All posts tagged Tactical Pants

Tru-Spec 24-7 SERIES ECLIPSE TACTICAL PANTS

If you’re looking for something extremely light weight while we transition into hot weather clothing season, this is the best thing besides wearing shorts.  The pocket designs are completely different than anything else in the Tru-Spec inventory but it is something I personally wear and highly suggest for hot weather.   The 100% nylon pant is so lightweight that I would not recommend it for pocket carry unless you put a piece of cardboard or or something that helps avoid printing because you will print in these.  There is a 65/35 poly cotton ripstop version of this pant but I don’t find it as cutting edge. Tru-Spec 24-7 SERIES ECLIPSE TACTICAL PANTS is best worn in the nylon style but it is extremely forgiving in hot weather.

I always have to transition my knife to the side leg pockets and my Kimber pepper blaster to the other leg pocket but theses are extremely popular in the lower half of the Country.  Tru-Spec 24-7 SERIES ECLIPSE TACTICAL PANTS is highly breathable and when it’s in the 90F range, the difference in sweating and fatigue is considerable.   This is something I consider as a trade off for much of the 100% cotton ripstop pants that were in my inventory.   There is no elastic waistband so you are going to have to be more accurate in finding your actual size and if you are going to be carrying IWB you are going to have to consider a size up.

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Tru-Spec Men’s Tactical Boot Cut Pants – Formerly the Gunny Pant

Tru-Spec Men's Tactical Boot Cut TrousersThis was actually the first pant that I “really” liked that Tru-Spec made.   There is kind of a trademark design that Tru-Spec always had with the way their pockets were cut, and this was more of a design that I preferred due to the rear wallet pockets having a straight look and not the angled cut that the majority of the Tru-Spec 24/ Series pants had.   The BDU Pockets are also designed differently with an open slotted pocket on the outside and a larger BDU pocket behind it.  Now that so many people are carrying cell phones this was an easy access pocket for something just like that.   Once you star wearing clothing like this you don’t really need a belt cell phone carrier anymore.

This is something that people really have a preference over and often ask for the boot cut or non-boot cut.  Just like there are differences in the way jeans are designed, not all tactical clothing companies have the same cut, or fit, even if the waist sizes are the same.   Tru-Spec Men’s Tactical Boot Cut Pants are available in Black or Khaki and also still in the $44.95 dollar range, there are also several other fit designs within the Tru-Spec product line so if one isn’t for you, you still have other styles like the Tru-Spec Ascent, Tru-Spec Eclipse and Tru-Spec Simply Tactical.

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Tru-Spec Combat Shirts

I got a question from someone recently that asked why the prices were so different on certain Tru-Spec Combat shirts and my short answer was because of the different materials.   Some of the shirts are a 65%/35% Polyester/Cotton ripstop and some are a 50% Nylon/50% cotton ripstop.   Anyone that knows an electrician can ask them first hand why clothing matters and it’s all about the “what if” there was a flash or a fire.  As someone who’s got scars to show what plastic can do to skin even if they aren’t on fire, getting burned by melting materials is as painful as having a fire burn you and usually worse.  Polyester cCombat shirtsMulticam Combat ShirtArmy DigitalUrban DigitalMulticam Blackan be bad news around fire, and cotton just burns off and doesn’t melt.  Law Enforcement are exposed to flash bangs that can spark or shoot fragments which is why eyewear and proper clothing even if it’s  not bullet proof is so important.

There are many cross-overs with some of these products and it’s not all Law Enforcement that buy some of these Combat clothing.   Airsoft is really big these days and a big step up from paintball and the Tru-Spec combat shirts and Assault shirts can work well for that type of thing although they are much better quality than you’re going to find in an all paintball or airsoft store.  When choosing what type of camo or colors, it’s either about looking cool or melting into your environment for your own personal advantage.  Multicam and now the new Multicam Black are a big step up from the Digital patterns that have been around for more than a decade.   Is some environments you may be better off with the All Terrain Tiger.   We keep all of these patterns in

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More Positive Feedback in year 2 of the Tru-Spec product lines from the IAPC in Philadelphia

Truspec tactical pantsWe got to attend the International Association of Police Chiefs convention here in Philadelphia and it was another great way to listen to customers and hear what they are saying about various product lines.   Some of these conventions are really giant networking opportunities for us and a great way to learn about potential products we would like to bring into our inventory.  Some are computer software shows and others are basically gun shows but it’s always worth our while to attend these.   Blackhawk and 5.11 tactical are massive companies carrying a vast amount of products but not all of it the best.   We’ve seen several local dealers drop the Vertx line because it’s priced out of their customers price range and if we had to pick a winner this year, it’s definitely been tru-spec.

The Tru-Spec simple tactical line is going to fit you differently than the 24/7 series is but it’s also going to be far less money and the best thing to do is find a stocking dealer, which is what we are and try it on yourself.  I was not a huge fan of the TruSpec tactical pants when I first started wearing them because they are so different than the 5.11 tactical, Blackhawk, Eotac and Woolrich Elite Series tactical clothing lines that I was use to.  The shapes of the pockets and the pocket placements are absolutely designed for people carrying a knife or a flashlight.  The new gunny tactical pants has a slightly larger cut knife pocket for those carrying larger tools.   I wish they made them in more sizes because some customer did complain that the gunny pant wasn’t made in their size range.

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New tactical clothing option without the sticker shock!

truspec simple tactical We’ve had lots of tactical pants, tactical shorts, and other items come in to our store and some of our employees wear all different types of tactical apparel.   We first found out about the Tru-Spec 24/7 series womens pants from an employee that was wearing them and told us they had a great reputation for quality and price points.   We’ve tried several other clothing companies products but many of them were either too expensive the fit just sucked, or the quality control was too spotty for us to even risk our reputation in carrying them.  I’ve heard lots of people mention how much 5.11 tactical products are being marketed but the prices have really shot up.   Not a lot of people are going to go along with the sticker shock, and we’ve seen people do this in the past.

There is something to be said about costs being a ceiling, there are products that come on the market and then when prices go up, people start shopping around for a better deal.  In an economy like this products like Truspecs simple tactical line will do well because not everyone in Law Enforcement needs zippers and pockets at every point.  Yes, they like to carry tactical knives or put an AR15 magazine in the pocket, but comfort, durability and price points are very important.  Once products get above $50 or so people will bail on you unless they have the money or the need for the product.

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Looks like Woolrich Inc is out of the tactical apparel market

Tru-Spec 24/7 series tactical clothingWe were the first dealer in Pennsylvania to carry the Woolrich Elite Series product line and I can’t think of much out there other than 5.11 tactical products, but Woolrich Elite Series products were very well received.  At the time the economy was better and people were willing to spend $50 for a pair of pants, but now things are really crazy and many of our customers are telling us they are dropping over $60 a pair of pants for 5.11 tactical stuff.   We’ve seen the ceiling be about $50 for pants and once we go over that for a product, we basically loose out to 5.11 tactical or some other company.  I have no idea what people are going to do if they liked Woolrich Elite Series products or the Eotac line because after checking out the Vertx, Tru-Spec and Blackhawk Product lines, they are all overy different.

There is a whole bunch of drama that went down with the guys that original came up with the idea for the Woolrich Elite line and in the end it lost out to the competition because it just couldn’t keep up with the times.   Our best best right now is to sell what our customers want and the Tru-Spec 24/7 Series tactical clothing has a great quality product for about 20%-40% less than their competitors.  There are the new Truely Tactical products coming out that are less than $40 and we expect that this is a great idea considering the economy and the market drive.  There are several companies making stuff now but nobody likes to buy online for new clothing and most walk to walk in a shop and try them on.

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Some new observations about tactical pants after a plane trip

Blackhawk tactical pantsThis year I had to do some business trips and I was in and out of cars, hotels, motels and airplanes for several days.   I had the new gunny boot cut tactical pants with me, Woolrich Elite Series Tactical Chinos, Tru-Spec 24/7 pants, and the Blackhawk lightweight tactical pants with me.  I figured this would  be a good time to force myself to try them out because normally I don’t like to switch up my gear.   I always had a flashlight with me and if I wasn’t wearing the Tru-Spec pants I had to find another way of keeping track of where it was so I knew it was always there when I needed it and knew that it didn’t fall off or get lost.

Well, after a long plane trip, I was won over by one of my lease worn tactical pants and that’s because I found the pocket placements to be very useful for what I was doing at the time.   The 65%/35% polycotton ripstop pants from Tru-Spec were very similar to the Blackhawk tactical pants that I was wearing on the plane trip but the leg pockets with the sidezip were very useful while being in the seated position.  I used these pockets for tickets for my flights and it was much easier to access than my hand pockets.  I never really thought about this until I was sitting there drinking a beer and was about to check what time my next flight was.

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Woolrich Elite nearing the end?

Its looking more and more like the Woolrich Elite Series Tactical product line is no more.  We’ve seen several clothing companies and various other tactical gear manufacturers pull out of China and the task of retooling the the machines and launching the products in a bad economy have been rough.   We recently heard that Tru-Spec is now making their clothing in Honduras which is a major shift from our standpoint because just about everyone making tactical clothing came in from somewhere in Asia.   India, Cambodia, Vietnam, China it seemed like everyone had a manufacturer over there, but cost increases have really hit some companies and from what we see it can cause a certain percentage of your customers to switch to another brand.

Now that we  have such a large Law Enforcement customer base, many of these guys and gals have a clothing allowance and increase the cost of tactical clothing by $10 per item means they may can few items.   The differences between 5.11 tactical and TruSpec shirts are considerable as far as pocket designs and such, but many of the Tru-Spec and 5.11 tactical clothing products are made of similar materials.   The differences are quality control and sizing consistency.  We here so many complaints about 5.11 products getting expensive and the truth of the matter, they are not the only ones, Vertx pants are usually over $60, Woolrich Elite $50 and from what we see Tru-Spec products from Atlanco are the best priced products.

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100% cotton ripstop pants and comfortable tactical pants

We’ve tested the waters in the last year after Eotac faded away, and we have over a years worth of feedback about customers that have moved on to Blackawk tactical pants, TruSpec tactical pants and even Vertx.   Vertx seems to have gotten great reviews but not everyone is moving in that direction.  I have found the Vertx product line to be the most well received tactical pants amongst our window shopping operators.  You should see more and more products like this on our inventory in 2013.  In the meantime, most of our customers have told  us that they want cotton canvas pants, 100% cotton ripstop pants or the poly/cotton ripstop.

There are always slight differences with each pant that make it a selling point to a certain market.  Most of military contractors prefer the 100% cotton ripstop cargo pants from Woolrich Elite Series Tactical Clothing because it is really the only tactical pant to go back to or stay with since Eotac has gone. Many of our Law Enforcement Officers need a pant that has some time of lining in it to keep your pants tucked in, those customers go to 5.11 tactical pants or Blackhawk tactical pants.  Some tactical  pants are good for the office and others for Iraq.

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Differences between TruSpec and 5.11 EMS pants

5.11 EMS pants seem to be on the majority of the paramedics in our area but we’ve noticed many were not happy with the fit of the pants and wanted to try the TruSpec.  Since we’re testing out various tactical and EMS products we’re tip toeing with our inventory.  Today a customer asked us if he could try on the TruSpec pants and find out what the differences, by the time he was done wearing them around the store.  He was teaching us more about the product line than we knew before.

The Tru Spec EMS pants look almost identical to the 5.11 Tactical EMS pant but there are some noticeable differences for anyone that wears one of them long enough.  The major differences between these Tru Spec EMS pants and the other are the rear pockets.  The back left pocket has an ID pocket and the right side has the trademark 5.11 sash.   The TruSpec pants have a flap that is the same as the regular tactical pant and in all honesty a much normal looking design.

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