I was pretty excited when I got these pair of pants, as I really liked the Raven leggings. (Although they are a bitch to peel off.) Unlike Monkey I’m not really a tactical girl, but he wanted me to try some functional pants to see how they would work for me.
I had a chance to check out First Tactical's main Tactical pants, the Tactix series and hence the dirty presentation on the pics, I've been putting them to good use. The full name is a bit ridiculous being First Tactical Men's Tactix Tactical Pants, but I'll forgive them for being a solid product. After a little research it appears First Tactical is a new gear company comprised of some folks that used to be at 5.11 and some solid new personnel from tactical occupations. The first wave of items seem to be aimed at law enforcement, but one of the big changes is that First Tactical plans to emphasize direct sales to keep final retail prices low.
It is always nice to see high end gear from unexpected places and fortunately I got to check out these cool guy pants from our friends at UF PRO in Slovenia. Taking the ideas from their original Striker Combat Pants, this Striker XT version further expands the stretch areas and made the knee areas even more ergonomic. You may have also noticed the unique camo pattern, called SloCam (we'll go ahead and guess short for Slovenian-Camouflage).
Vertx took their latest popular pant variant and collaborated with Fighter Design to integrate their Active Airflow System that offers a great hot weather tactical pant for summer heat.
Always on the look out for good tactical pants I picked up these Kitanica All Season Pants to have some cool guy pants in cooler weather. I'd say the name All Seasons may be debatable since they aren't exactly hot weather pants, but made of a core material of 50/50 Nylon/Cotton Ripstop it is a good medium point and with all the pockets it adds some bonus warmth.
Vertx has been doing well with their original tactical pant design so it makes sense to see them expand upon the concept with their new Phantom line. Since overall pretty similar I've chosen to do a dual review so easier to compare.
I can always use some fancy base layer shirts for working out or wearing with armor so was happy to give this Vertx version a try. Offhand the size small I tried out was a fairly loose fit compared to the Under Armour DO YOU EVEN LIFT BRO tight fit look. Preferably I would have additionally tried a smaller size just see, but alas I am a wee-man and size small is as small as they make. For better or worse there is plenty of shirt length, this is usually a plus for those who don't tuck in their shirts, yet can get a little warmer / crowded in the crotch for those who do tuck in.
It appears Vertx isn't settling on just pants and is dabbling in jackets as a part of their new limited edition lineup. Although several items are offered in this "OPS" line I got to check out the OPS Shell Jacket as an introduction to the series. Much like the pants I think they find a good balance of performance and features us tac folks enjoy without a particularly super tactical look.
Fighter Design is an up and coming company bringing some very cool new ideas to the tactical market. Their Airflow pants in particular have the most aggressive hot weather design I've seen to date where you'll have to get into space suit type designs to do much better. No wacky fans, gels, or anything like that, just well placed mesh on an already good set of military style pants. Additionally the pants can utilize another cool product from Fighter Design, their Magnetic Fastener kits. For folks where velcro just doesn't match your needs, the magnetic closures offer a silent and smooth alternative.
Propper has started several new apparel collections earlier this year with these STL I Pants being a part of the LS1 line. I don't know what any of those abbreviations mean, but the general design theory on the LS1 line is to combine tactical and athletic ideas which seems like a pretty good idea. Overall they fit a good middle point where they don't quite scream tactical man yet have more usable features than the more covert designs.
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