All posts tagged Woolrich Elite Series Tactical Pants

What’s coming out at SHOT SHOW this year?

We’ll find out sure enough, I’m sure every major company will have something new to advertise but it’s usually the same thing every year, there are winners and there are losers and it usually takes about a year to two years for people to test out a product before it can be declared to be a good thing.   I have seen plenty of people rave about a certain firearm when it comes out and 3 months later there is a recall on them.  I saw it with Springfield’s XD models and even LWRC had some significant changes to their designs since they relaunched the company.   Many new products become the products that are hard to get parts for especially if they don’t catch on and if you own one, 20yrs from now you’ll wish you had something different.

The tactical clothing market is in full force and a bad economy might weed out some of the higher end products this year.   I think the best and newest tactical pants we’ve seen lately are the Vertx pants but those are very expensive and may not hold up in a bad economy.   Blackhawk and 5.11 tactical and Woolrich Elite have done some significant price increases and from our standpoint, that is going to  hurt them if somebody else can put a good product on the market for less money.  We’ve seen many Police Departments spend their money on Tru-Spec products because they were better priced than the 5.11 tactical pants.

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We have a clear winner for best priced tactical pants

And the hands down best pants for anyone with a budget are the Tru Spec tactical pants.   The lightweight poly cotton ripstop pant is an easy transition for anyone that has been wearing the 5.11 tactical pants, and more than a number of our customers have mentioned that the 5.11 tactical apparel line  has become more and more expensive.  We’ve so much turmoil and price increases with tactical clothing and it affects anyone that was getting their stuff made in China.   Cotton prices are up as well as shipping and transportation.   We are seeing UPS ground prices hang around $14 and that if for products under 3 pounds.    Two pairs of tactical pants, whether they are lightweights or standard weights are going to be over 3 lbs and most people’s sizes will be close to 2 pounds each.

If you factor in order 3 or 4 pairs of pants and they are each $50 a pair, that is $150-$200 for them.  If you got a pair of tactical pants that were just as good quality wise, and they cost $10 each, you will get them for $120-$160 dollars.  Those are pretty good differences in prices and for many of our Law Enforcement departments that are looking for something that doesn’t burn up all of their clothing expenses are going with Tru Spec over Blackhawk and 5.11 just based on cost.   If you are already getting the quality and the same basic material, what’s the point in tossing another $10 a pair in the trash.   There are always feature differences with tactical clothing so we’re not knocking 5.11 or Blackhawk, but saving money in a bad economy is very important.

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Woolrich Elite Lightweight pants in Coyote Brown

We just got in the new Woolrich Elite lightweight pants in Coyote Brown and they look really good.  Over the years we have been surprised at  how un popular black tactical pants were and mostly see khaki colors, OD green and usually something other than black or navy.  I guess most people try and stay away from the ninja look unless they have to, but coyote brown is a welcomed color.   We have been pruning our tactical pants category down for several months now and we should be eliminated a few product lines.  One of those product lines we won’t be discontinuing any time soon are the Woolrich Elite pants.

When we first saw Woolrich Elite products get on the market the first thing we realized is the contrast between 5.11 tactical fabrics and the Woolrich Elite.  Bother tactical pants would state they they were made out of an 8.5 ounce cotton canvas but only the Woolrich Elite pants were really the ones that held up to that.  5.11 tactical would not be where it is today if it didn’t make some great products but the complaints coming from our customer base have been constant and many have moved towards Tru Spec, Woolrich Elite and Vertx.

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More feedback about the Woolrich Elite Chinos

Just got off the phone with a customer that was looking for “discreet pants”  I know what he was looking for, but I asked him “Woolrich or Eotac?”   He said the Eotac discreet denim pants.   I told him that the product line is no longer being made and that all we have left are a few sizes.   The conversation went on about how hard it is to find pants that aren’t tactical.  So many companies are marketing to the concealed carry crowd, but 90 percent of them are not doing a good job.   There have been obvious fit improvements for some of them, but they still are way too tactical looking and that absolutely might get you killed in some situations.

Since the Woolrich Elite 44910 and 44909 pants have been discontinued and now that Eotac is out of business, the Eotac style 204 and 205 pants are going to be gone for good it seems.   Now what, the only answer we have for customers when they ask us about pants for concealed carry are, do you want tactical pants or the Woolrich Elite Chinos?   There are preferences in pocket locations, and Tru-Spec does a good job on their fit and durability, but all of these look tactical to us except the Woolrich Elite Chinos.  Check out the Youtube clip on our website.

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Wearing the right pants for the job

I recently took a trip for work where I figured that I was better off getting there on time than going back home and getting changed into my Woolrich Elite 44429 pants and then going back to work again.  Every once in awhile I still need to make the novice mistakes of cutting time out of a project and then creating a problem.   Brain farts are coming amonst males and last week was one of them.   There are plenty of times where I want to go out and really am not in the mood for wearing any kind of tactical pants. It’s nice to be able to put on a pair of pants and just go and not have to load up all of the flashlight, guns, magazine holders and knife and just go.

Well, without going into too much detail, I missed not having pants with wide hand pockets and it go really annoying that my flashlight got turned on in my pocket because the other stuff that I had to put in there kept hitting the on switch.   Most good tactical pants will be big enough to fit a j-frame revolver and even if you aren’t carrying a gun in your pocket, that amount of space means keys, flashlights and magazines tend to not fall out of the pockets.  The way the stitching is done, the gear will catch on the pocket lining before and reduce the chances of something falling out.

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Blowout pants report

There seems to be a shift in the tactical pants market now to going for the gusseted crotch on all of the new tactical pants.  While this is old news to some people certain tactical clothing companies have been really slow at keeping up with what’s  new.   While several clothing makers are looking to get out of China for making apparel,  we are hoping that 2012 means making better clothing without crazy skyrocketing prices.   We’ve been selling Woolrich Elite Series Tactical clothing for several years and got hit with a few price increase recently, but compared to some clothing makers, not all that bad.

Trying to find a good  pair of pants for less than $40 dollars pretty much means shopping on Ebay, Tru-Spec, 5.11 tactical or Woolrich Elite.   While there are always preferences to consider when people tell you which tactical pants are best for them.   We have known for a very long time that the patns going for under $30 are not going to last unless they are discontinued or clearance items.  The best deal in recent months were the Woolrich Elite Style 444904 pants which were a very sturdy cotton canvas material that were identical to to the 44429 pant but with a lower ankle pocket.   They were a little heavy for some people’s tastes but they  did not shrink like some of the competitors did.

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Rumors and more rumors as to what is going on

The tactical market is absolutely flooded with tactical pants and tactical clothing.   I just did some research online for concealed carry vests and found a few smaller companies making vests, but I also noticed they are making pants.   I’ve heard enough bitching and moaning from our customers about the fact that they didn’t want to pay $50 for a pair of pants, and now I’m seeing a cluster of small companies making $80 + pants.   As a dealer, I have serious doubts about the profitability of clothing priced that high even if you create a cult following.   The reality is this, if you don’t have easy access to a manufacturing facility in China, India, or Indonesia, you really are going to have a hard time making money.

Now that cotton prices have shot up so  much due to the inability to grow it fast enough, prices have gone up for even the big companies.   With Eotac tactical pants swimming in rumorville,   the easiest transition for customers is to Woolrich Elite apparel although Tru-Spec seems to have gotten a good nod from people we have been dealing with.   One of the good things about selling tactical footwear is that Original Swat boots owns their own boot factory and they don’t have the scheduling issues that many clothing companies have.   If they are sold out of something, they order it and produce it at their own scheduling time line.   One thing that seemed to really due in Eotac was they never produced the right products at the right time and it was almost like the company never got its best stuff on the market.

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