Originally Posted by
El Cid
I finally snagged a pair of TD Carlos Ray 2.1 pants. BLUF: I don't expect I'll buy any more.
Some observations:
- The thigh is a bit on the snug side. I don’t have overly thick legs, but hopefully these will break in over time.
- Being able to wear a BUG on your ankle (or med kit) will be hit or miss. I haven’t dug out my snubbie to try, but the G26 and ankle med kit barely fit and someone who knows what to look for may figure out something is there. Also, the material is clingy enough that unless it relaxes over time, I’ll probably have to save these pants for days when I’m not at work.
- I’m not a fan of their belt loop configuration. I prefer the side loops to be along the seam, exactly on the side (3 and 9 o’clock). I have found over 25+ years of carrying a gun that this places the loop out of the way of any and all holsters, mag/light pouches, etc. The side loops on these pants are back near 4 and 8 o’clock which means my SOS pouch is too far forward or too far back, and is messes with where I prefer to wear my cuff pouch. I also prefer pants with at least 3 loops in the back to support the weight of all the crap I wear day to day, and these have one small one. Note, I do not like tunnel loops like some pants offer – but 3 well made loops work best in my experience. These Ray’s have a tunnel in the weird Velcro spot on the right rear hip where a leather tag would normally be on jeans. You can run your belt through it, but that would only give support to one side, and as a right hander, it doesn’t work with my OWB and IWB holsters. If I run AIWB then I could run the belt through it, but again – it’s only giving support to one side.
- The cell phone pockets. I had such high hopes for these… sadly they missed the mark.
-- I prefer cell phone pockets that swallow the entire phone, but my iPhone 8 and my work phone stick out about ¾ of an inch. I recognize cell phone makers are constantly moving the goal posts, and the idiots at those companies keep making them larger, but my iPhone 8 is not that new. Nor is my POS Android based work phone.
-- The pockets are also too low on the leg for me. The bottom of my phones hit the back of my knees which is uncomfortable when sitting, standing, walking, etc. Also, I’m 6ft 2in tall with fairly long arms, but standing up my finger tips can barely tough the top of the phones. I have to bend left or right to actually remove one from the pocket.
-- Finally the pockets are so loose that when sitting anywhere that your thigh is horizontal ore more (desk chair, vehicle seat, couch) the phones easily slide out.
I wanted to try the Braddock pants, but suspect they will have similar issues. I was waiting for VertX to make the Hyde pants in more colors... but now they appear to be discontinued. The search continues...