out a product before it can be declared to be a good thing.   I have seen plenty of people rave about a certain firearm when it comes out and 3 months later there is a recall on them.  I saw it with Springfield’s XD models and even LWRC had some significant changes to their designs since they relaunched the company.   Many new products become the products that are hard to get parts for especially if they don’t catch on and if you own one, 20yrs from now you’ll wish you had something different.

The tactical clothing market is in full force and a bad economy might weed out some of the higher end products this year.   I think the best and newest tactical pants we’ve seen lately are the Vertx pants but those are very expensive and may not hold up in a bad economy.   Blackhawk and 5.11 tactical and Woolrich Elite have done some significant price increases and from our standpoint, that is going to  hurt them if somebody else can put a good product on the market for less money.  We’ve seen many Police Departments spend their money on Tru-Spec products because they were better priced than the 5.11 tactical pants.

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What to do about tactical shorts?

We have been selling the Woolrich Elite product line for almost 7yrs now and one of our favorite shorts is the style 4905 which later became the 44905.   There was something that happened at Woolrich a few years ago where all of the products had numbers added to the sku number and an extra digit was made so some long time customers get a little confused.   These tactical shorts were well received because they have a 9 inch inseam.  The style 4908 which became the 44908 was a shorter 100% cotton ripstop short but does not have cargo pockets on the side.
This year we may be bringing in the Tru Spec tactical shorts because we’re seeing so much turmoil with clothing manufacturing that we have to be able to sell what our customer are demanding.   Last year we saw the demise of what was our number one selling tactical pants product line because there was so many problems making the stuff overseas that production became almost impossible.  We have also learned of new issues with making some of our favorite tactical clothing lines and we’re wondering if there will be more fallout later this year due to that.  Get your clothes why you can because the prices are going up.

 

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The trend is towards pocket guns and it ain’t gonna stop anytime soon

The real issue that we are seeing with guns and accessories is not everyone has been able to keep up with the guns that are being made today.  If I were a holster maker I would be cautious about making holsters for everything out there because there are some firearms that are simply not going to catch on. When it comes to carrying in the pocket, the responsible thing to do is to use a pocket holster.  I had some issues with one maker because the hammer on my 537 Smith & Wesson was getting caught and I had to cut out part of the holster to avoid snags.

On your journey towards finding the right gun and holster that works for you, take your time before you end up with a box full of holsters you didn’t really want sitting in your closet.   When  you are looking for clothing that are not like the usual tactical pants that you see marketed for concealed carry but really aren’t, take a good look at the Woolrich Elite chinos.  People always ask us if their gun is going to print if they were something like this, but the answer to that is to use a piece of cardboard to prevent printing.   There are a lot of very nice .380 pistols and I would have to say that they do seem to be easier to shoot than the 38 special snubbies, but with proper training, you can get what you want out of both and be very discreet.

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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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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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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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Woolrich Elite style 44429 pants

There is still an awful lot of confusion going on for customers that have been buying the Woolrich Elite products since their original inception.   The thing we’ve always liked about selling Woolrich products is the name basically sold itself.  That’s a hard thing to do in this cluttered tactical clothing market, but I have to say that 90% of the times people have walked in our doors and saw the name Woolrich, they always referenced a jacket or layer of clothing that they’ve had for decades.   There have been some changes since the original Woolrich Elite Series clothing came out, but the quality of the products has not changed.

Looking over all of the  items that have sold over the  years in our store, the Woolrich Elite Style 44429 mens tactical pants is one of the most popular.   These tactical pants are built like a tank and the only thing some people have said that was negative was that they were a little on the  heavy side.   I’ve compared them to some of the 5.11 tactical pants that say they are 8.5 oz cotton canvas, but both pants do not weigh or feel the same.  There has also been a slight product SKU change from the original Woolrich Elite product line.  The Style 4429 pants are the same as the 444429 pants.  The only real change we have seen is the wallet id pocket has been slightly altered and opened up.  If  you wore Eotac style 202 pants, this is really the only alternative.

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All of those .380 pistols might help you keep your clothes on

I started out carrying a 1911 a very, very long time ago and at the time, the last thing I wanted to have to worry about was getting more clothes to wear just so they could accommodate my firearm.  You’d think it wouldn’t be that much of a problem, unless you’ve already got experience in carrying a gun.   Many Cops were paddle holsters, or Desantis pancake style holsters which work very well for medium or full size semi-auto guns.    Most individuals in that line of work aren’t looking for small and concealable, they are carrying what they have been issued or what they are best at using.

Recently we had a customer tell us that he hates elastic waistband pants, but this is the first time I’ve ever heard a customer that was CCW a firearm say that.   If you understand how often tactical pants have varying sizing and fit differences from brand to brand.  You’ll have to try them on to find out if they fit.   Everyone does not come in even sizes and when you put a firearm IWB you’ll have even more troubles if you aren’t wearing pants with an elastic waistband.

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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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