Thursday, May 27, 2010

Tacticality...

I got an interesting e-mail after I posted my review of the 5.11 Covert Tactical Pants. The CEO of LA Police Gear, Sean, caught the review and had a proposition for me:

Hi,

I have seen some traffic from your blog ever since you posted about the closeout 5.11 stuff. Thanks for mentioning us. I very much appreciate it.

Can I send you some stuff we make for your review? I will send it all for free. I would like to send you our Operator pants and Operator Polo shirts. Maybe a bail out bag as well.

Naturally I was intrigued, especially given my positive experience with the 5.11 Tactical gear I'd purchased. I'm more than happy to give something new a try and give my honest impressions - and getting an e-mail from the CEO certainly caught my attention. I've bought a handful of items from LA Police Gear in the past and have had good experience with them, so I'm pretty confident that their items will stand up to review.

Sean goes on to explain the items that they will be sending:
These items are not super high quality items like 5.11 or Blackhawk, but are instead made at the lowest price humanly possible and sold at ultra low prices. Lots of people claim to make the best stuff and charge high prices. In this economy I wanted to make products that were “acceptable quality” and an excellent value (ie the price is low so people can afford them).
He's got an excellent point - we're very quick to point out TANSTAAFL / you get what you pay for - and quite often will dismiss a lower-end item simply because of the cost. Getting some exposure to show that these items can compete with the pricier lines can't hurt; at the very least it gets the word out that you don't have to spend a small fortune to get decent stuff that won't fall apart after the first use.

So yesterday I come home to a large box on the kitchen table with the following items in it:

Tactical City!

There's tactical pants, shirts, hats, bags, and even a tactical water bottle! It's clear I've got a couple of different reviews to cover - one for the clothes and one for the gear - and the obvious comparison for the clothes will be the 5.11 gear I've covered previously. The BoB and pistol case should be put to the test rather shortly - looking to take a range trip over the long weekend - and I might even press the new tactical water bottle into service as well!

Stay tuned - we'll have reviews of this gear up hopefully next week.

That is all.

16 comments:

wolfwalker said...

Tactical water bottle? WTH?

Ross said...

Actually, I'm looking forward to the tac pants review. They were out of the 5.11 pants in my size... unless I wanted 36" legs. Yeah, right... but their house brand looked interesting.

Weer'd Beard said...

ENVY! I won't lie, seeing you handing out cards and knowing you have some damn good reviews under your belt are a HUGE reason why I switched to the big-kid blog from my LJ.

Also I can't wait to read the reviews. I have REALLY been enjoying blogger reviews because it gives you a lot more of a human element to reviewing products than magazine and promotional reviews.

Anonymous said...

Looking forward to your comments as I have been eyeballling different pants.
Cost has been a factor as we are dealing with some Medical Bills for my son and I from this last winter.
(I often hit the "clearance racks" for my stuff)
But I want,need some duds and tactical pants are what I have in mond. Ones I can afford and last.

Anonymous said...

Looking forward to your comments as I have been eyeballling different pants.
Cost has been a factor as we are dealing with some Medical Bills for my son and I from this last winter.
(I often hit the "clearance racks" for my stuff)
But I want,need some duds and tactical pants are what I have in mond. Ones I can afford and last.

Anonymous said...

Looking forward to your comments as I have been eyeballling different pants.
Cost has been a factor as we are dealing with some Medical Bills for my son and I from this last winter.
(I often hit the "clearance racks" for my stuff)
But I want,need some duds and tactical pants are what I have in mond. Ones I can afford and last.

Chris said...

after ordering thousands of dollars of 5.11 gear from LAPG over the last 4 years of deployment work, I ordered some of the LAPG Operator polo shirts by "accident". I was trying to order some more of the "5.11 Tactical Polo" shirts with the soft fabric and mic loops.

When I opened up the box I kicked myself until I felt the fabric and put one on. For a non-discounted price of $15 bucks, I discovered what I feel is a better shirt at less than half the price.

I'm getting ready to take on a few of the LAPG shirts for embroidery. If the results are good I'll certainly be ordering more shirts and using them for "trinkets and beads" trading currency.

I'll be following to read your pants review. I've just about worn out the LAPG-exclusive "5.11 C.A.M.S. pants" (Carry All My Stuff) and I really need something new that has the capacity I need.

Ponyexpress said...

I have to agree with Sean. I bought some shorts they sell for $10 and they turned out to be a very good product. It's nice to have some clothing that you don't mind if it gets a little roughed up.

Jester said...

Been wearing a couple of tan US flag ball caps for the past three years from LAPG, got them when they were running one of their 99 cent hat sales. Great hats, even bought backups that are still NIB last year.

Blake Wylie said...

Looking forward to the reviews. I noticed they were selling some self-branded tactical clothing items well below the cost of the big players. Was interested in seeing how well their tactical pants hold up.

By the way...I actually ordered a couple of the closeout 5.11 pants on their web site based on your review.

DaddyBear said...

Just ordered a couple of polos for work from them based on the comments here. Really interested in your thoughts on their tactical pants. Just wish they had some without the thigh pockets so I could wear them to the office. If they're as comfortable as the 5.11 Station Pants I've got, then I'd get them.

AnarchAngel said...

I have several LAPG Tactical bags, pouches, web stuff etc... and I find them to be quite well made; and at an unbeatable price for the quality.

The only problem I've ever had with them, is that their shipping could be streamlined. It's not exactly slow, but in this day of Amazon, there are certain expectations...

Colin said...

I, too ordered some of the closeouts based on your review. 2 Tactical Covert pants and 2 shirts, only $78 with shipping....

Jeanette K. said...

WOW!!! Great stuff. Nice work! Looking forward to checking out your write up on it all.

BTW, I dream of becoming queen of tactical city someday :)

Anonymous said...
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Elliot said...

I agree with weer'd - I love independent blogger reviews compared to the bullsh*t pr campaigns that run in magazines. thank you for your awesome blog - love it!