All posts tagged Tactical Clothing

2011 SHOT show is here

This year there will be several new Eotac products coming out.   The new Direct action smock and the Recce pant along with the new A-tacs cam pattern that will be made for the Style 201 lightweight pants and the Style 407 long sleeve tactical shirt.   We got a glimpse of the A-tacs pattern last June at the Police and Security Expo in New Jersey and got a lot of good feed back on the pattern.   Digital patterns have come a long way in recent years and it really has good darn good.   I remember as a kid thinking that most of the woodland cammo made you stand out just as boldly as if you were wearing regular clothing and it all didn’t make sense to me.

You can ask many of those serving in Iraq and Afghanistan what they thought about the camo they had back in Desert Storm vs. the stuff that is now.   The Style 201 tactical pants are lightweight combat pants that are very much meant for a Carbine operator.   These 100% cotton ripstop pants have a unique fitting that gives you more maneuverability over similar designs.  There are some really cheap knock of pants that look like this and go for under $30, but they will not feel the same.   If you have a chance to stop by the Eotac booth this year.  Check out the new A-tacs pattern camo.  If you aren’t in the military, you may want these for hunting.    Very good for the American bow hunter.

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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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Tactical gear and taking to a paint ball game

I’ll admit this up front, some of the best combat training I have ever had was the number of years I played paintball with friends.  Not only did I learn communication skills and human behavior, but I learned about what kind of clothing I prefer to wear if I am going to be running around.  Things like car keys and cell phones can get in the way when you are laying down or swing you hands around.   Certain types of jackets can really restrict the amount of movement  you are needing and simple things like raising a gun up and trying to hold it in mid air can be stressful if you have lots of heavy clothing on.

The Eotac style 101 vests are very good tactical vests, but I realize the type of gear that swat teams and military may be putting on a vest may not be suitable for anything like this.   These vests are on the soft side and may be a little too long for those getting in and out of vehicles that may want handguns or gear to sit up higher on the chest line, but for playing paintball, these tactical vests is probable the best configuration for you.  The large rifle magazine pockets will hold paintball tubes and they are very deep that this will give you added security.   The soft flexibility is also useful and this vest will easily sit on top of whatever type of clothing you are wearing.  It makes a very good outerwear piece of clothing.   It is also easily washable although I do suggest you make sure you take everything that shouldn’t be washed out of the pockets, there are so many of them that it’s easy to get lost in them.

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Under cover work with a Carbine

I as getting a little board with doing concealed carry method testing with holsters and various types of tactical pants this week and since it’s been so fricking cold out, I decided to do something new.   I have a few friends that do under cover work and I have sold them some of the Eotac Style 101 vests.   I originally thought that both of these guys were nuts because these vests are the most tactical looking vests out there.   The 4 AR15 magazine pockets are a dead giveaway if someone didn’t already figure out you were’t fly fishing.   I was amazed at what these guys actually did with the vests.

There are several tactical vests out there that are all out assault vests.  You can basically attach a couple hand grenades to them and your good to go.  These vests usually have a handgun holster on them and to me that pretty much makes it an outwear vest.   The Style 101 s from Eotac are not really heavy unless you really put heavy items in them.   Even though these are tactical vests, you can easily wear them under your heavy winter clothing and it will not really add much weight or keep in body heat anymore than what you are already wearing.   You can wear this under a regual winter jacket and I have even seen small M4 Carbines along with these vests doing under cover work inside your average winter coat.

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Standard and lightweight tactical pants

I am starting acquire a very large collection of tactical pants, and although I am liking some of my 5.11 and Blackhawk pants,  I find it very hard to jump around with the various types of tactical apparel.   There are too many variations in where the pockets are and right now, I’m trying to sort through various locations in my home for a folding knife that I believe I left in a pair of pants, but can’t find.   We recently got feedback from a women that had the Eotac style 702 pants, she liked the fit, but said there were too many pockets and wanted something more casual.   Well, the answer to that is to  not buy tactical pants thinking you are going to get something casual.

The reason the tactical clothing market has gotten so big is because so many new markets have been created and there is a need for clothing for people to wear at work.   Everyone carrying a gun over in Iraq may not be active in the United States Military and there are just as many military contractors over there.    If you want to wear something in the winter you are going to need heavier material, but if you are wearing pants in the summer you are going to most likely want a cotton ripstop material.   We get people calling on the phone all the time for the most “versatile” tactical pants that we sell, but we always have to come back and tell people “for what”.    I remember the years when I was monitory gun forums and just about every other discussion forum would have an individual come in and say, “which gun is better, Glock or 1911” and the answer is always “for what”.     I only see 4 really good tactical clothing companies right now, but there are a few niche CCW companies that I monitoring.

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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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Cold weather and wet weather and CCW

Recently we had a Thanksgiving Day parade here in Philadelphia.   The parade started off with snow and cold weather, but it ended up turning to rain about halfway through the days events.    It was a good reminder for people that wearing warm winter clothing doesn’t mean you’re going to keep dry.   I remember all of the warnings I got in Boy Scout camp about keeping dry even when we felt warm.   Sometimes we forget how much sweat we generate under our clothing in the winter, but we will find out when we have to get into a sleeping bag.

When you are looking to put on layers of clothing to keep warm and learning how to adapt your concealed carry methods to a warm, but dry way of carrying.   Check out the  Woolrich Elite Parka Style 44420.   This is something you can practically wrap up in  your car and will be easy to stow away when it starts to rain.  You can easily move some of your tactical gear, like flashlights and knives into this parka and keep from burying your gun under layers of clothing.

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Concealed carry vests that work

I am going to begin counting the days for an upcoming hunting trip to Maine.   This will be my first hunting trip in the New England States and I will be planning for some very cold nights, but moderate temperature days.  Along with toting a Mini 14 for deer,  I will be carrying a sidearm as I normally do.  I prefer to hunt on the move for deer until I find a really good position and then wait for a few hours.   I know I am pushing the limits by using a 75gr A-max bullet in a .223, but I wouldn’t be using this if I know it couldn’t be done.   There are several gun shops in the area that show the deer that were taken and many of those were done with the Mini 14.

Since I own and wear much of the Eotac apparel line, I have everything in my inventory to pick from.   The Style 103 vests are really meant as concealed carry vests and they are not really tactical.  I know that may be just my opinion, but the coyote brown and od green vests look very nice in the outdoors.   Since I will be in a cold environment, I don’t want to constantly take gear off and on, in really cold situations, I prefer to wear base layer clothing with a t-shirt and sweatshirt and then a vest on the outside for concealing my Sig 229 .357 Sig.  I keep a few Mini 14 5rd magazines along with my knife and flashlights in the vest and if I need to ditch some of the hunting ammo, I just take it out to lighten the weight and I’m ready to head into town with my CCW rig already on.

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Tactical clothing accessories that you shouldn’t forget about

The first thing I noticed when I took my first Carbine Class and got down prone was that the ground was still wet and I could feel every stone jamming into my elbow when I got down in a prone position.  With todays accessorized M4 Carbine with every light, laser and optic configuration, we have to realize that our bodies could use the same ideas when it comes to the clothing we wear.    The Eotac duty gloves are good for the times when you need to worry about hot barrels and flying brass and aren’t very bulk at all.   Elbow and knee pads are something that I have found are very useful, but there are huge variations in the way that they fit on your body, not to mention that most of the time, the only way to find out is to actually try them on.

I have several sets of knee pads, but the ones I find the most useful are the Blackhawk Neoprene, because they seem to just feel more comfortable.   I already have enough worries about snag and movement restriction when wearing tactical clothing and sometimes I really have to watch how I move around corners so my tactical pants don’t catch on things.   The Eotac style 201 pants come with a foam knee pad that works quite well, but the only draw back is for the knee pands in the tactical pants to properly align themselves over your knee caps is to be kneeling on both knees at the same time.   This is something I had to get use to when getting into firing positions.   The Style 202 and 203 lightweight pants also use the same foam knee pads and from my experience they last a pretty long time if you take them out when they are not being  used or when you are doing your wash.

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