All posts tagged Concealed Carry Shirts

Shirt Options, CCW, Law Enforcement and Uniform,Tru-Spec Shirts

TruSpec 1/4 Zip Combat ShirtsTruSpec ShirtsNot everyone gets into the tactical shirt wardrobe like I do, but usually at Law Enforcement Events or Conventions I dig a little deeper into what I don’t normally wear.   I have so many brands of clothing but as things wear out, I am very picky about what I replace them with.   It seems most of our EMS and Law Enforcement want something a little stiffer which is why so much of this industry is of a polyester cotton ripstop of various weights.   If you go for a 100% cotton shirt, get use to ironing your clothing, and the last thing most of our customers want to deal with is ironing so we cut a lot of those types of products out of our inventory.  I will tell you that since most of this market is going to be wanting lightweight, you definitely should consider checking out the Ultra Lightweight Field shirts and if you need a uniform looking shirt the Ultra Lightweight Uniform Shirts which are available in Black, Brown, Navy, OD Green and Khaki colors.

Airsoft is an exploding industry and even though I haven’t quite caught on to it, I see it trickling into the Law Enforcement Community even though you might be as likely to see a kid show  up in our store looking for Multicam Black Combat Shirts or the coming soon, TruSpec Shirts in A-Tacs patterns.  The TruSpec Camp Shirt is probable one of the better CCW Shirts because as a lightweight Summer carry shirt that is cut long and a little loose you might like this shirt just as a dress shirt and not piss off your wife for buying more G.I. Joe looking clothing.    Even though it’s a little early for cold weather clothing, it is just around the corner and the Tru-Spec Winter Combat shirts will be in stock in full force, especially after we had a shortage of Winter weight shirts after last years Artic Weather.   There are a ton of local Police Departments wearing this during training here in the Tri-State area and we expect to have a good selection here in October.   The Performance Polos have gotten very good reviews and even though they may be too lightweight for winter, throw a long sleeve one in just to get through a little more of the year.

 

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Woolrich Elite nearing the end?

Its looking more and more like the Woolrich Elite Series Tactical product line is no more.  We’ve seen several clothing companies and various other tactical gear manufacturers pull out of China and the task of retooling the the machines and launching the products in a bad economy have been rough.   We recently heard that Tru-Spec is now making their clothing in Honduras which is a major shift from our standpoint because just about everyone making tactical clothing came in from somewhere in Asia.   India, Cambodia, Vietnam, China it seemed like everyone had a manufacturer over there, but cost increases have really hit some companies and from what we see it can cause a certain percentage of your customers to switch to another brand.

Now that we  have such a large Law Enforcement customer base, many of these guys and gals have a clothing allowance and increase the cost of tactical clothing by $10 per item means they may can few items.   The differences between 5.11 tactical and TruSpec shirts are considerable as far as pocket designs and such, but many of the Tru-Spec and 5.11 tactical clothing products are made of similar materials.   The differences are quality control and sizing consistency.  We here so many complaints about 5.11 products getting expensive and the truth of the matter, they are not the only ones, Vertx pants are usually over $60, Woolrich Elite $50 and from what we see Tru-Spec products from Atlanco are the best priced products.

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Some feedback for customers that wore Eotac or Woolrich Elite Shirts

I’m not going to bash either product because if you really want an opinion about those three products, they are all well made tactical products but they really are more about the mission or the preference you have in your work space.   Here in Pennsylvania, I’ve told people many times, that we can get all 4 Seasons, Summer, Fall, Winter and Spring.  And when i mean all 4 Seasons, I mean zero degrees to 103 F in the same year.   Which tactical polo is going to work well for you in that situation?  I have some customers that love the Woolrich Elite Polos because they are a looser fit, but some customers don’t like them because they are heavier in weight compared to 5.11, Tru-Spec or Eotac stuff.

Many of the products we sell from Tru-Spec are very well received.  Even though we are clearing out some other tactical apparel product lines, many of our customers are trying to move away from the 5.11 tactical clothing and we have been successful in moving the Tru Spec shirts that have been coming in.  There will be a new line of the Gunny approved Tru-Spec product line in the coming weeks.  There are also new backpacks and lightweight tactical vests coming in with the product line.  We are hoping to add more and more lightweight products including the new gunny pants that have slight differences, yet improvements to the 24/7 series.

 

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Short sleeve ccw options, check out Woolrich Elite

When summer rolls around it’s usually time to put the full size auto away and switch over to your compacts and smaller frame guns.  The Hawaiian shirt thing doesn’t work for skinny guys and I’m sure we’ve all seen the movies where the undercover narcotics officers are wearing them.  The bad guys know you have a gun tucked in there and they probable won’t be surprised to see the muscular and fit guy with the shirt and sunglasses is a narcotics officer. After that, if you don’t wear an untucked t-shirt you’re probable going to end up having to pocket carry.

Everyone of the tactical clothing companies has it’s pros and cons and some of the fit and designs are really just personal tastes.   The one company we’ve been very impressed with when it comes to CCW shirts are the Woolrich Elite CCW Shirts especially the short sleeve ones for this time of year.   I personally have been very happy with my ability to pocket carry a j-frame, tuck a shirt in and still be able to pack a Streamlight tactical flashlight and my gerber pocket knife all in my ccw shirt.   I’ve seen a few of the Blackhawk and 5.11 attempts at making tactical shirts but they just didn’t work for me.

 

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New Woolrich Elite CCW shirts

It looks like they discontinued a few of the first batch of CCW shirts but the latest colors and sizes are very, very nice.   I’ve had a few of the 5.11 tactical shirts but they didn’t seem to be cut right.   Everything looks like a Narcotics officers wardrobe.   Much of the tactical clothing market is preference but there are some things that certain companies do better than others and the Woolrich Elite shirts are really good.   I like the idea of being able to carry a knife, flashlight, pepper spray or mace in a shirt and be able to tuck it in.

We all know why tuckable holsters have an appeal but what about the shirts being functional for someone with tactical gear. You really should check out the Woolrich Elite concealed carry shirts we have listed on our website.  Some of the original 44913 and 44915 shirts are priced really well and they have a very casual look to them.  The 444916 is probable my favorite Winter carry shirt and the newer short sleeve concealed carry shirts are great in the Summer and Spring.

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Winter CCW Shirt Options

There have been several occasions at this time of  year where I’ve walked out of the house and into the freezing cold Winter temperatures and had on a sweatshirt and jacket.  By the time the car warmed up and I was on my way, I had to turn the car temperature all the way back down because it got too warm.  When I got to the mall to start my Christmas shopping, I was so darn hot that I was stopping to buy a drink and feel very uncomfortable.  This is one of the biggest problems the whole concealed carry jacket market seems to forget.

If you’ve dressed with a holster that is outside the waiste and you were intending to have the gun covered by the jacket, you’ll have problems.   The best advice I would have is to wear a base layer like Under armour and a heavy shirt like the Woolrich Elite CCW shirts like the Oxford long sleeve.  This shirt is a  long sleeve shirt that gives you an out layer to wear over a firearm and still carry flashlights, knives ect in the front pockets.   There is a hidden pocket behind the front pocket that is very easy to access.  If you pocket carry a j-frame, this is a great place to store a reload or pepper spray.

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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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New wave of CCW shirts from Woolrich Elite

Today I was going through the list of all of the new products that we had to list on our website and sometimes we debate on whether or not we are going to carry something when it gets to my desk.   There have been a lot of useless gun accessories, but they sold and made money, but I found them to be annoying.   Some of the gun parts were a liability to carry because the quality control was so bad that our return percentage and complaints were so high that it wasn’t worth the time to carry them.

When it comes to selling clothing, there are some big named companies that we limit the products from them because quality control is so bad.  That is not the case with the Woolrich Elite Series product line.  They’ve had a few dud products, but I would mostly blame that on the economy and marketing.   The new wave of Woolrich Elite CCW shirts are going to be in my wardrobe.  I’ve about had enough of the solid color CCW shirts that have been made in the past and it’s great to get shirts that look  like they came from a department store and not a tactical shop.

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Woolrich Elite Outerwear

We were really wondering what was going on with Woolrich a few years ago after some of the people that were involved with the company split off and went on and started their own thing.   We were not sure if they were going to survive this bump in the road, but 2011 gave us a glimpse into some original products that are being added to their product line.  We have always had a high opinion of their quality, but some of the designs of their products really needed improving.   Woolrich has gotten the edge over some of the big tactical clothing companies in 2011.

I recently looked up several shirt companies from a few years ago and they were all out of business.   This year Woolrich Elite took the trophy with their concealed carry and tactical shirts.  The lightweight cotton rip stop shirts are much lighter for hot weather and still have the tactical utility uses.  The Woolrich Elite shirts primarily the CCW and Oxford shirts are outstanding.  They truly are concealed carry shirts that aren’t tactical looking at all.  If you want dress shirts that are cut for CCW this is your best option.

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Tactical shirts, pocket designs and fit

I try to test out as much of the tactical clothing market even if something really isn’t my style.   I’ve seen things that looked like good ideas really turn out to impractical, over priced and become impossible to find because manufacturing them was too difficult.   There are always things that the tactical apparel community tries out and then the next thing you know those well know 5.11 businesses on the west coast are selling the pants for $19.99 that were going for 49.99.   Not everyone is so harsh when it comes to testing clothing out because not everyone wears the stuff 5-7 days a week.  I’ve found the only way to know how well something is made and how much movement I will have is to test it out myself.

I am not big on the whole tactical shirt thing, they have pockets all over them, some  have velcro and others are zippered.   I still find that losing stuff in them is easy, but I get more use out of the pants  pockets than I ever will in a shirt.   Woolrich Elite shirts tend to fit very loose, this even goes for the p pants and vests.   Some people like this because it gives them more movement and if not tucked in,  can help in concealing a holster.   Tactical shirts make you look more like a LEO than the pants in my humble opinion so if I’m carrying, concealing a firearm doesn’t do much for me when everyone sees how much tactical clothing I’m wearing.

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