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Creeky73
30 March 2009, 17:08
hey guys, I am looking for some good tactical, mil spec britches. Right now I own a pair of pants that I bought on the Coast Guard base in San Diego, and they are by far my favorite pants to wear. Double layer seat and knees, and they seem to be made of some good, durable material. Now that I am in Mississippi again, I obviously can't get more of those pants. Where can I order online some britches that will be along that same quality level or better? I already checked out Blackhawk's website, and their pants might be a tad over the top for me (built in tourniquet systems and what not). I am also looking for some good tactical boots, and I have no idea what brands to look for. Any help would be appreciated.

103m 95g
31 March 2009, 04:59
I don't know if this is what you are talking about or what you are looking for is a different animal all together, but..........

I like the 5.11 series of tactical pants. comfortable, like salty dog BDU's, tough material. internal pockets for knee pads, deep rear pockets(I don't sit on my wallet like with traditional jeans)

What I don't like is that they are NOT made in USA

Tactical Tailor in WA state (off the I-5, near FT. LEWIS) has a line of pants that are supposed to be hard core, I have yet to have a chance to stop there while on my annual trip.

ETA: Apparently I am mistaken about the pants from TT http://www.tacticaltailor.com/apparel.aspx

Uglyduck
31 March 2009, 06:43
Check out the Operator pants from LA Police Gear...good features and cheap. I bought some Tac-lites from 5.11 only to discover the Operators were cheaper and nearly the same.

Army Chief
31 March 2009, 07:00
I'm kind of partial to the Woolrich Elite line, though I can't quite figure out if that has been phased out or not. I think the prevailing view is that EOTAC (http://www.eotac.com) is taking over a lot of the old Woolrich Elite turf.

Either way, most of the better pants come with some serious sticker shock. I couldn't see coughing up $100 for TAD Gear's pants (and don't get me wrong, as I've been a TAD Gear (http://www.tadgear.com/) customer for a couple of years), so for me it made more sense to go with the more reasonably-priced WE line. I like what I've seen of the RailRiders VersaTac pants as well, but they are not at all an economical choice, either. For the same money, I would go with TAD Gear.

Until we get a more active review process going on for tactical clothing, you might want to check out Military Morons (http://www.militarymorons.com/gear/garments.1.html#versa) for some good data on this particular topic.

AC

Army Chief
31 March 2009, 07:50
Pretty much everyone seems to have their own opinion about boots these days. I don't know what is "in vogue" at the moment, but if you're after good quality for a reasonable outlay, I've had good success with Merrell (http://www.merrell.com/US/Default.aspx#store/M/M-F/).

AC

trinydex
7 April 2009, 13:13
i've been doing a lot of research... i can provide my findings.

firstly i think everyone should at least take a look at the militarymorons reviews

http://militarymorons.com/gear/crye1.html

^ these are the gucci of all tactical pants

http://militarymorons.com/gear/garments.4.html#vertx

^ these aren't out yet but they look like the culmination of a lot of feedback that says, "too many pockets makes you look like a doofus."

milspec monkey has reviews on some of the 5.11 stuff (and other brands that are for sale at lapolicegear)

http://www.milspecmonkey.com/clothing.html

but i found some information in a slightly old thread that says 5.11 pants can rip at the crotch

http://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=16203

this makes me search for pants that have a gussetted crotch.

here's a comparison of woolrich vs eotac. the eotac is almos thte same with improvements.

http://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=28439




if you aren't into the tactical pant look some people have found "outdoor" pants to be the ticket.

arcteryx (company involved with making the vertx pant from above) makes a few models that have key features like gussetted crotch, double layers in critical areas and small pockets.

http://www.arcteryx.com/Product.aspx?Mens/Pants-Shorts/Grifter-Pant#Mid_Weight

moutain khaki makes what seems to be the perfect pant, their alpine utility pant has small pocket to fit things like a flashlight or knife, while retaining key features like double knees and gussetted crotch.

http://www.backcountry.com/store/MKH0002/Mountain-Khakis-Alpine-Utility-Pant-Mens.html

but if you read the reviews you'll find that their sizing is inconsistent. certain colors will fade (the granite turns purple) and the pants will shrink a full size after about 5 washes.

i also found that people compared carhartt pants to mountain khakis a lot in the reviews. i looked into carhartts but they didn't have any with cargo pockets, mostly they were "carpenter" style pants, with the small pockets and the hammer loop. i always disliked those small pockets because things fell out of them for me.


that's all i've found. i don't have any personal experience with any of the pants. i'm just trying to narrow things down to a few that i'm willing to dish out the money to try.