All posts tagged Style 203 Pants

Lightweight tactical pants and standard weight

When we first got into this business we were mostly dealing with 5.11 tactical products.   5.11 tactical has pretty much held the market on tactical clothing, but now that they’ve grown so big it seems pretty obvious that there is a large customer base that became tired of the clothing company from 3 different countries and the fit was varying to much people started looking elsewhere.   Tru-Spec and Vertx are the two tactical clothing companies that have really grown some legs even in this bad economy.

Tru-Spec has beat out 5.11 on tactical clothing because the prices can be very close and you basically get a better quality product.   We’ve already noticed that returns and complaints on Tru-spec tactical pants was very low.  There are always preferences and things people would like to change that would suite them more but shrinkage and pricing is very important.  Vertx is on the higher end of the spectrum but according to what we are hearing from people, they want us to carrying the product line.

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Fall is around the corner, don’t get caught in the cold

This is one of those times of year that you have no idea if you should be taking the air conditioners out of the window or leaving them in.   Usually you decide to pull them out if after you wake up in the morning and it’s 45 F in your bedroom because the temperature dropped in the middle of the night.   There are also seasonal changes at this time of the year in the Northeast where you walk out the door and freeze until your car warms up and then by late morning you are sweating and have to take off your jacket or a sweatshirt that you thought you had to wear all day.   One way to avoid the shocks in the season changes is to stick with lightweight pants until it get’s really cold.

The best deal we have running on tactical clothing right now are the now obsolete Eotac tactical pants.   They are going for $29.99 for all sizes and colors and these are the lightest weight tactical pants that you can find.   Some people don’t like the fact that they can wrinkle but if you hang them up after washing them, they really aren’t a problem keeping wrinkle free.   100% cotton ripstop material is something invented during WWII for our soldiers serving in the Pacific where bugs and heat exaustion were a problem.   Going from wearing tactical shorts in the summer to where heavy weight pants in the fall and then sweating your you know whats off isn’t fun and the lightweight tactical pants are the way to go.

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Labor Day sale at Rogue Elite

We will be bringing in more tactical clothing this fall from 5.11 tactical and Blackhawk as well as Tru-Spec.  We have heard lots of good things about the Tru-Spec 24/7 pants and considering that they are Gunny approved, we’ll have to say they are Rogue Elite approved.   As the American economy slows down, we’re waiting to see what happens with the clothing manufacturing business.   Cotton prices are still way up and some of the t-shirts we have brought in are almost $2 more over last years pricing.

Some of the tactical apparel that we sell got really expensive while others have slowly worked their way up to the inflation that we have expected.   We’re still running a great deal on $30 tactical pants from Eotac that has sadly gotten run down to the minimum.   We pretty much just have OD Green tactical pants in lightweight and standard weight and if we don’t heard something big this fall, this is the end of something great.

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$29.99 pants on sale until they’re gone

It’s time to clear out some space and make room to transition our store into a kick ass Police, Security and Law Enforcement supply place.    We just got in a huge  inventory of Original Swat tactical boots and the diverse product line of footwear is impressive.  We’ve done a few conventions for their products and we know what people want to see.   Recently we had several groups from local Swat teams show up and we sent out a bunch of stuff for testing and evaluations. Product feedback is important and we are listening.
We got a lot of requests from people to start carrying the Tru-Spec 24/7 line of clothing.   The women’s pants have a pretty good repuation, but this whole un hemmed thing for women’s tactical pants is someone annoying, but I know why they are doing it.  With our broad display of tactical pants we’re adjusting to the demand of our customer base.   The Eotac product line was a great sell, but now it seems to be a thing of the past and it’s time to move on.  Stock up on the last of the lightweight pants for $29.99.

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Sale on Eotac apparel

We are running down the last of the Eotac apparel and most of our employees were acting like vultures grabbing their sizes before it was all sold off.   We only have a few of the odd sizes in the vest, shirts and jackets and most of the lightweight stuff is almost gone.   I think there is going to be a huge glut of tactical pants on the market because I noticed that with a bad economy and so many tactical clothing companies trying to get their foot in the door, I’m seeing $20-$30 8.11 and Blackhawk tactical pants all over the place.  Men and women are still going over to Iraq and Afghanistan so there is still a strong demand.

Now granted, there are some really bad designs and I recently tried out a few new styles of clothing, but after testing them all out, I ended up back with Woolrich Elite tactical pants.   It’ll be some what easier to sell clothing now that Eotac is gone because there won’t be so many people asking about the differences between the lightweight tactical pants and the regular clothing.   I am still waiting to find out what the situation is going to be with making clothing in China and cotton prices because we just got hit with a few more price increases and I doubt this will be the last of 2011.

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Somewhat depressing but we’re hopeful

The Eotac website is down and there is plenty of fluttering going around the internet about their sudden disappearance.   As a dealer for the Eotac line, we were sent a notice that Eotac was going through their SKU numbers and re-evaluating the entire product line.  That doesn’t sound like Eotac has fallen off the face of the earth, but shutting down the tactical clothing website was alarming.   We recently heard that another clothing company has pulled out of China and is now making tactical clothing in Haiti.

If you listen to what Donald Trump has been saying for recent weeks, it’s obvious that China has this Country by the balls on clothing manufacturing and It sounds like some have actually taken the leap and moved out.   Considering the customer feedback we have gotten on the Eotac tactical pants,   I think in a worst case situaion, Eotac may have been bought out or should have been bought out to keep the superior desings from going out of existance

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Eotac pants shortage ? Whats going on?

I don’t think I can tell you I know what is going on, but I hope there is some salvation with the Eotac apparel.   Between the shortages in cotton and fabric materials and a bad economic it’s been hard to predict what will happen.   Our biggest sellers have been the Eotac lightweight pants because even though they may look like many other tactical pants, the pocket designs are the best designed pants for what I like.   The Woolrich Elite style 4441 are very close in design, but the draw back that I have seen was with the ID or wallet pocket.  You can shove a 20 oz water bottle in the back pocket, but try getting a wallet in and out of the ID pocket and you’ll know what I mean.   I guess I’m very old fashion and still haul a lot of business cards with me and I’m not looking to change that.   Tactical pants still gotta fit my car keys, gun and wallet for me to like them.

The style 203 pants have been hard to get almost since Eotac first emerged.   We waited for months to get the black pants in, but they never arrived and we heard rumors there was a production issue with them.   Since then we’ve been getting phone calls wonder if they were coming in and now we’ve been told that something else may be going on with these tactical pants.   Only time will tell if the production issue gets resolved, but we have the last of Eotac style 201, Style 202, Style 203 tactical pants that Eotac made.   I’ve seen a few clothing companies fold up this year because getting material has been so hard.   Finding denim material  was even harder to find.   Keep an eye here if some good news becomes available because we know there will be something announced soon.

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Eotac Style 202 pants

I’ve been growing concerned about some of the products I have learned to love in recent years because production issues in making clothing in China is having an impact on the availability of some of the tactical clothing out there.   I have gone from 5.11 tactical clothing to Woolrich Elite Series and then on to Eotac and picked up various tactical shirts, vests and jackets along the way.  I  had a Sigtac jacket for a short time, but kind of had no real use for it because I didn’t like the idea of carrying a gun in the jacket.  I always want the gun on my body and not in outerwear.

When it comes to the type of pants I want to wear, I am really stuck on wearing the Style 202 pants from Eotac.   I actually had switching over to the lightweight pants in the summer because the 100% cotton ripstop just doesn’t support the gear that I carry as well as the cotton canvas tactical pants.   The pocket designs on this are bellowed and hold more although snagging is a problem with all of the tactical pants I own.  Try washing dishes in the kitchen and you’ll learn to hate the cabinet knobs and handles.  I have a friend that has town his pants in the same area in his garage because of the same issue, but there are always compromises.

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The running man… Carbine fighting

tactical pantsMost handguns blow holes in targets, a good .223 Carbine with a fragmenting bullet is going to tear up a BG.   I strongly suggest putting a white light on any carbine just incase you need it to identify a target.   Many of the people we see on the training courses always think that handguns are for home defense and never really thought too much about keeping a Carbine available.  You may have some problems finding a safe to lock up your rifle, but there are things you can do to keep it away from children and still have quick access.   One of the most common things we still see with new operators is dropped gear.  Guys show up with holsters for sidearms that don’t retain the firearms, and spare pistol mags end up sitting somewhere in midrange after a quick running scenario.   The first time I wore a pair of Style 201 pants, I loaded up 6-30rd AR mags and ran around the neighborhood.   I wanted to see if the lightweight material secured the mags in place.   I was blown away at how well they were secured and I didn’t feel lop sided if I ran.  The Style 201 pants are now available in Digital camo and coming later this fall they will be available in the new Direct Action A-Tacs pattern.

I’ve discussed this topic several times before, but I’ve seen more examples of gear that failed and operators that had a teachable moment.   Its no surprise that Rogue Elite sponsors a few firearms instructors and training groups.   We are supplying our Instructors with Eotac Style 202, Style 203 and Style 201 tactical pants.    Since we’re well into the warm weather season, most of our Instructors and Operators are working with the Style 201 Operator grade pants.    I have to admit that I am more inclined to attend Carbine courses over Pistol courses.    I guess you should consider the Rogue Elite Team to think a Carbine is a better thing to fight with than a handgun.   To quote Clint Smith, “A handgun is to be used so you can fight your way back to your rifle”.    If you take a serious look at the survival rate of handgun victims vs rifle uses,  there is considerable evidence to suggest that you may want to seriously consider upgrading your home defense weapon to a shotgun or a carbine.   Bad guys showing  up on PCP or pumped up on crack aren’t going to be concerned 9mm bullets unless you get a really good shot.

 

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Tactical pants and your wallet

Eotac pantsThe Eotac Style 202 pants are basically an improved pocket design over the Woolrich Elite 4429 pants.  The Eotac 203 are similiar to Woolrich Elite 4441 and the Eotac 201 are similiar to the Woolrich Elite 4447 styles.    Each may look the same at first look, but try stuffing the pockets with various items and  you’ll quickly notice the design differences.   The ID pocket on the Eotac pants have a pull tab that make it easy to open the pocket and I have absolutely zero problems using my gear with this design.   The side cargo pockets are bellowed and although not as wide as BDU pants, you will be able to use these for mag dumps much easier.

The title may sound like we’re going to talk about the expense of various tactical pants, but this post is actually going to be about retrieving your wallet from your tactical pants.   When I first got into wearing tactical pants, I started out wearing the 5.11 stuff most people are introduced to.   I tended to feel like my wallet didn’t fit right in the rear pockets becaused they floated around too much.   The  next line of tactical pants I wore were the Woolrich Elite 4429 style and although they are very well made and the quality is there, I really thought the velcro ID pocket was a pain to use for a wallet.   I carry a few credit cards, but I have a lot of business cards and other type of ID that I carry and my wallet is probable thicker than 3/4 of operators.   After I found out about Eotac pants, and the fact that the original designers of the Woolrich Elite series clothing are the present designers of the Eotac apparel, I gave them a try.

 

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