All posts tagged Lightweight tactical shirts

Tru-Spec uniform shirts, tactical shirts and CCW Shirt reviews

Tru-Spec shirtsI’ve worn a lot of clothing that was designed for the tactical crowd and there are things I love and things I hate about various brands.  There are slight differences between some products and the way the fit your body and there are others that just flat out don’t work for me.   The first thing we had to settle on when picking a stocking tactical polo was it had to be widely accepted not just a personal preference.   The Tru-Spec tactical polos have gotten very good responses from our customers because they were lighter than the Woolrich Elite Series Tactical polos.   Some people like lightweight shirts and others prefer a cotton canvas shirt.  Much of it has to do with the temperatures that an Operator or Instructor is working in.  The performance polos were very well excepted here for Office work and that they were a wicking shirt.

The Tru-Spec combat shirts are what all of our local tactical teams use and are better priced than the similar 5.11 Tactical shirts.   Tru-Spec has ventured into marketing products to the civilian concealed carry crowd and for under cover Law Enforcement with the new Tru-Spec shirts like the CCW Shirt, and the Tru-Spec holster shirt.   All of these can work in the officer or in deep cover or backup gun scenarios.   We’ll be testing out more shirts from Blackhawk this summer while we try to pick products that we know our Eotac and Woolrich Elite customers want.  Less  Poly/Cotton ripstop products and more cotton canvas and 100% cotton ripstop products.

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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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Some feedback about Tru-Spec shirts compared to others

truspec shirtsWe’ve had the Tru-Spec product line in our store for a little over a year and  a half and when we bring new things in, we usually let customer tell us what they like and if it’s a good product.  Part of being a good seller of tactical clothing is listing to what your customers are asking for  or complaining about and giving them a good product or products to choose from.  This year we tested the waters and we sold  out certain products and brought in new ones based on feedback.   There still is a great unknown what is going on with the Woolrich Elite customer base we have had for almost 8yrs because it looks like they are not making the product anymore.  There shirts are still well made but you have to alter things based on what your customers ask for.

When it comes to durability and fit, I’d say that after about a year of use my Tru-Spec shirts started to fall apart but I sure got my monies worth.  The major selling point we have with the Tru-Spec shirts we have are they are close to $10-$15 less than their 5.11 tactical comparisons.  Since so many of our customers shop at our store based on their yearly clothing allowances, Tru-Spec products are even more popular.  As a dealer it’s nice to have stuff here that is less money and less dollar amounts of inventory.

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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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Some feedback for customers that wore Eotac or Woolrich Elite Shirts

I’m not going to bash either product because if you really want an opinion about those three products, they are all well made tactical products but they really are more about the mission or the preference you have in your work space.   Here in Pennsylvania, I’ve told people many times, that we can get all 4 Seasons, Summer, Fall, Winter and Spring.  And when i mean all 4 Seasons, I mean zero degrees to 103 F in the same year.   Which tactical polo is going to work well for you in that situation?  I have some customers that love the Woolrich Elite Polos because they are a looser fit, but some customers don’t like them because they are heavier in weight compared to 5.11, Tru-Spec or Eotac stuff.

Many of the products we sell from Tru-Spec are very well received.  Even though we are clearing out some other tactical apparel product lines, many of our customers are trying to move away from the 5.11 tactical clothing and we have been successful in moving the Tru Spec shirts that have been coming in.  There will be a new line of the Gunny approved Tru-Spec product line in the coming weeks.  There are also new backpacks and lightweight tactical vests coming in with the product line.  We are hoping to add more and more lightweight products including the new gunny pants that have slight differences, yet improvements to the 24/7 series.

 

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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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Finding a comfortable shirt that holds up to wear

I was never a big fan of tactical clothing up until about 2008 and I had lots of experience with 5.11 tactical gear and Woolrich Elite products.  5.11 tactical pants have a well known reputation as being the leading tactical pant that everything else is compared to.  Quality from t he behemoth of a company has absolutely waned and it is obvious that people were looking for something more.  While the tactical pants market is pretty much bottle up, the tactical shirt market is wide open.  I personally think there are more opportunities to make a better shirt than ever before.

Most tactical shirts feel like a uniform and are not very comfortable to wear.  The only tactical shirts that I really still like are the Woolrich Elite 44901 short sleeve tactical shirts.  These have a vented back and have a very loose feel.  They had a great shirt called the zip up instructor shirt but for some odd reason it was discontinued.   It was basically the same shirt as the 44901 but had a zip up shirt with false buttons which made it look like  a regular tactical shirt but great for hot weather or even for wearing over a shoulder rig.

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New wave of CCW shirts from Woolrich Elite

Today I was going through the list of all of the new products that we had to list on our website and sometimes we debate on whether or not we are going to carry something when it gets to my desk.   There have been a lot of useless gun accessories, but they sold and made money, but I found them to be annoying.   Some of the gun parts were a liability to carry because the quality control was so bad that our return percentage and complaints were so high that it wasn’t worth the time to carry them.

When it comes to selling clothing, there are some big named companies that we limit the products from them because quality control is so bad.  That is not the case with the Woolrich Elite Series product line.  They’ve had a few dud products, but I would mostly blame that on the economy and marketing.   The new wave of Woolrich Elite CCW shirts are going to be in my wardrobe.  I’ve about had enough of the solid color CCW shirts that have been made in the past and it’s great to get shirts that look  like they came from a department store and not a tactical shop.

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Woolrich Elite Outerwear

We were really wondering what was going on with Woolrich a few years ago after some of the people that were involved with the company split off and went on and started their own thing.   We were not sure if they were going to survive this bump in the road, but 2011 gave us a glimpse into some original products that are being added to their product line.  We have always had a high opinion of their quality, but some of the designs of their products really needed improving.   Woolrich has gotten the edge over some of the big tactical clothing companies in 2011.

I recently looked up several shirt companies from a few years ago and they were all out of business.   This year Woolrich Elite took the trophy with their concealed carry and tactical shirts.  The lightweight cotton rip stop shirts are much lighter for hot weather and still have the tactical utility uses.  The Woolrich Elite shirts primarily the CCW and Oxford shirts are outstanding.  They truly are concealed carry shirts that aren’t tactical looking at all.  If you want dress shirts that are cut for CCW this is your best option.

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