All posts tagged Proper

Getting ready in the early part of the Summer

It’s this time of year that the last thing people want to think about is buying clothing, it seems like nobody things about how much light weight clothing they have until they have broil in hot weather for the first time and then they go to work the next day with the wrinkled shorts and shirts that were stuffed way back in the closet.   I’ve seen differences in water consumption between the guys wearing standard weight tactical pants and guys wearing shorts.   There are health issues that can occur and your average Joe probable won’t know if he sits in his air conditioned home all the time.

When  you have to work in the hot weather, you don’t want to be drained already and not have the stamina to deal with a stressful situation or emergency.   One thing that we are happy to be carrying are the Woolrich Elite tactical shorts.  These tactical shorts are two different styles.  One is a 9 inch inseam that is similar to the 44429 style pants, but with a slightly smaller cargo pocket.    The 44908 Style shorts

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Some improvements to the design

We’ve already know how well made the Woolrich Elite products have been for several years, but there have been some design issues that we have heard about from customers.   We still get a lot of complaints about the fit and design of the Woolrich Elite Algerian Jacket and all you have to do is read the product reviews under it on our website to find out.    We’re really glad that they made a few minor tweaks to the pants and shorts that they have been making in regards to the ID pocket.   The rear ID pocket on the pants is a major sore in my opinion because the previous velcro design made it very difficult to get your wallet out.

The style 44429 is probable the most popular style followed by the 44441.   I’ve had issues on the road where I had to get money out of my wallett to pay a toll and had to take my seat belt off to get my money out of my Woolrich Elite Pants.   Now that they  have removed the velcro and opened up the pants pockets a little more it does resolve the problem.   I also noticed the 44905 shorts have had this change and was pleasantly surprised.   The style 44905 shorts are my favorite shorts to wear in the summer because they have the deepest pockets and have lots of utility purposes.

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Eotac Style 203 vs Style 201 pants

In the early part of 2011 I’m going to do more research and pick up a few more lightweight pants.   I know 5.11 has a lightweight pants that is 65&/35& poly cotton pant.   I have never had issues with my pants holding water, but then again I have never been deployed to Afghanistan and never noticed the difference between the two.   The 5.11 taclite pro pant is something I will pick up, but I gotta drive around and check them out at other dealers before I do so.   I’ve had too many sizing issues between various companies to be able to just order stuff online.

The Eotac style 203 pants do have an edge over the similarly designed Woolrich Elite pants as far as my opinion about the pocket designs, but some people have different bodies and prefer the larger seated cut on the Woolrich Elite.   If I was heavier, I might not like the close fitting that the Eotac pants have.   The only thing I am not very fond of on the Style 201 tactical pants is that the stitching on the lower ankle pockets has a few sharp spots on the insides and every once in awhile I get a small jab in my ankle by a something that feels like it’s pulling a hair out of my leg.   If I wear long socks the issue goes away, but in the summer you can feel it.

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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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Positive feedback on the Eotac Mechanic Shirt

If you go through this site and read all of the reviews we have written, there is an obvious bias we have towards the clothing that we sell.   If we had a 25,000 square foot showroom we would consider carrying more brands because we are well aware of the fact that there are some really good products being made, but we’ve narrowed it down to what we like to deal with.   We get the obvious product exchanges from customers because of fit or sizing issues, but we almost never get a return because the product was unwareable.   I have had bad experiences with one item from one company and had to retire the shorts to the good will store because having a pair of shorts ride up on you means you are one step away from lewd conduct if it was in a public place.

The above paragraph may sound funny, but it was true.   I got tired of having to stand up and adjust myself because my undies were showing.   I have never had a problem like that with any of the Woolrich Elite or Eotac shorts.   I prefer the ID pockets on the Eotac shorts by far because of all of the toll booths travelling a I do, it sure makes it nice to bea able to reach and pull your wallet out without having to take my seat belt off.   The Eotac 409 Mechanic shirt is bothe concealed carry friendly and a good tactical shirts and is really marketable towards the undercover and investigations units.   I don’t think carrying a firearm while working as a mechanic is very comfortable or practical, but we recently got a very good response from one of customers on the fit and comfort of this shirt.

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Public Service Announcement- Eotac black pants are in!

The tacticl clothing market has become pretty competitive, especially after seeing some really good stuff coming from 5.11 tactical, Blackhawk and Proper.   After being at SHOT Show and several tactical operations and security expos, we’ve seen more than our fair share of companies trying to hold there own.   I recently read a critical review of someone who claimed there Woolrich Elite pants were not holding up and 5.11 tactical was better.  Well, I got news for you, Woolrich Elite has been in the clothing company for a long time, and if they were not making quality clothing the company wouldn’t be around for over 100yrs.  Many of our customers have different styles of tactical pants for different applications and I’d have to say that I’ve owned and have tried on some really nice stuff from 5.11 tactical and Blackhawk.

Elite Operator Tactical has been in the industry for the shortest time period, but they have a really good group of people designing there products, with lots of experience with working with other clothing companies.    The reality is this, even if you make a sturdy product, the designs of the pants, pockets and materials are going to change.  The Eotac Style 201 pants are very useful if you are toting a Carbine, but due to the size of the cargo pockets, they aren’t good for holding smaller items.   The long awaited inventory of Eotac pants that have been sold out for 6-12 months.   Eotac pants come with a Warranty on the durability of the product so you money is well invested in the line.

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Tactical gear and clothing

There are a lot of words that get thrown around in the firearm industry that are fairly broad.    Tactical clothing these days may sound like BDUs to one person and 5.11 tactical clothing to another.    Tactical gear can mean anything from a folding stock to a knife, or a $1500 rifle scope.    The word “tactical” doesn’t really tell you what something is going to be used for in the field.    I have some pretty dressed down AR15 rifles that to some people, just look like violent weapons and scare them, while most of us that are familiar with the accessorized M4 Carbine, will find a A2 style AR15 to be  pretty bland.

The so called tactical clothing and concealed carry markets seem to be new markets and these terms get thrown around a lot but don’t really tell us much.  To the trained individual, they can spot a knife in the pocket and 5.11 style pants from a mile away and loads of pockets full of tactical gear and usually that’s a dead giveaway that someone is carrying a firearm.   Think about what purpose your clothing is to serve and adapt to it.   There are more than a few good clothing companies that are making concealed carry friendly apparel.

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New A-Tacs pattern camo coming in Spring

This weekend was another big weekend for us in displaying the new A-Tacs pattern cammo from Eotac.    We got a  lot of inquiring responses from people walking around the NTOA, National Tactical Operations Assoc. in Pittsburgh this week.   More than a few of the people made comments about how bad the military digital camo was and that it looks more like a blob than melts with it’s background.   The A-Tacs pattern is still in production but we are looking for a Spring delivery date.

The A-tacs pattern is going to be a big hit, my only hope is there is enough production to keep up with the demand.  The style 201 operator pants have a proven design and will be part of the first run in tactical pants for the A-tacs pattern.   My only wish was that these pants would be available before archery season because more than a few people mentioned at how good the pattern would be for hunting as well as military applications.   The pattern we saw and displayed was for urban environments.

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tactical pants and consistancy

tactical pantsI’ve been wearing Eotac tactical pants and shorts for almost 2 yrs now.   I’ve seen only one real production change since I’ve been wearing them and that pretty much proves that Eotac got it right with their line of tactical pants.  Some of the early production pants were a little tight in the thighs but I never noticed this problem since I’m not a body building (the only people that noticed).   I really like the fit compared to the 5.11 tactical pants I use to wear primarily because they don’t ride up in the seat.   I think that is the most common complaint I get from customers when they call and ask about various tactical pants that we sell.

The Style 202 are my favorite pants to wear for fall and winter weather.   At first glance, most of the tactical pants out there look the same, but just like many of the firearms that we see in the industry, some of it just comes down to preference.   I find some of the tactical pants made by Blackhawk and Proper to be a little overly designed, and I don’t need pockets in many of the places that some manufacturers are placing them.  They Style 202 pants have them were I need them and they are designed to the proper dimensions.   It always bothered me that so many shirts and pants had basically flat dimensions and you couldn’t really fit much in them.   This became an issue with many of the tactical shirts I have worn especially when it came to using notepads.   If the notepad was full, my Woolrich Elite shirt face pockets couldn’t fit it and I’d have to place my notepad in the inner pockets.  All of the Eotac shirts and pants have bellowed pockets that aren’t bulging, but give you about another 30% for putting more in a pocket, without adding more and more pockets to a design.   There can be too many pockets on tactical clothing.

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Eotac Style 202 Tactical Pants review

tactical pantsI’ve been wearing Eotac tactical pants for almost 2yrs now.   We got a hold of some of the early production that were slightly different in fit from what is being produced now.   There were originally a few complaints coming from customers that were almost always weight lifters or body buildings.   Some of the pants were getting  a little tight around the thighs so Eotac quickly changed the production.    Now that the pants have gone through several productions, we’ve gotten great response from our customers on the design of the pants.  Many of our customers are not happy about the 5.11 tactical pants that they have been wearing for  years and wanted something new,  a few of them were Woolrich Elite Series customers the wanted to try something new.

There have been times I’ve been at conventions where I’d have to admit that it was hard to tell what manufacturer people were wearing because so many of them looked almost identical, but once you look closely you can tell right away.   The reality is this, there are plenty of well made pants out there, but there are also just as many cheap  tactical pants that if they were worn several times a month, and washed more than a few times, they’ll shrink or fall apart.   Eotac not only puts itself in the category of higher quality, but it offers a Warranty for all of their products if there is a production issue.    The most unique thing I have found about wearing these pants over 5.11 and Woolrich Elite, is the pockets are bellowed.    If you need pockets for mag dumps or carry lots of gear, these pants will give you a little more room, but not balloon out like BDU pants do.

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