All posts tagged Blackhawk tactical pants

Somtimes our style of tactical pants changes for a reason

tactical pants Lately I have been carrying different gear with me at work and during classes.   Recently I was on a road trip and re discovered ankle and shoulder holsters and forgot what it was like to carry in those positions while driving 8hrs in a day.  There are plenty of reasons to consider ankle carry holsters but they are really meant for backups.   One thing I have noticed with various tactical pants is the cut of the pants near the ankles.  Not that I think people need bell bottom pants but this is something to seriously consider when you are carrying in this position.  Some styles of pants will not give you the movement you need and you will end up with your pants riding up on you.

When it comes to carrying handcuffs and batons, wallets and other paperwork, you are going to see huge differences in the types of pants out there.  Call me an old timer but I still don’t have Vertx tactical pants in my wardrobe although in 2013 I plan on getting some.   I have found I have learned to love the  Blackhawk lightweight tactical pants because they are holding up very well to all of the useage I have given them and the only negative I have so far are the lack of a left side wallet or ID pocket.   The pockets are a little too  deep for a wallet and I often feel like I lost it because it’s about 2-3 inches lower than it normally would be.   It’s not just about the material like 100% cotton ripstop or 65/35 poly cotton ripstop.

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We have a clear winner for best priced tactical pants

And the hands down best pants for anyone with a budget are the Tru Spec tactical pants.   The lightweight poly cotton ripstop pant is an easy transition for anyone that has been wearing the 5.11 tactical pants, and more than a number of our customers have mentioned that the 5.11 tactical apparel line  has become more and more expensive.  We’ve so much turmoil and price increases with tactical clothing and it affects anyone that was getting their stuff made in China.   Cotton prices are up as well as shipping and transportation.   We are seeing UPS ground prices hang around $14 and that if for products under 3 pounds.    Two pairs of tactical pants, whether they are lightweights or standard weights are going to be over 3 lbs and most people’s sizes will be close to 2 pounds each.

If you factor in order 3 or 4 pairs of pants and they are each $50 a pair, that is $150-$200 for them.  If you got a pair of tactical pants that were just as good quality wise, and they cost $10 each, you will get them for $120-$160 dollars.  Those are pretty good differences in prices and for many of our Law Enforcement departments that are looking for something that doesn’t burn up all of their clothing expenses are going with Tru Spec over Blackhawk and 5.11 just based on cost.   If you are already getting the quality and the same basic material, what’s the point in tossing another $10 a pair in the trash.   There are always feature differences with tactical clothing so we’re not knocking 5.11 or Blackhawk, but saving money in a bad economy is very important.

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New TruSpec tactical pants coming in

We heard the rumors a few months ago but we finally got to hold the new TruSpec tactical pants in our hands.  These pants are part of the new Gunny approved tactical pants, shirts, vests and gear that will be available in late October.    They are similar in looks to the tried and tested tactical pants and are made of the same material with a polyester cotton blend, but then you will notice the differences.   As a tactical gear and clothing dealer, we have sold lots and  lots of brands of tactical pants and we see the reasons people want to move to something else because it may have some function or feature that they need.   There is no “do all” tactical  pants and much of this comes down to  your price range and preferences in pocket designs.

The new gunny tactical  pants have larger knife or flashlight pockets and this will help prevent the limitation on the size of knife a user can place in them.   The best feature about these tactical pants are that they have a gusseted crotch which was probable the number one reason we lost customers to Blackhawk tactical pants or vertx styles.   In todays standards of what tactical clothing is suppose to do, if it doesn’t  have a gusseted crotch it is going to get a FAIL mark.    Some of the new lightweight vests that are coming out are also very nice and we can’t keep enough lightweight vests in stock already.

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5.11 tactical pants vs TruSpec tactical pants

To this day I am still not happy about what I saw happen with Woolrich Elite and the rise and Fall of the Eotac product line.  I’m amazed that some of the product improvements never took place with the Woolrich Elite tactical pants and the demise of Eotac partially because the pants just never were available.   We had a completely confused customer base and now that price increases have occurred many people are shopping around for something close to their price range.   From what we are seeing there has been a big shit towards TruSpec and Vertx because so many of our customers were disgruntled 5.11 clothing wearers.   Much of my expereinces with the 5.11 product line have been good and they were and are the pioneers of the tactical clothing market.

We like seeing companies that actually have warranties on their product lines because with a bad economy and an over loaded tactical clothing market, we’d rather see the companies back up their products than have to deal with complaints about durability ect.   When going from product line to product line, The TruSpec tactical pants that we’ve been selling have had a  good reputation and after selling the product for almost a year, we’re seeing more and more repeat customers.  The TruSpec womens pants and shorts that we  have been selling have a 100% positive response so far and the sizing is very good.  Recently we started stocking the TruSpec EMS pants because so many people had sizing issues with the 5.11 version and were happy to find something else.

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What people are saying about the differences in material

When we first got into the tactical clothing business Woolrich Elite Series was the first company to come out that was different than 5.11 tactical.   The 5.11 pants and shorts we were wearing were a poly cotton ripstop material and not cut very well.   I have some of the 5.11 covert carry jeans and they are just downright lame as far as design and fit.  The Woolrich Elite jeans were a good idea but the colors and fit were not very good.  To date the only concealed carry jean that we sold that got a good response were the Eotac 205 jeans and we are sadly not going to see those again.

The cotton canvas pants seem to be liked because of the comfort of the material but when people want lightweight pants, it’s either 100% cotton ripstop or it’s going to be a poly cotton blend.   We had an electrician come in here and say that the TruSpec tactical pants we sold were not approved for his job and only the 100% cotton ripstop pants were due to fire safety.  Both pants may look the same but they are not the same when it comes to moisture resistance and comfort although I find the TruSpec pants to be best fit for me for the poly cotton blend.

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What to do about tactical shorts?

We have been selling the Woolrich Elite product line for almost 7yrs now and one of our favorite shorts is the style 4905 which later became the 44905.   There was something that happened at Woolrich a few years ago where all of the products had numbers added to the sku number and an extra digit was made so some long time customers get a little confused.   These tactical shorts were well received because they have a 9 inch inseam.  The style 4908 which became the 44908 was a shorter 100% cotton ripstop short but does not have cargo pockets on the side.
This year we may be bringing in the Tru Spec tactical shorts because we’re seeing so much turmoil with clothing manufacturing that we have to be able to sell what our customer are demanding.   Last year we saw the demise of what was our number one selling tactical pants product line because there was so many problems making the stuff overseas that production became almost impossible.  We have also learned of new issues with making some of our favorite tactical clothing lines and we’re wondering if there will be more fallout later this year due to that.  Get your clothes why you can because the prices are going up.

 

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Tru-Spec promo in full swing

There are so many choices in the tactical clothing market and even though I am shocked by the number of boot and clothing companies that are still emerging, we won’t touch those as a dealer until we hear from enough of our customers to warrant bringing it in stock.  When we first got in on the tactical clothing market, it was pretty much a 5.11 tactical clothing market and many, many in the tactical clothing consumer market were not happy with what happened to 5.11 tactical.   It seems that the original founders of the company turned it into a major money making tactical accessory and forgot about quality control and comfort.

Not every good idea can work and we’ve seen several discontinued shirts, pants and jackets in recent years that were good idea but they just didn’t sell.   When it comes to being able to find a stocking dealer for tactical pants that have a proven track record, you really can’t argue that the Tru Spec tactical pants are a very good pant for under $40.   We saw another tactical clothing company raise their prices on tactical clothing almost $10 a item and that really hurts in a bad economy.  The Tru Spec poly cotton rip stop tactical pants are very similar to the 5.11 tactical pants in regards to material, but have a very unique pocket design.

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The trend is towards pocket guns and it ain’t gonna stop anytime soon

The real issue that we are seeing with guns and accessories is not everyone has been able to keep up with the guns that are being made today.  If I were a holster maker I would be cautious about making holsters for everything out there because there are some firearms that are simply not going to catch on. When it comes to carrying in the pocket, the responsible thing to do is to use a pocket holster.  I had some issues with one maker because the hammer on my 537 Smith & Wesson was getting caught and I had to cut out part of the holster to avoid snags.

On your journey towards finding the right gun and holster that works for you, take your time before you end up with a box full of holsters you didn’t really want sitting in your closet.   When  you are looking for clothing that are not like the usual tactical pants that you see marketed for concealed carry but really aren’t, take a good look at the Woolrich Elite chinos.  People always ask us if their gun is going to print if they were something like this, but the answer to that is to use a piece of cardboard to prevent printing.   There are a lot of very nice .380 pistols and I would have to say that they do seem to be easier to shoot than the 38 special snubbies, but with proper training, you can get what you want out of both and be very discreet.

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Major Shift in Tactical Clothing

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.

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Concealment options, Office and Public environments

There are many modes of concealement a gun holder can use and it might do you some good to research 3 or 4 ways of carrying a firearm.   Belt through holsters are far more secure but if you use a good gun belt a clip on holster can work for you.   There are plenty of ways of messing a concealment method and having a holster fail and the last thing you ever want to do is get yourself in a situation where you have shown  your firearm in public and risk having someone call the police or risk getting fired.   Some business have laws about carrying firearms at work and others just don’t have any rules and the smart thing to do is not let anyone know.

We’ve been around the gun industry for a long time and we’ve learned that you don’t win people over to issues when  you are in their face.   Although you have your 2nd Amendment Rights and your CCW permit, wearing tactical pants and brandishing firearms isn’t the way to change peoples attitudes or win them over to  your side.  We have many business men that stop by our Store wearing a suite and tie and carry firearms for self-defense and nobody at their offices including some family members know that they carry.

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