All posts tagged lightweight operator pants

Blackhawk lightweight tactical pants are a hit

Sometimes when new stuff comes out we just sit back and let our customers tell us if it’s a good product.  Now that several of our tactical pants competitors have fizzled out we’re looking for tactical clothing that is made our customers don’t complain about.   I will admit that these tactical pants have a different fit to them and when I move in them they do not seem as comfortable as the Tru Spec and Eotac pants that I am use to.  But to each his own when it comes to fit and comfort.  Material makes a big differences to me in certain climates and although I have worn 100% cotton ripstop pants for 7yrs. The Tru Spec and Blackhawk Poly Cotton blend do not really bother me at all.

Some people want to get away from the 5.11 tactical pants that they have been wearing and right now there is so much out there to keep against 5.11 tactical clothing.  I see a few companies have attempted to design their own tactical pants but those are really just cheap range pants or better yet, yardwork tactical apparel.  We’re still waiting to  find out about all of the manufacturing changes that are taking place and hoping we don’t have any distruptions in product lines again.  TruSpec seems to be very aggressive in getting their products on the market with month long tactical pants and tactical polo promotions.  Next fall we will be on board for some nice outer wear promos.

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Lots of Turmoil in the clothing business

We have just got word that their were riots in the Apple factory in China and another one of our product lines is having trouble getting stuff made over there because of some of the flooding.  What the heck is going  on with that place?  Everyone seems to think we have to tip  toe  with China because they own so  much of our debt that they can pull the rug out from  under us.   The truth of the matter is we actually still own them.  They won’t get anything out of us if we go down and right  now they are actually having the rug pulled out from under them.   We are at a total of 4 of our major product lines has pulled out of Chinese manufacturing beacuse of the labor costs and price increase on raw products.

I have no idea what is going on with the clothing industry.  We have done some really big promos with Tru Spec and Blackhawk products as well as the Woolrich Elite tactical pants  product line and we’re under the impression they are all having some issues.  We are testing out some of the new products form Tru Spec this summer because one of our favorite clothing makers, Woolrich Elite isn’t making the 44905 shorts at the moment and that is something that really concerns us.

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Switching from 5.11 tactical clothing to something else?

When we first got into the tactical clothing market it was pretty much all 5.11 tactical pants.   The stories about Royal Robbins becoming 5.11 and some of the changes that occurred left many customers disappointed.   I don’t know  how a company can make 5.11 tactical pants in 3 different Countries and expect the quality control to be there but I guess they don’t.  We’ve watched several companies attempt to cut into the market and fail and much of it was about production issues and quality control.  If you buy a pair of pants and like them and buy them again later, the same thing, and the sizing is different or it shrinks and rides up on you, you look for something else.

Some people just don’t understand what it takes to do business in foreign Countries.  It’s not just about a manufacturers ability to make a consistent product, its also about being able to make the product the right way and things like tactical pants sometimes need to be modifed if customers demand this.   I have witness such minor product fit changes that were welcomed and the sales went up.  Other companies were asked to modify their products and they didn’t and lost out to the competition.  5.11 has a real Winner with the Tac Lite Pro pants.

 

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Tactical pants and pocket placements, why you need more than one style?

There is not a single tactical pant that we sell that is great for everything.  Recently we had some customer walk in  here wearing Vertx tactical pants and asked us to start carrying them.   A few weeks before we had a large inventory of Blackhawk tactical pants because a ton of customers wanted those.  They also liked the fact they held up better for hunting.  Last week because of a news article about the Woolrich Elite chinos the most non-tactical pant we sell were our number one sellers.  I personally prefer the Eotac style 202 tactical pants but I guess I’ll have to fall back  on a close second place with the Woolrich Elit 44429.

I have been going back and forth about which pants I liked more, recently the surge has been towards the Tru Spec tactical pants because of the new national promo.   I have to admit that for $29.95 the Tru Spec tactical pants are by far a superior pant to the 5.11 tactical pants as far as quality.   The 5.11 tac lite prom pants are the  only tactical pants that I like from 5.11 but I had sizing issues and that is something that seems to be a constant.  Maybe people do need to consider more than a one brand and accept the fact that each one has an advantage over the other as long as the product is durable.

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Water Restistance and durability of tactical pants

We’ve been very happy to see new products in our warehouse like the Blackhawk Lightweight tactical pants.   These tactical pants are very different from the 5.11 tactical pants like the Taclite pro pants.    5.11 has a large product line of tactical pants but there is plenty of room for innovation and improvements.   Water resistance is very important if you are going to be in rainy environments.  People can die by sleeping in environments where they never dry out and cold weather can eventually lead to death.   We always have a large customer base of people that are Law Enforcement or Military but also go hunting, and sometimes there is very little difference between the product lines.

When the weather starts to warm up we see changes away from the cotton canvas tactical pants towards the lightweight material.  Just like cold weather and wet environments can be dangerous, hot weather can also be dangerous if you are not wearing the right clothing.   There are several styles of tactical pants to consider, but for wet environments the best lightweight tactical pants we sell are the Blackhawk lightweight tactical pants that are treated with a DWR, which means durable water resistance.  That’s a big deal for avoid uncomfortable deployments in damp environments.

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Summer and Spring options and the transition from tactical pants

We sell a lot of clothing via our online webstore and now that we have a retail location here in Pennsylvania we have people driving 2-3 hours just to try on some of the products we sell.  In 2011 we some of the most turmoil we have ever seen in the production of tactical clothing, we saw Eotac fall off the face of the earth, price increase,  companies leaving China and long waits to get in new production clothing.   We have heard from many of our customers that anything over $40 for a pair of pants is too much, but with inflation, it’s hard to stay under that unless you want to buy the failed tactical product lines.

Last Summer we were surprised to see how much the Blackhawk Lightweight pants sold and after trying them out for ourselves, we were kind of surprised people liked them so much.  Although these tactical pants seem to be made well, the fit on them just seemed too restrictive and several of our employees told us that they liked the Eotac, Woolrich Elite and TruSpec tactical pants the most.   Every style of   pants has a different appeal, but the hardest thing to do is to carry all of your gear in your tactical shorts that you were wearing with your pants.   The Woolrich Elite 44905 shorts

 

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Spring is just around the corner and

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

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Not a big fan of everything in the tactical clothing world

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.

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What are you options for CCW pants now?

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.

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SHOT SHOW is around the corner

I guess because we’re already so busy at this time of the year the last thing we want to have to think about right after Christmas is learning about all of the new stuff coming in in 2012 that we’ll have to consider buying.   SHOT SHOW is the post Christmas shopping season for people like us and at first it’s fun and eventually it just becomes a business trip.   Out of the hundreds of new products that we’ll be looking at, it’s rare for us to find more than a half a dozen new products that really spark interest.

This year we do  have a wish list, we’d like to see more concealed carry clothing come out and not another clothing company making knock off 5.11 tactical pants.   We’re down to about 4 companies that we carry products for and although each has it’s strong points, we’re overloaded on tactical pants and listening to  our customers frustrations about the constant shortages or lack of product improvements has caused people to keep shopping.  We’ve had products that had good designs but the fit was not very good and people moved on, other designs were good for weekend warriors but for those that jump over fences, the products were failing.  Slight production changes would have sealed the deal, but did anyone listen in 2011?

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