All posts tagged Style 201

Buying trash and wearing it

I don’t think I’m going to run out of info on discussing these tactical clothing issues because I hear it all day long.  I just got off the phone with a customer that was bitching about the Eotac clothing being discontinued, and the “now what am I going to do?” is starting to set in.   I noticed a ton of gun shops in my area have stopped carrying clothing because I get it.. selling clothing is a royal pain for a gun shop because nobody wants to deal with the sizing issues and exchange rates that you have to expect whenever  you sell something like that.  Nobody buys an LWRC M6A2 and returns it because it doesn’t fit right, but we have sold hundreds of dollars of clothing and had it all come back for exchanges, it goes with the business.

At a recent show in Atlantic City, we walked around various tactical booths and checked out the stuff that was there.   One guy that use to sell the stuff for some of the big names said he hated wearing the tactical pants from one company because they felt like they were made of cardboard.    I didn’t disagree with him because that really is about where the tactical clothing market is at.   There is a lot of uniform style clothing but when you get down to comfort and durability, it’s almost down to about 3 or 4 clothing companies and then after that you have to decide if you want tactical or casual, and then it’s an even small market.  I wonder if anyone in the tactical apparel market knows that ?

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Blackhawk lightweight tactical pants

I attempted to deviate away from Woolrich Elite clothing this summer and it lasted about 5 minutes.   There really is  something to be said for “movement” when wearing tactical pants.   There aren’t any indestructible pants out there because there are always ways to move and tear them, but when  you feel them riding in your inner thighs when  you raise your legs, you’re going to be buying new pants sooner than later.   These pants cost more than Woolrich Elite but the fit was no where near the same.  The sizing was very good compared to regular clothing, but the fit was totally not the same.

The Style BH86TP02 pants came in and I was anxious to find something to replace my worn our Eotac and Woolrich Elite stuff.   The first thing that I noticed about these tactical pants was that they were heavier than Woolrich Elite lightweight pants.   The side cargo pockets seem to be very well stitched in and felt strong, but they did not feel lightweight. The one thing that really gets me is the darn hand pockets.  I hate this Blackhawk, 5.11 tactical pants cut that is slanted and not rounded off.

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What’s up with those cotton prices?

We got several warnings from some of the apparel companies we’ve been selling that prices are going to go up on all of the clothing that we are selling.  This is entirely up to the fact that cotton demand has exceeded production capabilities and there has been a shortage of cotton.   We knew something was wrong last year when one of our clothing manufacturers didn’t have any of it’s lightweight clothing available when Spring came and nothing showed up for Summer.   Now that we have a large number of deployed Military and private Contractors being deployed over seas in  hot climates, there is a large demand for lightweight tactical clothing.  Unfortunately we couldn’t name one company that makes all of the best lightweight clothing because each has it’s own good and bad points.   I’m still not happy that the Eotac Style 301 shorts stopped being made last year because I do not like the shorter inseam 302.

I have had some of the 5.11 tac lite pro shorts, but they are too tactical looking for most of my Summer adventures.   I think it was smart to make them a cotton polyester variant especially since Cotton prices have gone up, it’s probable going to be more common to see synthetic materials blend into clothing.   You sure can’t beat the 100% cotton ripstop tactical pants from Eotac though.   We get a lot of requests from guys in Iraq and Afghanistan that love the Style 203 pants because the pocket designs and the fit is superior to the similarly looking pants from 5.11 tactical pants.   I remember being at a trade show last year and some of the guys were joking about how hard it was to tell what clothing company made various pants because they all looked the same. The truth is, they don’t all feel the same.

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How to hang an M4 on you like a Christmas Tree

In continuing a previous discussion on choosing holsters for secondary weapons, having quick detach gear is important, but it can’t be too easy to remove.   Blackhawk gear is pretty darn good and I have never see a holster failure.   I did see a Fobus holster break at one point and I’ve seen a few leather holsters that should have been tossed away because they were becoming too soft and re-holstering firearms was causing a lot of fumbling.  There is nothing wrong with taking a Carbine class and testing  your gear out, even if you don’t think  you have the best, find out how it works on the range and you’ll be more confident.

 

I’m a big believer in teaching people to use their hands to know where all of their gear is on a vest or on a firearm without looking.   I admit that I have done this myself, and it is one of the first things I teach students whenever they put on a tactical vest, tactical pants or any other tactical apparel.   Make sure you remember where you put it and be consistent in where it is.   It’s real easy to forget where you put those spare batteries, your spare ammunition or your hearing protection if you are constantly moving things around.   I have 2 M4 Tac Pac gun parts holders that carry several spare parts for my AR15 as well as a few AA batteries and CR123 batteries.   It’s been awhile since I lost anything in my tactical vests.

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2011 SHOT show is here

This year there will be several new Eotac products coming out.   The new Direct action smock and the Recce pant along with the new A-tacs cam pattern that will be made for the Style 201 lightweight pants and the Style 407 long sleeve tactical shirt.   We got a glimpse of the A-tacs pattern last June at the Police and Security Expo in New Jersey and got a lot of good feed back on the pattern.   Digital patterns have come a long way in recent years and it really has good darn good.   I remember as a kid thinking that most of the woodland cammo made you stand out just as boldly as if you were wearing regular clothing and it all didn’t make sense to me.

You can ask many of those serving in Iraq and Afghanistan what they thought about the camo they had back in Desert Storm vs. the stuff that is now.   The Style 201 tactical pants are lightweight combat pants that are very much meant for a Carbine operator.   These 100% cotton ripstop pants have a unique fitting that gives you more maneuverability over similar designs.  There are some really cheap knock of pants that look like this and go for under $30, but they will not feel the same.   If you have a chance to stop by the Eotac booth this year.  Check out the new A-tacs pattern camo.  If you aren’t in the military, you may want these for hunting.    Very good for the American bow hunter.

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New A-Tacs pattern camo coming in Spring

This weekend was another big weekend for us in displaying the new A-Tacs pattern cammo from Eotac.    We got a  lot of inquiring responses from people walking around the NTOA, National Tactical Operations Assoc. in Pittsburgh this week.   More than a few of the people made comments about how bad the military digital camo was and that it looks more like a blob than melts with it’s background.   The A-Tacs pattern is still in production but we are looking for a Spring delivery date.

The A-tacs pattern is going to be a big hit, my only hope is there is enough production to keep up with the demand.  The style 201 operator pants have a proven design and will be part of the first run in tactical pants for the A-tacs pattern.   My only wish was that these pants would be available before archery season because more than a few people mentioned at how good the pattern would be for hunting as well as military applications.   The pattern we saw and displayed was for urban environments.

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Order clothing online vs brick and mortar

tactical pantsNothing beats a good brick and mortar store that stocks tactical clothing, but there aren’t too many of those out there.  Makes sure you do some research on clothing sizing and look at the sizing guides closely.   To avoid wasting money on shipping and return shipping charges, you may want to break out a tape measure and measure yourself.   Comparing one clothing line to another is a no, no, since not everyone follows the same standards.    The Eotac tactical pants have an elastic wasteband which will give  you some flexibility in waist sizing.   Keep in mind that when you measure yourself, you should be measuring with the gun inside your waist if you carry IWB.   We have a great many of sizing issues when people order The Wilderness belts.   These tactical belts are hands down the best configuration for carrying firearms around, but the sizing can be tricky.

Many people have asked us which type of pants are the ones they want, we get asked which shirts people should wear and we get asked which color would looks the best.   Its funny that working in the tactical clothing business isn’t much different than working in any other apparel business.   People want to look professional and with the selection of tactical pants, tactical shirts, tactical vests, and the long line of concealed carry apparel coming out, we know that matching shirts with pants ect. is something that takes a little time.   Ordering clothing over the internet for new clothing products makes things even harder.   Something like color selections can be very difficult for shoppers, but its just as complicated to dealers.   We get color swatches from manufacturers that may look correct until you upload it to a computer and realize that the computere monitors that people are using may have their colors adjusted and dark blues make look light blue depending on which computer you view it on.

 

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Tactical Pants with an edge

Tactical Pants

In the the last decade, probale since Sept 11th, the reorganization of military personal into smaller non-uniformed security and special ops has created a new industry.    The market has exploded with various new companies emerging.   We’ve also seen a few companies fizzle out, recently SigTac has shown that it is on the way out.    The Eotac Clothing has been on the market for almost a year now and the Eotac pants, both lightweight Style 201, and Style 203 are far superior in durability compared to other lightweight pant designs.  The Style 202 Eotac pants which may look like something that 5.11 has out, have very practical improvements in pocket reinforcements and size.   The side cargo pockets are bellowed which mags it easier to use for things like mag dumps.    The rear ID pocket it much easier to access compared to the simliarly designed Woolrich Elite 4429 pant.

Tactical Pants isn’t a very descriptive if you know the market.   Some people thinkg BDUs are tactical pants and guess what, they are.   Jeans with a zipper on the side pockets can be tactical depending on who you talk to.    Well, for those that need to carry gear, we don’t really care what you call them, if they work for you then you keep buying them.   The sad thing about the tactial clothing and pants market is the QC or quality control.   I’ve seen a lot of people wearing 5.11 pants to the range, but after 5.11 basically owned the tactical apparel market, from the last time I saw, there quality control has gotten shotty.  They make some good stuff, but when there manufacturing facilities are in 3 different Countries, you might get 3 different fits and sizes.

 

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Lightweight pants customer response

Tactical PantsMany of you may think that spending $60 for a pair of pants is too high, but for a lightweight material,  the design is extremely important.   Eotac lightweight pants have a gusseted crotch that will drastically increase your ability to manuever without wearing about ripping your crotch out if you’re running and jumping.    We had a user mention that another manufacturers pants tore in the crotch when he went from prone to standing up on a firing line.    I guess we’ve all torn pants at some point in life, but tactical pants are not meant to be worn like Levi’s jeans.

There are a operator type pants on the market now.   I’ve seen more than a few that were knock offs of the ACU Army Combat Uniform or Paratrooper pants.    Some of them are selling for $20-$100.    That is a pretty big price variances.    I got to try on a few from a distributor that was selling them for $20 and they were worth about $5 after they went through the wash machine.  People don’t really want to spend a lot of money on tactical clothing with this economy, but just like all of the junk AR15, SKS, AK accessories, there are some pretty big differences in clothing durability.   The 2nd thing is the fit and mobility.    True operators are not going to want to feel a crotch ride up on in their pants when they sit down in a car and are carrying 60lbs of weapons and gear.   We had a number of agencies and customers change over to the new Eotac Style 201 Operator Pants and one of the customers stated that in the last 6 months this is the only lightweight cotton ripstop pant that he owned that did not tear at the crotch.   All of the previous pants he wore tore at the same spot.

 

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