All posts tagged Woolrich Elite Chinos

New 5.11 Covert Khaki compared to Woolrich Elite Chinos?

tactical pantsI really don’t know why all of these tactical companies left standing only deal with the Poly Cotton variations of clothing and never deal with the 100% cotton ripstop material.  Tru-Spec has a cotton canvas pant as well as the well known 5.11 tactical clothing company but there is a nich part of this industry that is having a really hard time finding a good quality tactical pant that is really comfortable doesn’t feel stiff when worn.   Plenty of our contractors and even electricians are not allowed to wear the polycotton materials because of the possibility of flashing or exposure to high heat.  Ask anyone in an emergency room what happens during fires and what the best type of clothing is to have on in those situations.   Many of our tactical shirts have nylon in them instead of polyester for this reason.

When it comes to having a true CCW pant, there really isn’t much out there.   They are either very cargo looking tactical pants or they have so many zippers or funky cuts to the clothing that you already know they are tactical pants because your suit pants aren’t going to look like that.   Now that Woolrich Elite Chinos are  not being made anymore, the new 5.11 covert khaki 2.0 is an improvement over the previous covert khaki pants and when I had a customer come in here and ask me if we carried them, I was surprised to find out they were 5.11 pants in the first place.   These pants do have the side zippers but they are hidden very well and the tabs are very small.  They do have a sheen to them which makes them look more like suit pants and they have permanent creases that give them that professional look.

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New Article about Concealed Carry

There was a recent article in the New York Times about concealed carry clothing being a new market.  Woorlich Elite Series really got the nich for their concealed carry chinos which are still the only non-tactical looking pant we sell.  While everyone likes to claim they have them, we don’t see it on our end.   The Woolrich Elite Series concealed carry shirts are our favorite because they are cut right and look good.   There are always variations in what type of clothing you should wear and sometimes it doesn’t matter especially if you pocket carry or use an ankle holster.

There is a market for concealed carry because in realty a bad economy means more crime, it does not mean that more people are going to get shot.  Sure some of these tactical pants are a little over done, but if you want to carry all of the tools for self defense or emergency reasons, you’ll probable end up destroying your pants because your knife clip or flashlight would eventually ruin it.   The Woolrich Elite Chinos are designed to have these features on the pockets.

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What is the job at hand and will your pants hold up?

There are so many different types of tactical pants on the market  and so many people will rant or rave about a certain brand.  Sometimes they just brag about how they got a great deal on the clothing and and they fit, others will talk about the features while others will talk about the comfort.   Not everyone is going to like the fit of a certain tactical pant because body types can vary.   I won’t get too much into discussing this but in the 8yrs we’ve been selling clothing, not everyone can be happy with the same product.   In recent years the discussion has been about gussetted crotches and if the pants will blow out on the range, well that still can happen with any pant.

The real issue is with lightweight clothing, the lighter the material the more likely it will be to blow out if it does not have a gussetted crotch.  Some of the Tru Spec tactical pants they we have tested out do not have this type of stitching but we’ve not heard of anyone blowing them out.  I would claim that these are fence jumping tactical pants, but the fit gives you pretty good movement.   I’ve seen some of the Eotac pants blow out but that was due to design it was really a manufacturing issue.   There are so many variables in getting a good clothing product on the market and if we use consistency, quality and price points, the Tru Spec pants are probable number 1.

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Elite Survival Systems quality tactical nylon gear

We had to pick a gun case and gun bag company that we knew made quality stuff and after seeing all of the Blackhawk gun bags, 5.11 range bags and the Bulldog gun cases.   There is a really big difference in the material and the quality of the Elite Survival Systems tactical nylon.   Gun bags are a hard thing to buy online and it’s up to the manufacturers to supply us with good images of what the bags and compartments are for and that is something we’re glad Elite Survival is doing.  Every person that needs a range bag, EMS bag or Patrol bag may have different needs but the features and designs have been a hit with our customers.

When it comes to stocking products that are in demand in this day and age, products line belly bands are hard to sell online because getting the right fight is a guessing game online.   The Core Defender gun holsters from Elite Survival Systems is something you will want to stop in a store and try out.   I consider myself to be above average height and ended up being a Medium for this bellyband.   I would have guess a large or an X-large at first, but that is the hard thing about shopping online.

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The trend is towards pocket guns and it ain’t gonna stop anytime soon

The real issue that we are seeing with guns and accessories is not everyone has been able to keep up with the guns that are being made today.  If I were a holster maker I would be cautious about making holsters for everything out there because there are some firearms that are simply not going to catch on. When it comes to carrying in the pocket, the responsible thing to do is to use a pocket holster.  I had some issues with one maker because the hammer on my 537 Smith & Wesson was getting caught and I had to cut out part of the holster to avoid snags.

On your journey towards finding the right gun and holster that works for you, take your time before you end up with a box full of holsters you didn’t really want sitting in your closet.   When  you are looking for clothing that are not like the usual tactical pants that you see marketed for concealed carry but really aren’t, take a good look at the Woolrich Elite chinos.  People always ask us if their gun is going to print if they were something like this, but the answer to that is to use a piece of cardboard to prevent printing.   There are a lot of very nice .380 pistols and I would have to say that they do seem to be easier to shoot than the 38 special snubbies, but with proper training, you can get what you want out of both and be very discreet.

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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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Getting it out there !

For those of us that live in the civilian world and don’t have the dress code standards that Law Enforcement and Military men and women have, we have more leeway on what we can choose to wear.   A big thing to get in this business is Military and Law Enforcement contracts.   There are districts and Departments that have specific colors and dress code standards on uniforms and tactical clothing.  If you can get them, you may be set for a very long time.   Whenever a new line of clothing comes out it’s always a big deal to get it out on the public circle and get people to wear it.   If it is over priced or a pain in the butt to clear it stay around very long in this economy.

I’m not sure where the military contractors are going to go now that Iraq and Afghanistan seemed to have maxed out on man power and I doubt there will be another serious influx of personell there so massive expansive of the tactical pants and tactical clothing may be over.  The big thing for clothing companies to do is get to the police departments and get them something that actually functions well and can be used in the Narcotics, Homeland Security and under cover work.   Vertx seems to have done a really good job in growing some legs in that market.

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If you are looking for real CCW pants

I am now staring out the old Woolrich Elite CCW pants in style 4910 and the Eotac Style 204 pants and wondering why they disappeared and fell of the face of the earth when there is practically nothing else out there like them.   These were two of the biggest selling pocket carry CCW pants and since guns like the Ruger LCP have become so popular what kind of CCW pants do you where anymore?  I am very fond of the Tru-Spec 24/7 pants as far as comfort, but the pocket locations are a dead giveaway that you are carrying gear and probable a gun.

The Style 204 and 4910 pants were nice, but the back pockets were large enough to hold a 20oz bottle of water that it was also a giveaway that pants stored a lot of gear.   Not the Woolrich Elite Chinos, these pants look like they were bought out of a mens apparel store and you really have to take a close look at the hand pockets to see the tiny zipper that opens them up.   The zipper is very close to the Tru-Spec 24/7 pants but very much a CCW pant. They are not baggy like the 204 or 4910 pants so don’t expect them to be like that, but they will fit like normal pants do.

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