Gear Review: 5.11 Tactical Pants/Shorts
Anyone who knows me, knows that I love cargo pants. I own about 30 pairs of pants/shorts and 28 of them are cargos. It’s not just me though. Pretty much every geek and nerd that I know loves them as well. There’s something about having all that extra storage space. I think my freakish love of extra pockets started way back when I was in high school. I started doing magic tricks as a hobby when I was quite young. When cargo pants hit the scene, I quickly realized that I could carry many more tricks with me what to impress the ladies with. After all, that’s why anyone picks up magic: to impress the ladies. It doesn’t ever work, mind you, but still.
Where was I?
Oh yeah, an unhealthy obsession with cargo pants. I’ve recently discovered a maker of pants that has made my pocket dreams come true: 5.11 Tactical. Sorry Old Navy, Arizona and Dockers. I’ve…I’ve found someone else. It’s not you. It’s me. 5.11 Tactical is just able to satisfy me in ways you’ve never been able. Maybe we can still hang out every now and then when the Tactical Pants are in the wash?
Where do I start? Well, I currently own 3 pairs: the TDU Pants with Ripstop, the Stryke Pants w/Flex-Tac and the 5.11 Tactical Shorts.
There are some traits that all 3 share. For starters, and most important to Mrs. Noob, they are amazingly stain resistant. Heck, even water beads up and rolls off these things. If I’m out and about and happen to brush up against something, most times it just takes a quick wipe with my hand or a napkin and the pants are clean again.
Another thing is that, much like a pair of blue jeans, these things have to be broken in. I was surprised when I first wore them that, after an hour or so, they started becoming uncomfortable. The fabric is really, really stiff to begin with. But after the 3rd or 4th time wearing them, they really softened up. Now, like the aforementioned jeans, these are so comfortable that I dislike wearing anything else. The pants all have an effective expanding waistband that keeps it perfectly snug both on those days when I stick to my diet and those days when I take full advantage of the all you can eat pulled pork special at the BBQ place right next to work.
These pants were certainly made with gun owners in mind as well. Those expand-o-waistlines adjust perfectly to IWB holster carry. Also giant, wide mouthed main pockets conceal my Ruger LC9 perfectly. If you have a pocket pistol, these are the pants for you.
The TDU pants (pictured above) are made of a pretty hefty and very durable fabric that 5.11 calls “ripstop” fabric. According to them, it’s very tear and fray resistant and I believe it. This stuff is very thick, but amazingly, it breathes like a much thinner fabric. I don’t know how they pulled it off but bravo on that. It’s bad enough that I have to wear long pants to work in the sweltering and humid weather of Florida, but these breathe more easily than my Old Navy pants, which are made from a thinner fabric. The only way I can explain it is that they must have some kind of weird voodoo going on at the 5.11 factory.
The pockets of the TDU pants are awesome! The leg pockets are lined with a soft fabric and, best of all, feature pockets within pockets! Seriously, there’s a freaking organizer inside these pockets. According to 5.11, they’re sized to hold a 30 round AR-15 magazine at the same time as standard pistol mags. The pants also have a special pocket inside of the knees to hold special neoprene knee pads. I could have used those when I was working as a network administrator and crawling around while installing network cable.
The Stryke Pants are made of a slightly thinner fabric that is also a bit stretchier. I’ve noticed I didn’t have to break these in as much as the TDU pants. These also have the pocket-in-pocket design. In addition, the Stryke pants have these little off-seam half pockets that would be perfect for carrying a pocket knife or, in my case, a Sonic Screwdriver and a cell phone.
Finally, the Tactical Shorts have conveniently wide slash pockets, spacious cargo pockets, and a single off-seam pocket with a Velcro-closed flap that is, again, perfect for a pocket knife or cell phone.
I haven’t really been able to find any complaints about their pants. If I was really pushed I could mention the price although that feels like a cheap shot. They average $50 to $70 apiece, but this is truly a case of “you get what you pay for”. If there’s a brand of pants that I would say will outlast me, this is it. Seriously– from the feel of these and the way they’re stitched together, these things could become family heirlooms. For something this durable and long lasting, I don’t mind paying a few extra bucks.
Lately I’ve released a few “perfect” reviews and I have this fear that if I give out too many “5 out of 5 hats,” the value of that score will be lessened. But for crying out loud, these pants deserve it. These pants are the gold standard that I’m going to judge all other pants on from this point forth. I tried so hard to find something to knock a point, or even a half point off for, but I just couldn’t.
All of 5.11 Tactical’s products can be ordered from their website: http://www.511tactical.com/ and if their pants are any indicator, I can only assume the rest of their products are awesome as well.
Product Images used are Copyright © 2011 5.11 Inc
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