All posts tagged Eotac Clothing

Fabric and pocket designs are what it’s all about

Since there are so many types of tools and gear an individual can need these days, having clothing that get hold it is important, there is such a thing as zip off shirts and pants but the zipper locations tend to become uncomfortable especially in extreme temperatures.   Everyone has a different  type of cell  phone and cell phones are quickly replacing radios in many circumstances.   Having a pocket that is too large and allows too much movement of an object means that that item will most likely find a way to fall out.   Some tactical clothing if designed right, gives an operator wide range of movement and still securely stows and retains gear.

Just about every type of tactical pant out there has a picture somewhere that shows somebody putting a 20rd or 30rd magazine in a pocket.  Well from my experience tactical pants are rarely used for carrying rifle magazines, but some are specifically designed for this.   The best pant for storing M4 Carbine magazines is the Woolrich Elite lightweight tactical pant, but I will have to say that I wish the pant had a gussetted stitching.   While the pants are designed well, they do have a reputation for tear in some situations.

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Why bother with paintball clothing

I just got done watching  a few videos on Youtube that were all about tactical vests and tactical clothing.   I was laughing in the first 5 seconds because all that I noticed that was different than the stuff we sell was we didn’t have the words “splat” written across the vests.   I think the old round ball paintballs are going to be obsolete in another decade and airsoft is going to get really good that kids will be playing with guns that look and function like the real ones and use the same holsters and tactical vests.   I got a Sig 228 airsoft gun last year and I didn’t have to buy a single holster to practice with it.

The Eotac style 101 vests and some of the 5.11 tactical vests are all you need if you are playing paintball or airsoft with an AK or M16 type of gun, magazines pouches are there and will work very well.   The real thing to think about when you are playing paintball or airsoft is the same that you would think about if you actually going to think about real world gun fight training, tactical pants, tactical shirts, tactical gear.  Durability and weight are issues as well as worrying about snagging on things.   The crap you put on yourself the more you gotta think about what you want to wear when you’re laying flat on your stomach.  Try wearing everything that you would wear with your CCW or tactical clothing and just show up at a paintball game.

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Elastic waistbands, it doesn’t feel right without it anymore

I just put in an order for several new Galco holsters that I’m going to try to work with a few regual jeans I own because I recently hurt my side with a kydex holster on a pair of jeans that were suppose to be for CCW but I found them to royally suck because they didn’t have an elastic waistband.   I’m half wondering if this 5.11 tactical jean has been discontinued because I see them being sold at clearance levels of under $20.   I’m still testing out various type of tactical clothing from Tru-Spec and Blackhawk, but I’m a little overwhelmed with what I have being tested out right now.   I had to give up on IWB holsters for these 5.11 pants because they just don’t cut it.   I will be trying a Don Hume Jit holster and see if that works.

I had good luck with the Eotac 502 jeans because they had an elastic waistband, but I actually had issues with the Woolrich Elite tactical pants that were almost identical looking.  The waistband on the Woolrich 44909 seemed to be thicker and my IWB holster from JS holsters had trouble clipping onto the belt due to the thickness….weird.   I personally like the idea of having less tactical pockets on jeans because jeans really can’t be tactical looking if you want them to be CCW.  Most guys are going to want the straight leg pants and a more washed look to them.   I really have limited ways of carrying in the summer because every time I have to walk out of the door at this time of year I have to wear layers of clothing or a heavy jacket and it’s hard to really test out shirts.

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5.11 tactical jeans review pt 1

I finally did my rounds and checked out a few local 5.11 dealers to see what they had in stock.    Something I always find annoying about stopping in these places is how much of a mess the clothing usually is.   I always have to dig around for my sizes and rarely do any of these gun shops or police and security stores keep there crap together.   The other thing that I find annoying is that so many of them clear out certain styles of clothing during the year like there is a non-season for polos and jeans.   Some of these tactical clothing manufacturers are running huge shortages and various products are out of stock for 6-9 months at a time.   I actually noticed many of the gun shops in my neck of the woods stopped selling 5.11 tactical pants because it was too much of a headache for them to deal with.

It was time to restock my tactical pants inventory and I’m not prone to sticking to only one manufacturer.   I have worn 5.11 tactical pants, Eotac, Woolrich Elite and even SigTac.   Each tactical clothing company and tactical gear manufacturer has it’s pros and cons,  but I’d give Eotac and Woolrich Elite the edge on quality control.     I am comparing the Eotac 205 concealed carry jeans to the 5.11 jeans and there is no comparison.   I feel a difference in the movement of each jean, but I really don’t think I feel restricted in any way.   They are both well made, but there are huge differences in the designs.   The Eotac jeans are very similar to the Woolrich Elite Discreet MKII pants, but they are definitely not the same.   The 5.11 jeans are what I’d call more for deep concealment.   There are internal pockets that can hold a j-frame revolver or a small semi-auto and a few spare magazines.   I find the pockets to be a  little too deep and don’t really like the fact the guns are practically inside the pants.   I tried putting a Sig 239 in the pockets with spare magazines and it was extremely uncomfortable when sitting down, so I would have to say you need something smaller than that.

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Practicing drawing from cover

CCW VestThere are multiple ways of carrying a firearm concealed.   Each of them may be good for a certain environment, but one way may not work for all situations.   Sometimes people get too caught up in one manor of concealment and the reality is that we should probable consider atleast 2 or 3 ways of concealing the same firearm.   When I was at a Defensive Pistol course a few years ago, we were asked to bring a concealment garment to practice drawing our firearm.    The majority of us didn’t show up with pocket pistols for the Class and having something that would work for a full size auto was difficult.

Some jackets will work fine for winter work, but summer concealed carry is a different animal.  Wearing a vest in the summer can make  you stand out, but it can also help you fit in depending on the enviroment.   Just like the debates about which gun is better a Glock or a 1911, you have to be smart about what your carrying and understand how it functions and if it works for you.   A CCW vest like the Elite Operator Tactical Style 102 vest has a generous cut and will hang well over your belt line to conceal a full size auto like a Glock 17, Beretta 92FS or Sig 226.   A lot of the students that took the class with me all used these and they worked well.

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Tactical Pants for Women

Eotac ClothingEotac is about to launch their first run on their 702 Lightweight tactical pants for women.   For women that work in the security forces or for law enforcement, this will be something to get your hands on.   Many women working in this line of work usually are forced to find men’s tactical clothing that fits them well enough to get through the day.    We’ve heard from a lot of women that wore other tactical women’s pants and the complaints are still coming in.

Elite Operator Tactical or mostly known as Eotac, are an aggressive new tactical apparel company that are backed by the Corporation Cerebus that owns Remington, DPMS, Bushmaster and even Marlin Firearms.   There’s a pretty good chance that Eotac will be the primary competitor to 5.11 Tactical in the coming years.   We are expecting the Style 702 Women’s Operator Grade Lightweight Tactical Pants to be coming in in late March or early April 2010.   These pants went through extensive testing and designing and considering the Men’s line of Eotac clothing, we’re expecting great things from Eotac that are meant for Women in the coming years.

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Hobbies, accessories and reasons

Tactical GearThere area a lot of good upgrades one can do to a firearm, a fighting rifle should be customized to fit an operator.  Advanced Technology makes some quick and easy upgrades for your shotgun or carbine that can give you better grip or balance.  Shotgun shell holders on the buttstock or riding side saddle is a practical tactical upgrade you can do on your remington 870.  The fiberforce stock for the MAK90 is a way to legally get around some firearm bans and are a big step up compared to the stupid thumbhole stocks.    Attach a rifle sling that fits yoru purpose from Blue Force Gear, they come in 1 point, 2 point and 3 point attachements. Minor firearm modifications make need to be done to attache rifle slings, but do some research on various rifle sling configurations to see what works for you.

We’ve all seen the massive accessorizing of firearms in recent years.   Firearms likes SKS rifle and Mini 14s are not immune to the firearm attachements and modifications that have run rampant in the AR15 community.   In my opinion, there are a lot of firearm owners out there that had their Legos taken away from them and they brought that mindset into gun accessorizing and tactical gear stockpiling.    That’s about as harsh as I can be about why people do what they do to their firearms, but some of it is for hobbie reasons, some for practical reasons, and some because people have the obsessive compulsive behavior of needing to spend money.

 

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Winter Options

Tactical ApparelYou’ve heard that word before, but this time we actually have something that is tactical, useful, warm and makes concealed carry easier in the winter months.   There are plenty of half-zip sweatshirts out there, you see them at Cabela’s or your local outdoor sporting goods store, but all of them make carrying a little more difficult in cold weather.   Wearing slightly over-sized T-Shirts make carrying easier, but after putting on more than 2 layers of clothing, carrying IWB or OWB becomes dangerously cumbersome.
The Eotac Style 501 Half-Zip sweatshirt gives an operator another tactical apparel option.  The 14 oz. 80% cotton / 20% polyester, preshrunk and washed sweatshirt looks and feels like a normal sweatshirt, but the sides of the shirt has break open flaps that make drawing your firearm easier, or just reaching for your cell phone for that matter.   Most never liked the idea of carrying a firearm outside of their body  in a jacket or vest.   I really like this item.   With a nice base layer over a T-Shirt,  then 1 of these 501 Sweatshirts, and you’re good to go for most Cold weather carry.  These come in Charcoal, Olive, Brown and Navy blue.

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New Tactical Clothing for women

Eotac ClothingThe Style 702 womens operator grade lightweight pants will be made of the same 100% cotton ripstop material that the men’s pants are made of, the stitching and durability are the same, but the buck stops there, or should we say doe?   The pocket designs are unique to the womens pants and nothing like anything Eotac has out.   The front pockets will easily accomodate pocket holsters, the two additional wallet type pockets can hold ID or even something as large as a pistol magazine. The pant legs are slightly tapered for a better look while still allowing access to an ankle holster or being worn with boots.  These pants will be available in late Winter and will come in Black, Khaki, Navy blue and OD Green.

When some people here that there are tactical pants for women, people think the Hello Kitty pink camo pants are what they’re talking about.   If your girlfriend is wearing something like this it’s  not to offend you or put her down, but the sad reality is there are an awful lot of women out there that are wearing ments pants that were designed for men.    The new evolution of warfare involving non uniformed clothing, the tactical apparel market has been exploding.    The tactical apparel company Eotac which successful infilltrated the market with it’s (mostly applicable to men) apparel is now trying to cut into the market with Eotac clothing for women.

 

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Tactical Pants get Digital

Tactical ClothingEotac pants have been on the market for almost a  year now.   One of the most popular tactical pants is the Style 201 Operator pants.   These pants are hands down one of the most practical tactical pants you can find on the market.  You may even find that these pants are so well designed and comfortable you almost won’t need to wear a tactical vest since the pocket designs will allow you to hold up to six 30rd AR/M16 magazines in the pockets.  These pants are made of 100% cotton rip stop and have a gusseted grotch for extra strength.    It may be funny to read about someone talking about how the crotch on a pair of tactical pants are re-enforced, but if you’re in hot climates, you’ll need lightweight clothing and durability is always an issue for the lightweight stuff.

The Eotac tactical clothing line is marketed for mostly the non-military style clothing, but they recently release the new digital pattern camo pants due to high demand.   These pants are designed similiarly to the original ACU or Army Combat Uniform.    The modern digital pattern gives it a more modern look with a proven useful pant design.    The fit and manueverability of these pants is superior to some of the other lightweight pants out there.   They are so well designed that you won’t notice much of a difference in mobility if you’ve loaded up your mags and are now carrying 180rds of 5.56 in your pants.

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