Rogue Elite

Not all lightweight clothing is as lightweight as you think.  When it comes to tactical clothing that we sell the most of, the Woolrich Elite 100% cotton ripstop shirts and pants are the biggest sellers to those serving in Iraq.  The need for clothing that protects you from the sun, but does breath and give you some level of comfort is important.   When you consider that needing to drink 5 or 6 gallons of water a day to keep hydrated in those climates that wearing clothing that cuts that down to 2-3 gallons just by wearing different clothing really means something for any group of soldiers.  If your unit can eliminate 1 gallon of water consumption per soldier that’s a big deal.

Many people seem to not realize that we have as many contractors over in Iraq protecting Government officials and Oil rigs ect that there has been a huge demand for things other  than BDU’s.   Lightweight tactical pants like the Woolrich Elite 44447 pants are as tactical as you can get, but 100% cotton rip stop is the lightest weight that you can have.   Some of the 65/35 polyester pants from Tru-Spec and 5.11 seem to fend off stains and water better but they do not feel as lightweight weight.   Also, the pocket designs aren’t as Carbine friendly.

It may not be too early to think about what you will want to be wearing this Spring.  After selling a ton of the Woolrich Elite Chino pants this year we were hoping to see a pair of shorts that looked like that but that didn’t happen.   It looks like Woolrich is putting out more CCW shirts and some outer wear.  I laughed when I read several reviews about this years SHOT SHOW and how everyone was tired of seeing all of the overloaded tactical clothing market.  One question I’ve been wondering is where is everyone making this stuff these days?

Tru-Spec lightweight pants aren’t as lightweight as the Woolrich Elite 44441 pants and I’d have to say look kind of more casual but they still are tactical looking.  With the overloaded tactical pants market we’re still seeing more and more names popping up.   I’ve been seeing funky sizing issues with some of the Vertx pants and from a vendor standpoint, that’s something we’re going to stay away from for awhile.  If you can’t get your sizing right the first time

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.

Now that 2012 is upon us we will begin our shift towards carrying more of the Woolrich Elite and Tru-Spec line.   Although we do carry some of the 5.11 tactical clothing, there is very much a demand for things other than 5.11.   Vertx pants are very nice but considering the price tag on the products it’s a little too much to dive into at this point.   We’re expecting consumer confidence to pick up once there are changes in Washington and we hope there are.   I would have to say that Tru-Spec and Vertx seem to have made the most traction in 2011 and we plan on riding that wave although the Woolrich Elite Chino pants are our favorite pant of the year.

We are making some major changes to the inventory that we are stocking and it’s time to clean house.  For a short time we have reduced the large quantity of Eotac tactical pants to $24.99 and making room for other things.   These pants are a fantastic deal and the designs were very well thought out although according to many of our customers the Woolrich Elite pants had a better durability a held up better after washing.   I personally  have seen very little sizing issues between Woolrich Elite, Eotac and Tru-Spec pants so it should be an easy adjustment for our customer base.

We just got word that one of the new products coming from the Woolrich Elite Tactical line are the lightweight tactical pants in coyote.   For some reason it’s taken this long to come out with one of the most popular colors next to khaki.   When I first got into the tactical clothing market I always thought that that black would have been one of the most popular colors but it’s not.   I’d say the popular colors are Khaki, OD Green and Coyote.  If you look at the tactical footwear we sell, coyote brown and tan are more popular than black.

Everyone knows that tactical pants is a giveaway that you are carrying a gun, but black tactical clothing makes you look like a ninja or a bad guy.   There have been some tactical pants in a stone color which sold pretty well, but to each his own.   We were hoping there would be some changes to the lightweight line and have a gusseted crotch but I guess that won’t happen.   The Woolrich Elite line gets some of the least complaints and we’re always happen to not have to hear bad things from our customers about products.

This is the time of year where we have to think about what we intend to bring into our inventory and as the years have added up, we’ve been scrutinizing the clothing that we have come in more and more.  If a company doesn’t stand behind their product or we get too many customer complaints, we will drop a product line.   Having a product line that holds it’s own even if it costs more is worth more to us than selling tons of gun accessories that break and fall apart and dealing with the headaches of exchanges and returns.   Most people know these days that gun stocks and accessories can get broken if mounted improperly and bull shitting your way into excuses isn’t going to work.

Every company has put out a dud product and I’d say about 15% of the new products that come out won’t be around in 9 months and will be on somebodies closeout or discontinued rack.   We’ve been selling Woolrich Elite pants for years now and we’ve been hearing rumors there are new tactical pants coming out in 2012 at SHOT Show.   Hopefully this  year will give us some stability in the tactical clothing market and somebody will put something out that is well designed, doesn’t tear in the crotch and doesn’t cost $80 a pair.

If you are looking to become a serious shooter and looking to acquire the tactical gear that works for you, be real careful about all of the tactical gear that applies to Carbine Operators.   There is plenty of junk out there but even more importantly people get too much of the wrong stuff.   Now that Molle gear is all over the place, start off with a good Molle vest and only buy what you need.  After you run a Carbine course you’ll be better off starting light and adding on then starting off with tons of vests.

There are plenty of vest options out there but I prefer to stick to American made tactical gear anymore.  The Elite Survival Molle vest is under $100 and depending on the tactical pants that I am wearing, it’s more than enough versatility for me.  Sometimes it’s not all about packing on magazine pouches.  Considering the something like the Woolrich Elite Style 44447 pants can hold up to 6 30rd magpul pmags there isn’t much of need to carrying another 6-8 magazines on a vest.   I prefer to carry a sidearm on the leg which blocks up some of the pants usage but with a Molle vest you can always put  your sidearm on the vest.

I have yet to find a shirt that is considered to be tactical that actually fits me right.  I’ve worn plenty of them while teaching handgun courses but there were either sizing issues with them or there were functionality issues.   I never like the idea of having velcro on the pockets and the button down versions just seemed far more professional looking.   Some of the early Woolrich Elite products really were a knock off of what 5.11 had, but the quality and slight design improvements were a big, big deal.

Tru-Spec tactical clothing is very much becoming my favorite and its’ mostly because the fit is probable the best for me.  I will not go out and say that everything else in the tactical clothing world sucks because so much of this is about preference.   Tactical pants, tactical shirts and tactical vests all  have different purpose and sometimes you’ll want different clothing because of the weather.  Heck there may be a time you might want to put your guns and gear down and put on EMS pants and brush up on your first aid training.

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.

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.