All posts tagged Elite Operator Tactical

Great deals on tactical clothing

We’ve been clearing up our inventory and selling off products that are either discontinued or there have been production changes and we just want to get rid of them.  We have some of our Woolrich Elite lightweight pants, Eotac pants, 5.11 tactical pants and a few of the Blackhawk tactical pants being cleared out.   For $24.99 you can get a great pair of tactical pants for half of what you use to pay for them.  With so much turmoil in the ecconomy and in the tactical clothing industry, customers can really clean up on the left overs.

I have several of the 5.11 clearance pants, namely the cover carry jeans and the cover cargo pants.  I find the fit on the 5.11 tactical pants to be pretty good although the sizing is different compared to the rest of the tactical pants I own, we have Eotac pants on clearance and these are the best dealers you will be able to get.  These are some of the best thought out and designed tactical pants, but that wasn’t good enough to save Eotac from going out of business.   We still not sure what is going on with the company, but our customers will be the first to know if something new emerges.

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Knee pads and other protective gear

We’ve been selling various tactical pants for the last 5yrs and one thing that I still find kind of odd is the whole knee pad insert.   When i first started using the knee pad inserts it was with the Woolrich Elite 4447 pants and the knee pads didn’t line up to where my knees were.   I later tried them on the Woolrich Elite 4429 pants and they worked on them, but you really only could get use out of them if you kneel on both knees at the same time.   That position may work at Church, but on the firing line, when I think of kneeling, it’s on one knee.   The knee pad inserts do hold up for a pretty line time, and for only $3 you can replace them for both sides.

If you are looking for serious protective gear for your knees and elbows, I seriously recommend using the Blackhawk Neoprene elbow pads and knee pads.   People have their preferences on what they want to wear, but there is a pretty big difference between using the ones you get on your tactical pants and what you get separately.   I was severely disappointed when the Eotac Direct Action line basically flopped because it hit the market and barely a month later the South Carolina location shutdown and all of the products were basically being cleared out at cost.

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Eotac pants shortage ? Whats going on?

I don’t think I can tell you I know what is going on, but I hope there is some salvation with the Eotac apparel.   Between the shortages in cotton and fabric materials and a bad economic it’s been hard to predict what will happen.   Our biggest sellers have been the Eotac lightweight pants because even though they may look like many other tactical pants, the pocket designs are the best designed pants for what I like.   The Woolrich Elite style 4441 are very close in design, but the draw back that I have seen was with the ID or wallet pocket.  You can shove a 20 oz water bottle in the back pocket, but try getting a wallet in and out of the ID pocket and you’ll know what I mean.   I guess I’m very old fashion and still haul a lot of business cards with me and I’m not looking to change that.   Tactical pants still gotta fit my car keys, gun and wallet for me to like them.

The style 203 pants have been hard to get almost since Eotac first emerged.   We waited for months to get the black pants in, but they never arrived and we heard rumors there was a production issue with them.   Since then we’ve been getting phone calls wonder if they were coming in and now we’ve been told that something else may be going on with these tactical pants.   Only time will tell if the production issue gets resolved, but we have the last of Eotac style 201, Style 202, Style 203 tactical pants that Eotac made.   I’ve seen a few clothing companies fold up this year because getting material has been so hard.   Finding denim material  was even harder to find.   Keep an eye here if some good news becomes available because we know there will be something announced soon.

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How to hang an M4 on you like a Christmas Tree

In continuing a previous discussion on choosing holsters for secondary weapons, having quick detach gear is important, but it can’t be too easy to remove.   Blackhawk gear is pretty darn good and I have never see a holster failure.   I did see a Fobus holster break at one point and I’ve seen a few leather holsters that should have been tossed away because they were becoming too soft and re-holstering firearms was causing a lot of fumbling.  There is nothing wrong with taking a Carbine class and testing  your gear out, even if you don’t think  you have the best, find out how it works on the range and you’ll be more confident.

 

I’m a big believer in teaching people to use their hands to know where all of their gear is on a vest or on a firearm without looking.   I admit that I have done this myself, and it is one of the first things I teach students whenever they put on a tactical vest, tactical pants or any other tactical apparel.   Make sure you remember where you put it and be consistent in where it is.   It’s real easy to forget where you put those spare batteries, your spare ammunition or your hearing protection if you are constantly moving things around.   I have 2 M4 Tac Pac gun parts holders that carry several spare parts for my AR15 as well as a few AA batteries and CR123 batteries.   It’s been awhile since I lost anything in my tactical vests.

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Tactical and concealed carry, they aren’t the same

I’ve been selling and watching the tactical clothing market for over 6yrs now and I’m still not blown away by anyone one manufacturer.   There are good points about several tactical pants makers, but nobody is doing everything right.   I’m still blown away that the 5.11 covert carry pants I picked up a few months ago were so poorly designed that I couldn’t fit a J-Frame revolver in the pants.    How they heck was somebody not fired over that one?   From what I’m seeing on the internet, those pants I got for $40 at a gun shop are selling for $19.99 at some 5.11 tactical dealer and I can see why.  I also find it odd that 5.11 still stamps there logo so that everyone knows they are tactical pants.

I’ve been reading and watching a lot of YouTube videos and getting feedback on Blackhawk and 5.11 pants because they seem to have a lot of variations of tactical pants.  The materials are more diverse than much of what Woolrich Elite and Eotac pants are made from, but I’m not feeling the urge to sink a lot of money in them.   Most people wearing tactical pants want comfort.   I learned that several years ago when there seems to have been a big exodus from 5.11 and so many people complaints about the fit and feel of them.   Pants riding up on an operator and shrinkage were the most common complaints.

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Standard weight tactical pants

I am not a big fan of wearing tactical pants, I find that many of the tactical clothing companies are over do the designs of some of their pockets and I either find them to be too darn big or awkward sizes.  Not every has the same size phone and there really isn’t the need for carrying a knife in every pocket.   I also do not feel as though I need to keep a 30rd magazine inside my pants pocket.   For concealed carry pants there are even fewer options out there.   Try putting a j-frame revolver in regular clothing pocket pants and you’ll find out why there is a tactical clothing market, though.

I am not also not a fan of tactical shorts.  I have been wearing the Woolrich Elite Series tactical 44905 shorts for years, but the cargo pockets are roughly one half of the size of the pants pockets and I always feel as though I have to limit what I am carrying in the summer.   I always feel kind of naked when I can’t wear the Eotac Style 202 tactical pants which are my primary tactical clothing option.  These cotton canvas pants are very well balanced as far as utility needs and the rear wallet pockets are perfect for what I need them for.

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Tactical vests and firearm retention

Gun vests are as diverse in application and gun holsters are.   There are various types of vests for specific missions and some of the best ones to get are the ones that you can configure yourself.   Not everyone needs to carry 12 gun magazines for their M4 Carbine and most of that would even be considered extreme for a combat soldier.   I am a big fan of leg holsters because my primary fighting weapon is an M4 rifle and I don’t like the idea of putting a handgun up on my vest because it’s one more thing for my rifle sling to snag on.   Eotac and Woolrich Elite vests suit me better because they are softer and don’t have a holster for retaining a firearm, it’s all magazine and gear and the pistol magazine holder is inside the pockets, not outer pouches.

I am also not a fan of vests that carry tons of rifle and pistol ammunition, it’s good to be able to carry a backup handgun incase your primary goes down, but I’m more inclined to bring a spare bolt and firing pin so I can replace most broken parts on my M4 in only a minute.   Having 2 or 3 Wilson combat magazines for my 1911 is all I need for most practical purposes.  If I need more handgun ammunition than that, I might as well pack a few grenades and be able to call in an airstrike, too.  If you are wearing a tactical vests, in my opinion, it’s cross draw, or it’s a leg holster for your handgun.

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I’ve tried on many pants

And I’m still mostly wearing Eotac tactical pants.   I’m hoping to see more pants styles coming out from this company that are really concealed carry friendly and not tactical.   I was at the NTOA in Pittsburgh this year and one of the guys I was working with mentioned that he has been a rep for various tactical clothing companies and has a hard time telling the difference between them especially at a Tactical Conference.   The people that have to live and work in tactical clothing are usually the people that I like to get feedback from.  Most of these guys really know how well clothing  holds up when they have 4 or 5 pairs of pants and are washing them each approximately 4 times a month.

There are occasions when we get the idiots that call up and say their shirts shrank and then we ask them if they read the directions on how to wash and dry them and they say no.   Anything made of Cotton will shrink, including your tactical pants and there are things that you can do to slow it down, like not using a dryer to dry your clothes all of the time.   You will extend the life of your  if you watch the temperatures that you dry them at and try to air dry them as much as possible.   Shrinkage should not really ever be a problem if you do this.

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Tactical Pants and real CCW

I have been trading back and forth between 5.11 tactical clothing, Woolrich Elite Series and the much newer Eotac brand.   I will admit that I understand that many of these brands may be personal preference, but there are  huge differences in the fit and feel of the pants.   If I just take the covert pants from 5.11 and the Woolrich Elite 4909 pants vs the Eotac pants.   Woolrich and Eotac look similiar, but none of them fit the same.   While I find the 5.11 pants to fit more like normal fitting jeans, the inside the waist pockets are not very useful if you are going to be sitting down a lot.   I can carry a small j-frame revoler inside the pants without a holster, but the locations of the pockets aren’t very comfortable.

I took a Sig 239 9mm 8rd magazine and put it in the rear pocket and when I sat down it, was not comfortable to wear at all.   I think these pockets lend themselves more towards putting a wallet or handcuffs in them than a firearm and accessories.   Next I tried putting a Streamlight Scorpion in various positions and none of them worked.   I tried to pocket carry and inserted a Smith & Wesson 38 Special I had around and it could not be concealed in these tactical pants at all.  They were in 5.11 tactical pants, but not these?   With both the Woolrich Elite 44909 and the Eotac 205 jeans, these were not the traditional straight leg jean, and the fit was different for each.   I personally like the Eotac color, Woolrich pants were too purplish and baggy.   Both pants were pocket friendly and my vote would go for Eotac by far.   I do think the rear ID pockets are a little over done when you keep the water bottle pocket below it.   That strikes me as a little too tactical and not discreet.

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Matching guns to gun cases

I am a strong believer in marking all of your gear, not just because you need to have your name on it, but it’s a good to keep your stuff well organized so you don’t run into an “aw shit” moment when you didn’t pack up something vital for your daily events.  I just spent a weekend hanging out with someone that locked up all of his guns, but didn’t keep all of the keys together and couldn’t open up one of the gun cases.   I suggest people have a range bag to keep tools and range magazines in and then a good tactical vest.   The reason I suggest these is it’s best to really keep putting everything in the same place and know that every time you go to the range, items A and B are always with you, and then bring whichever gun or ammunition you need.

I always match the rifle case to the gun and leave the magazines or the bare minimum of 3-5 of them inside the case pockets.   Sight in tools are always in my tactical vest along with ear plugs, shooting glasses and even a small bottle of bug spray.   I wear my Eotac Style 101 vest under some of my hunting jackets just because it’s a little bit of an overkill for hunting, but it has everything I need in it.   I keep field dressing gloves, tactical gloves and elbow pads in this, also.

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