All posts tagged Concealed Carry Apparel

Where to go after Eotac?

We are now being bombarded with questions from our customers about what happened to Eotac.   We are out of various sizes of tactical pants from Eotac, but we still have a lot left and lots of people don’t believe we have it.    It’s almost like Eotac tactical pants are more popular and sought after now that nobody can get them.  It really is sad that the company was barely around for 2yrs and just when people are getting to know the product line it goes belly up.   We’re still waiting to hear from somebody at Remington on what the situation was.   We don’t know if they went out of business, were bought out, or merged with someone else.

After Fernando Coelho left Eotac last year, it’s no surprise that investors may have been concerned about it’s future.   Recently Fernando mentioned on Facebook on the Eotac page that if people are looking for something similar your best bet is with Woolrich Elite pants.   The fit is different and we’ll leave it up to our customers to say which is better, but considering how many disgruntled 5.11 customers we have, Woolrich Elite products are top notch and I would never bash them.   Designs are debatable and Woolrich Elite series shirts, pants and vests have a 95% satisfaction record with our customer base.

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New Woolrich Elite CCW Shirt

I have a beef with much of the tactical apparel community because much of what I see as labeled as “CCW” is really tactical, and they are no where near the same thing.    If the jeans don’t look like Levi jeans and they look like they have pockets all over the place, they aren’t concealed carry.    I also have a serious issue with the 5.11 jeans that I just picked up because they are suppose to be for covert situations, but the pocket designs are useless.   The internal pockets are useless and the hand pockets don’t even hold a 38 Special snubby.

I am not  a big fan of the fit of Woolrich Elite pants because they are a bit over sized in a few areas.   The Algerian field jacket has funky arm lengths.    I did however get to try out the Woolrich Elite Series oxford CCW shirt and I was very impressed with this.   There was a CCW shirt from Woolrich that had similar false magnetic buttons but the patterns were pretty ugly.   This Oxford CCW shirt is real concealed carry apparel and I am very impressed with the Loden and British Tan color patterns.  We were told they are coming out with a few other styles in 2011.

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Versatile waterproof outerwear

There really aren’t many options that I know of for someone that is carrying a firearm or other tactical gear to be able to still stow his magazines ect. in his outwear and keep the rain off.   Woolrich Elite Series Tactical also has water proof pants that range in sizes from Small-XXL.   Make sure you check out the sizing guide on this one and don’t make any guesses.   Your XL shirt sizes don’t mean you  are going to fit in a XL pant.   I find this to be a good option in the Fall and Spring and it’s always nice to not have to throw on a large heavy coat when you don’t have to.

My Sig 226 9mm is a very large firearm and once of the best balanced 9mm there is.   I usually carry 3-4 15rd pistol magazines and the Woolrich Elite Parka holds all of them without printing.  The front pockets have elastic straps that will hold them in place and a pair of handcuffs and knife also keep me ready for work.   This is too heavy for summer carry, but it’s easy to roll it up and stuff it in the glove compartment or under a  seat if I need to put it away for a Season or two.

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Reducing the chances of slipping and falling

I am not in the military and have never served in Law Enforcement so much of what I may be discussing has already been put into the minds of those that have trained for street work.   There has been a change in our modern culture, I guess it’s partially from the changes that took place after September 11, 2001.   More Americans are being issued gun permits than ever before due to the potential threats of terrorism and an increase in crime due to the bad economy.   The tactical clothing market has been growing every year and there are even some small business that are only putting out pants and shirts for white collar CCW holders.   I’ll leave it up to another time to discuss the clothing, but white collar CCW is the pinnacle of concealed carry.

When I think of the number of times I had to carry a gun in an ankle holster or pocket holster for a wedding, the one thing that I always felt uncomfortable about was that the shoes I had to wear were difficult to run in and very easy to slide in.  I must admit that I along with many of my friends do not pick out our own clothing for these types of events and our wives are very picky about what kind of shirts and shoes we are wearing.  Most of the Original Swat tactical footwear is made for Law Enforcement applications, but I would highly recommend the Oxford shoes for anyone in the white collar CCW arena.   These shoes will look like dress shoes with superior traction.

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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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Woolrich concealed carry shirts

When we go out to our favorite clothing stores to shop for CCW friendly clothing one of the most important things we will most likely be choosing is a good gun belt.  Gun belts are often over looked because people think that all they need to do is clip it on and it that works, everything is fine.   If you are not carrying that often, that may cut it for you, but I have ruined plenty of belts before I picked up a Wilderness instructor belt.   The first time I used this belt I was carrying a 1911 and was amazed at how well the belt supported the firearm.  After close to 3 yrs the only that has really started to wear out was the velcro, and I have gone through 2 kydex holsters that broke in the same time period.

Woolrich has made a lot of fine clothing for hunting and civillian purposes,  but only recently have they really come up with something different for real concealed carry.   We’re still waiting for some of the big tactical clothing companies to catch up on the CCW shirt market because all we seem to really see are tactical pants and tactical shirts.   What we really want to see is regual clothing that is cut to the right lengths and fits us as comfortable as if we weren’t carrying a firearm.   Carrying a gun always some level of adaptation, but a good gun belt and Woolrich Elite concealed carry shirts should give you a lot of flexibility

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Carrying gear in Spring weather

Tactical JacketsThis military style jacket is designed for modern flashlights and single or double stack mags.   When we need to do a lot of heavy lifting, I don’t like loading my belt up with a belt that looks like Batmans utility belt.    The pocket designs are very well made and the snap buttons on the pocket are what puts it in a A+ category for tactical gear.   When you hear the click of the buttons you don’t have to worry about watching your 15rd doubel stack 9mm mags flying out of the pockets while your doing physical work.   This jacket is defanitely not as heavy looking as it is in some of hte pictures and can easily become a Winter jacket by wearing a good base layer under it.

Recently I was doing work in a rural part of the State.   We were doing a lot of grunt work and we were deployed real early in the morning.   The tough thing about living in an area in the Country were you get all four season is trying to figure out what season you are in and what you should be wearing.   When you walk out the door and see ice hanging from trees, you know it’s cold out, but when it’s sunny and clear in the morning and a little chilly you need to wear something, but you know that by early afternoon it may go from 40F to 70F in just a few hours.    Luckily I had enough experience wearing my Eotac Style 502  Tactical Jacket in the Fall weather we had here that I knew this was just the type of thing to bring with me and I wouldn’t have to worry about being too cold or too hot.

 

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Concealment and situational awarness

CCW VestOpen carry isn’t stopping Police Officers in Philadelphia from being shot at.  Wearing a blue uniform in that City and wearing body armor meant over 6 police officers being killed at more than double that being shot in the last 2yrs.    If you are that concerned about being “Made” with a firearm, carry a different gun.   Pocket and ankle carry are suitiable for white color environments and I don’t know any BG that wants 5 or 6 shots of 32acp-44 Special in their chest from a well trained law abiding gun owner.

The CCW Vest discussions usually go like this, if you look like you are carrying a gun you’re an easy target.   Well, if you look like you don’t have a gun, you’re also an easy target.    If you are open carrying the debate is radically changed.   Open Carry is legal in most States, but I along with many others would highly recommend against it in urban environments.   Every gun owner should be in the mindset that they have 1 up on a BG.   Cover your firearm and pay attention to  your surroundings, that’s probable the best advice I would give anyone that carrys a gun.

 

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Work shirts for concealment

Tactical ShirtsIt doesn’t get any better than this for those of you working in the blue collar neighborhoods or that actually could get away with wearing one of these at work.   The Eotac Style 409 Mechanic shirt is one of the most original concealment and tactical shirts we’ve seen this year.   There are plenty of uniform tactical shirts out there from 5.11, Woolrich Elite, Proper ect. but this one takes concealment into a different niche.

The Eotac Mechanic shirt can make you look like a pizza delivery person, auto mechanic or a plumber or you can customize a name and sew it onto the shirt.    These are great ways to blend in or upgrade your traditional work clothes for tactical shirts that make accessing a firearm much easier.   The two lower buttons on the shirt are fall and with a quick motion of the hand the shirt will lift up and reduce the chances of snagging on anything will retrieving your weapon.  The Mechanic concealment shirt comes in Black, Gray and Navy.

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Military style jacket adapted to modern times

Eotac Field JacketI’ve seen a few military style jackets at Army Navy type stores, but most wearers are using them just for the look, but not because they really use it for any practical purpose.   There are some military style jackets that have good outdoor applications, but recently the very innovative and emerging tactical apparel company called Eotac, has developed something new.   The Eotac 502 Field Jackets is far superior to the Woolrich Elite Algerian jacket that has been on the market for a few years.   Both jackets are based on the Algerian style military jacket issued in the 1950’s.

The Eotac field Jackets has snap on pocket encosures and not velcro or as some like to call it, hook and loop.   I never thought this was much a thing to worry about, but several of our military and law enforcement customers have informed us that velcro wears out and is also very loud.   We didn’t thik about that, but the developers of the Eotac line obviously did.  The Field Jacket arm length is also properly designed.   All of us are build differently and not every shirt or jacket is going to work for everyone just because we have the same chest measurements, but we feel the Elite Operator Tactical Field Jacket is much better designed.  The 501 is also available in the Lizard Patter Camo that many of the original Algerian jackets came in.  The zippered sleeve pocket on the Field Jacket has a pen pocket and can hold something as large as a note pad or blackberry.  You will be able to carry just about any configuration of magazines, flashlights, knives, pepper spray ect. once you get use to all of the pockets, just be careful you don’t loose your gear in this jacket because there are so many places to put your stuff.

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