All posts tagged clearance on tactical pants

You carry a firearm and have to think about Fall, Winter, Spring and Summer apparel, here’s some suggestions

tactical apparel It looks like Woolrich Elite Series Tactical is no more and the clothing has been drying up for some time now.   They never seemed to be able to move on and market their products after Backyard outfitter ceased marketing their products.    Even after all of these years of selling things that competed in the market against the 5.11 products, we still have customers coming in and bashing the 5.11 product line as having sub-par quality control.  It’s one reason why we don’t stock their clothing in large quantities.   Much of the fabric shrinks or falls apart and we don’t want to deal with the customer complaints for tactical pants, tactical shirts, tactical vests or jackets since this happens so much.   They are truely a monster of a company but there are better quality products out there for less money.

Finding shirts that fit you is something you are going to have to try out for yourself, the Blackhawk and Tru-Spec product lines have very good quality control, but sizing and fit are going to be different.  Everyone asks us how the cut is and every shirt and even some styles are cut differently.   TruSpec tactical apparel has uniform and tactical shirts as well as concealed carry shirts and the fabric, lightweight and ultralightweight tactical shirts are very different.  The gunny tactical line gives a different angle to the product line and the Tru-Spec 24/7 Series clothing and the Tru-Spec Simple Tactical clothing is going to really cut into Blackhawk and 5.11 tactical market just based on quality control and price points.

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What does Tru-Spec have in store for us in 2013 regarding their tactical pants?

tactical pants We just watched a video about the new stuff coming from Tru-Spec and it was music to our ears to here that what they were primarily going to do is put a less expensive pant on the market.  Who has done something like that in the last 10yrs?  Not a single company that we can think of.  Years ago 5.11 pants were about $30-$40 and when Woolrich Elite Series hit the market they were the first tactical pant we sold that was almost $50 a pair.  You do get what you pay for but now that we see that so many tactical clothing companies have overdone their designs, there is something to be said for simplicity and quality.

We like the Tru-Spec tactical pants and especially the new Gunny boot cut pant, but were looking forward to the new pants that will be well received with our Law Enforcement departments that are always on a budget.   We have not seen these new Tactical Pants yet but I expect our sales rep will be out with them shortly.  The major selling point of the Tru-Spec product line is that it is the best priced tactical product line in comparison to Vertx and 5.11 tactical.  We’ve picked up a lot of customers in the EMS world from 5.11 just based on price points.

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Everyone is different, that’s why diversity works

Nobody eats the same food every day unless you have a bad diet or are just a down right boring person.   There are different seasons and different lines of work and every ones tolerances are different.  Yesterday we had a few more guys walk in here and tell us they heard that Woolrich is now making tactical pants just like the ones they had when they were in Vietnam.   The funny thing is Woolrich has been making them for almost 7yrs.   I have no idea what other companies are making anything like this but the demand for something other than 35/65 poly cotton blend tactical pants is definitely there.   I am a big fan of the material but there are some improvements Woolrich should have done to the tactical pant and some of our customers have asked for it.  Re-enforced ripstop pockets and a gussett crotch would be a good idea.

I personally where mostly Tru Spec tactical pants because they are very comfortable and in all honesty I’ve been wearing these pants for almost 9 months to test them out.   I have seen absolutely zero abnormal shrinkage and for these lightweight tactical pants I am very happy with them.   Most Tru Spec pants are priced under $40 and that’s not something we see across the market.  Blackhawk, Vertx and a few others come to mind and are you getting that much more performance for $10 more?  Well, it will depend on your line of work,  but for utility purposes and every day use, I will have to say that Tru Spec tactical pants are hands down the best lightweight tactical pant for the money.

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Getting use to these TruSpec pants

It was a big change for me to switch over from what I have worn for almost 7yrs and then try a different pocket design and different materials.   I started out like many with the 5.11 tactical pants and my first pair of pants had horrible shrinkage.  So many of  our customers have made the same statements and always say they are looking for something else but afraid to order them online.  We often get asked “what are my sizes for TruSpec, Blackhawk, Vertx” ect. if they wear X with 5.11.   There are sizing variations and fit differences and it’s just one of those things about buying clothing, you really need to try them on before you buy.

The pocket designs on the TruSpec 24/7 pants took some getting use to but now that I have adjusted my gear and taught myself how to carry my knife, flashlight and weapons, I have been very happy with the quality.  The polyester cotton ripstop material makes these lightweight tactical pants and somewhat of an easier product to just wash and go.  I don’t like having to iron clothing that much and if you are in a professional environment and don’t have the time to let your 100% cotton ripstop pants de wrinkle themselves, TruSpec pants are an easy switch for anyone wearing 5.11 tactical pants.

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What people are saying about the differences in material

When we first got into the tactical clothing business Woolrich Elite Series was the first company to come out that was different than 5.11 tactical.   The 5.11 pants and shorts we were wearing were a poly cotton ripstop material and not cut very well.   I have some of the 5.11 covert carry jeans and they are just downright lame as far as design and fit.  The Woolrich Elite jeans were a good idea but the colors and fit were not very good.  To date the only concealed carry jean that we sold that got a good response were the Eotac 205 jeans and we are sadly not going to see those again.

The cotton canvas pants seem to be liked because of the comfort of the material but when people want lightweight pants, it’s either 100% cotton ripstop or it’s going to be a poly cotton blend.   We had an electrician come in here and say that the TruSpec tactical pants we sold were not approved for his job and only the 100% cotton ripstop pants were due to fire safety.  Both pants may look the same but they are not the same when it comes to moisture resistance and comfort although I find the TruSpec pants to be best fit for me for the poly cotton blend.

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Lots of Turmoil in the clothing business

We have just got word that their were riots in the Apple factory in China and another one of our product lines is having trouble getting stuff made over there because of some of the flooding.  What the heck is going  on with that place?  Everyone seems to think we have to tip  toe  with China because they own so  much of our debt that they can pull the rug out from  under us.   The truth of the matter is we actually still own them.  They won’t get anything out of us if we go down and right  now they are actually having the rug pulled out from under them.   We are at a total of 4 of our major product lines has pulled out of Chinese manufacturing beacuse of the labor costs and price increase on raw products.

I have no idea what is going on with the clothing industry.  We have done some really big promos with Tru Spec and Blackhawk products as well as the Woolrich Elite tactical pants  product line and we’re under the impression they are all having some issues.  We are testing out some of the new products form Tru Spec this summer because one of our favorite clothing makers, Woolrich Elite isn’t making the 44905 shorts at the moment and that is something that really concerns us.

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Tactical pants and pocket placements, why you need more than one style?

There is not a single tactical pant that we sell that is great for everything.  Recently we had some customer walk in  here wearing Vertx tactical pants and asked us to start carrying them.   A few weeks before we had a large inventory of Blackhawk tactical pants because a ton of customers wanted those.  They also liked the fact they held up better for hunting.  Last week because of a news article about the Woolrich Elite chinos the most non-tactical pant we sell were our number one sellers.  I personally prefer the Eotac style 202 tactical pants but I guess I’ll have to fall back  on a close second place with the Woolrich Elit 44429.

I have been going back and forth about which pants I liked more, recently the surge has been towards the Tru Spec tactical pants because of the new national promo.   I have to admit that for $29.95 the Tru Spec tactical pants are by far a superior pant to the 5.11 tactical pants as far as quality.   The 5.11 tac lite prom pants are the  only tactical pants that I like from 5.11 but I had sizing issues and that is something that seems to be a constant.  Maybe people do need to consider more than a one brand and accept the fact that each one has an advantage over the other as long as the product is durable.

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What is the job at hand and will your pants hold up?

There are so many different types of tactical pants on the market  and so many people will rant or rave about a certain brand.  Sometimes they just brag about how they got a great deal on the clothing and and they fit, others will talk about the features while others will talk about the comfort.   Not everyone is going to like the fit of a certain tactical pant because body types can vary.   I won’t get too much into discussing this but in the 8yrs we’ve been selling clothing, not everyone can be happy with the same product.   In recent years the discussion has been about gussetted crotches and if the pants will blow out on the range, well that still can happen with any pant.

The real issue is with lightweight clothing, the lighter the material the more likely it will be to blow out if it does not have a gussetted crotch.  Some of the Tru Spec tactical pants they we have tested out do not have this type of stitching but we’ve not heard of anyone blowing them out.  I would claim that these are fence jumping tactical pants, but the fit gives you pretty good movement.   I’ve seen some of the Eotac pants blow out but that was due to design it was really a manufacturing issue.   There are so many variables in getting a good clothing product on the market and if we use consistency, quality and price points, the Tru Spec pants are probable number 1.

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Tru-Spec promo in full swing

There are so many choices in the tactical clothing market and even though I am shocked by the number of boot and clothing companies that are still emerging, we won’t touch those as a dealer until we hear from enough of our customers to warrant bringing it in stock.  When we first got in on the tactical clothing market, it was pretty much a 5.11 tactical clothing market and many, many in the tactical clothing consumer market were not happy with what happened to 5.11 tactical.   It seems that the original founders of the company turned it into a major money making tactical accessory and forgot about quality control and comfort.

Not every good idea can work and we’ve seen several discontinued shirts, pants and jackets in recent years that were good idea but they just didn’t sell.   When it comes to being able to find a stocking dealer for tactical pants that have a proven track record, you really can’t argue that the Tru Spec tactical pants are a very good pant for under $40.   We saw another tactical clothing company raise their prices on tactical clothing almost $10 a item and that really hurts in a bad economy.  The Tru Spec poly cotton rip stop tactical pants are very similar to the 5.11 tactical pants in regards to material, but have a very unique pocket design.

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Water Restistance and durability of tactical pants

We’ve been very happy to see new products in our warehouse like the Blackhawk Lightweight tactical pants.   These tactical pants are very different from the 5.11 tactical pants like the Taclite pro pants.    5.11 has a large product line of tactical pants but there is plenty of room for innovation and improvements.   Water resistance is very important if you are going to be in rainy environments.  People can die by sleeping in environments where they never dry out and cold weather can eventually lead to death.   We always have a large customer base of people that are Law Enforcement or Military but also go hunting, and sometimes there is very little difference between the product lines.

When the weather starts to warm up we see changes away from the cotton canvas tactical pants towards the lightweight material.  Just like cold weather and wet environments can be dangerous, hot weather can also be dangerous if you are not wearing the right clothing.   There are several styles of tactical pants to consider, but for wet environments the best lightweight tactical pants we sell are the Blackhawk lightweight tactical pants that are treated with a DWR, which means durable water resistance.  That’s a big deal for avoid uncomfortable deployments in damp environments.

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