All posts tagged Tactical Apparel

Wearing the right clothing in the summer

This is one of those times of year that I’m not sure if I should be wearing a jacket to work or if I should be wearing shorts.  Up in this part of the Country, you can go to work in the morning with a jacket on and freezing and then by mid afternoon, you’ll wish you had a short sleeve shirt on and a pair of shorts.   So far this year we have gone from a very mild Winter, Warm Spring to close the windows and turn the heat back on in just a few days.   The biggest switch over I have to do this year just like last year is figure out what tactical shorts to wear, unfortunately there are some signs I may not be able get more of my favorite.

If you’ve got advice on what type of tactical shorts to wear this summer, we’ll be listening,  with what we’ve seen go on in recent months, we’re hoping to hear at some point that there are clothing factories making lightweight tactical pants in the United States and not elsewhere.  This month we are running our Tru Spec tactical pants promo and testing the waters on color and styles, there are rumors there are more tactical pants coming from Atlanco later this year.  Tactical shorts are usually pretty close to the same price as the tactical pants and considering the fact that you only get a few months out of them you gotta get it right, probable going with Tru Spec.

Top

Get in on the deal before our prices go up

Some of our products are at discounts below cost because it’s not worth it for us to move our inventory and spend time and energy doing it.   We have several lines of apparel at discounted prices and one of them is the Blackhawk lightweight tactical pants.  These were some of our best selling lightweight pants last year and we will be stock them again at a later date, but in the mean time you can get them for $34.99 for only a few more days.  All tactical pants sales are for pants that we already have in stock.   The Blackhawk tactical pants are a 65/35 poly cotton rip stop material and very good for outdoor use.

There is definitely a debate out there about which style of tactical pants is better, but that’s not our decision to make it’s yours.   The Woolrich and Eotac pants were the lightwest tactical pants but some of our customers did not like having to iron them.   100% cotton ripstop is a great thing for really hot weather but for those that have to worry about the looks, they are more work if you want to make them look right.   5.11 tactical pants, Tru spec and Blackhawk all have a very similar look and feel to them but the differences in pocket designs is considerable.  I would say that the Tru Spec have a better fit but they do not have a gusseted crotch.

Top

Upcoming National Sale from Tru-Spec

We are going to be onboard with a major announcement about a 2 month sale on tru-spec 24/7 tactical pants.   Ever since Gunny signed on as the Official spokesperson for Tru-Spec we realized that the company really had some legs in the industry and due to customer responses, we decided to carry the line.  We’ve been in the tactical clothing business for a very long time and many people ask us about sizing questions.   We can tell you that if you wore Woolrich Elite or Eotac pants, that the Tru Spec pants that we have been wearing are all very consistent to that sizing.   I tried on Blackhawk, 5.11 tactical, Eotac, Woolrich Elite and others and there was a sizing variation.

If you wear 5.11 tac lite pro pants you won’t have a problem liking the Tru Spec tactical pants.  In our opinion Tru Spec actually lives up to their name and they have a very good style of tactical pants available.  We’re not  sure of the exact date of the Promo ad hitting but on April 1st through May 31st there will be a 15%-25% off sale on the Tru Spec 24-7 tactical pants.   I expect that inventories will be depleted around the Country by the middle of that promo so get in early if you can.   Khaki colors are usually the first to go and usually Black colors are next.

Top

Did anyone find anything new in the tactical pants realm at Shot Show?

We weren’t able to get out there this year but maybe next year it will be a possibility.   There have been several new shirts marketed towards the concealed carry market from TruSpec and Woolrich Elite.  This is one area where we thing Woolrich Elite Series has really gotten a stronghold on because the patterns and fit is really good.  For some reason no matter what the sizes say on other clothing and what the materials are made out of, the Woolrich products just seem more durable and better designed.

When it comes to tactical clothing, I think there is still a wide open market for more jackets, vests, sweatshirts and concealed carry pants.   There is a company called CCW Breakaways that has an interested design, but it looks at first like a one trip pony.   I’ll be interested to see if there anymore tactical pants that come out anytime soon but now it seems that everyone is thinking about money and not so concerned about who is better than who.   There are always ways around having to spend loads of money on expensive items and sometimes you just have to work with what you’ve got.  If you are that hard up for money, just carry a different gun or get a new holster, forget about $60+ tactical pants.

Top

Conceald Carry pants tend not to be….

We get the same phone calls every week and lately it’s been a great training tool for some of our new employees.  Many customers call out of curiosity but sometimes we have to display a lot of restraint about telling people which clothing they should be wearing and what size.   It is a hard thing to order clothing online because there are sizing variations between product lines as well as inconsistencies.   Sometimes people are just plain lazy and don’t want to research a product or ask their wives about sizing and we end up dealing with cranky people want us to exchange products because something didn’t fit right.

Along with sizing issues we get asked all the time about guns printing on shirts, pants and vests.   The only realy concealed carry pant that is out there  that are not tactical pants  is the Woolrich Elite Chino.   The Youtube video by Brian Miller gives you ideas on gun placements and how to prevent printing.  There are lots of variables and research and trial and error is something you will not be able to avoid if you want to reduce your chances on getting a wrong size.   We’ve been told by many of our customers that wore Woolrich Elite pants in the past, moved on to Eotac, and now are lost in the Wilderness and back to looking for something new.   We are now selling Tru-Spec, Blackhawk and 5.11 tactical pants, but the Woolrich Elite Chino is  our opinion is really the only real concealed carry pant.

Top

What people want for concealment

Is a vest jacket or shirt that can cover a gun and not make  you look like you’re working under cover.   I’ve been to several gun shops in the area that attempted to stock CCW shirts from various “tactical clothing” companies but the sizing was off or the shirt patters just flat out sucked.   I won’t name names because we let the customer decide on what they want, but when it comes to Concealed Carry, Woolrich Elite CCW shirts are the only ones that cut it for me.   I like the idea of being able to pocket carry and keep my knife, flashlight and spare magazine in my shirt pockets and still have my hand pockets free for a gun or car keys.

We’ve been through so much turmoil over the years that we’ve pretty much found out what the trends were in tactical clothing, but it really is shocking about how many companies don’t make decent CCW shirts.   Woolrich Elite CCW shirts look like they basically took shirts from their main clothing line, make the pockets more CCW friendly and they were done.  Well, what’s wrong with that?  Absolutely nothing.   I don’t know how many times people have walked in here and didn’t know Woolrich had a tactical line, but the sales on the CCW shirts puts them in #1.

 

Top

What are you options for CCW pants now?

There’s only one pant that we will tell our customers is a CCW pant and that’s the Woolrich Elite Chinos.  We’ve been looking at Vertx pants for awhile now but with a bad economy I’m not so sure there is big money to be made on such an expensive pair of pants.   Even if they hold up to use, everyone needs 3 or more pair of pants to get through the work week without excessive washing or bad hygiene.
Lately I’ve been wearing the Chinos more and more because in all honesty, I’ve grown tired of the whole tactical clothing market and have lost a lot interest in wearing all of my tactical pants just to sell them.   Sometimes you need tactical clothing and other times you just want to be dressed down.   Tru-Spec has a very original design and the fit is very good but they still seem like tactical apparel to me.

Top

Not happy about this but get them while you can

Everyone once in awhile we are extremely disappointed to hear about a product being discontinued but right now it seems the Woolrich Elite half zip sweat shirts are being discontinued.   We’re clearing out our inventory of them right now and discounting them to $39.99.   These are great CCW outwear because the sweatshirts are cut long and great for covering full size autos.  We have a good bit of the small size sweatshirts which are great for keeping your girlfriend warm.   I’ve had more than a few of them stolen from my wife.

Woolrich Elite products have a rock solid reputation for holding up and the Elite Series stuff I had years ago is still in good condition.   The half zip sweatshirts I own have faded, but they have not shrunk as far as I can tell.  I personally prefer the Woolrich Elite Tactical Clothing especially  Half  Zip Sweatshirts to most jackets because of the long length and the fact they are more comfortable than a long coat.   At this time of the year when I have to go in and out of malls, having a medium layer over me and not some thick winter jacket makes the difference.

Top

Price points on pants, made in the US or made in China?

We’re still shuffling around trying to see what products we’ll be adding on to our product line for 2012 and there are plenty of things to consider.  One of the things we have always had to consider with tactical clothing is this.  Will people pay more than $50 for a pair of pants?  Most people don’t go out and buy one pair of pants unless they are looking to try them out for the first time, but for the people that have to wear the clothing 5 days a week or more, they will probable want 3 or more.  If you buy pants that cost $30 and buy 3 of them, yous spent $90, if you buy 3 pairs for $49.99 you spent $149.97 and that’s $60 dollars more.   Was it worth the buy?

If you figure that in and the cost of shipping how many gun shops will be able to sell that much clothing and make a profit.  We’ve always sold higher end products but when it comes to clothing, some people just don’t really care too much about their tactical pants and they just want cheaper clothing that doesn’t cost a lot.  After evaluating some of the product lines in 2011 we’re looking over what sold and what didn’t and looking at taking on some new product lines.  Will you pay $60 or more for tactical pants, what if they’re made in the USA?

Top

More feedback about the Woolrich Elite Chinos

Just got off the phone with a customer that was looking for “discreet pants”  I know what he was looking for, but I asked him “Woolrich or Eotac?”   He said the Eotac discreet denim pants.   I told him that the product line is no longer being made and that all we have left are a few sizes.   The conversation went on about how hard it is to find pants that aren’t tactical.  So many companies are marketing to the concealed carry crowd, but 90 percent of them are not doing a good job.   There have been obvious fit improvements for some of them, but they still are way too tactical looking and that absolutely might get you killed in some situations.

Since the Woolrich Elite 44910 and 44909 pants have been discontinued and now that Eotac is out of business, the Eotac style 204 and 205 pants are going to be gone for good it seems.   Now what, the only answer we have for customers when they ask us about pants for concealed carry are, do you want tactical pants or the Woolrich Elite Chinos?   There are preferences in pocket locations, and Tru-Spec does a good job on their fit and durability, but all of these look tactical to us except the Woolrich Elite Chinos.  Check out the Youtube clip on our website.

Top
1 2 3 4 5 … 14 Page 3 of 14