Propper has become relatively synonymous with “tactical pants,” although the company makes popular tactical, duty, and outdoors clothing ranging from boots to jackets and other outerwear to sweaters, pants, hats, belts, and more. Also, all sorts of packs, duffles, cases, and other bags. New for 2016 is a line of body armor plus additions to most of their other product lines . . .
Jonathan walked us through some of the highlights in the video above, but here are some of the takeaways:
Body armor is light and flexible. Neoprene straps are easily replaceable. Separate side panels offer more coverage without affecting flexibility. Trauma plates can be inserted in pockets on the front and rear.
Seen above is one example of Propper’s concealable armor. They also offer tactical armor, including helmets and K9 armor.
The backpack above is extremely lightweight; made from a thin-yet-strong ripstop nylon. Its trick is that it packs down into a tiny carry bag.
As you can see, there’s also a packable duffle. These are handy items for slipping into a suitcase if, like anyone going to SHOT Show, you end up taking significantly more stuff home than you can fit in the luggage you brought.
Propper makes a handful of different styles of duty and tactical boots.
There’s a tablet case hiding behind those black boots, too. This year they really expanded the line of laptop sleeves, hydration sleeves, tablet cases, carry organizers, pouches, dump pockets, organizer panels, etc. Most of these are intended to make their backpacks extremely modular, allowing the end user to customize the storage layout both internally and externally.
New for this year is the Uniform Polo, which will become the value-priced option in Propper’s polo shirt line. MSRP is $20.
Looks like I neglected to snap photos (they’re both in the video), but there are a couple new fabric options worth mentioning as well. One is being used for polo shirts and it’s snag-free in contact with velcro so it doesn’t pick or pill. The other is a micro rip-stop stretch fabric for the lightweight tactical pant.
I guess they are branching out from their military contracts. Something colt should of done 10 years ago.
I’ve seen their products advertised but I have not looked too deeply into them. How is the quality?
Propper (along with Tru-Spec) is basically the cheapest stuff that you can get that is still within the “good enough for most” range. If you go below that, to the likes of Rothco, you’re usually getting outright crap in most cases.
Still, for the price, it often makes more sense to get three pairs of Propper pants etc, then one pair of expensive “real good” pants, IMO. Any sort of work clothing and gear not only wears out, but also falls victim to accidents. I’d rather rip or stain a pair of $30 pants than a pair of $150 pants.
Also, if you’re on a budget (or just don’t want to waste money on bling), look for “irregular” items – they’re usually sold at a very significant discount, and the irregularities are often small enough to be noticeable (and for work/camp clothing, can usually be ignored in any case). For example:
http://www.militaryclothing.com/search.aspx?q=bdu+irregular
I’ve had a Propper hard shell jacket for over three years now and really like it. It’s my go-to for rainy weather and takes up so little space in a suitcase or bag that it’s usually with me. I also have a light windbreaker from them that I got at the same time. That hard shell gets the most “ooh, what brand jacket is that?” questions on my YouTube vids of anything I’ve worn on video. If that matters.
I’d like to try some of their new stuff, and I’m in the market for a back pack and maybe a new, larger range bag so may look their way here soon.
Anything marked tactical is going to cost 3x as much as any other item that would fill the same need.
Tactical is the pet rock of the internet generation.
Not quite. Consider this…
For hiking pants, I want strong but breathable fabric. That usually means some kind of poly/cotton or, better yet, nylon/cotton blend. Now I can grab a pair of “tactical” BDUs for ~$30 – more than that for fancy camo, less for solid color ones. Or I can go shop for “proper” hiking gear, which is not “tactical”, but which is at least twice as expensive, usually more, and is often less comfortable (because they love to make it tight rather than loose fit).
Yeah, some of the rock climbing and trail running and hiking / “approach” stuff is insane $$$.
Is that why my tactical light goes on the tactical rail on the tactical foregrip below the tactical sight on my tactical carbine? 😉
I can’t recall referring to any equipment as tactical when I was active duty. I tended to divide things into three categories, useful, “oops I lost it” and “it’s in the conex”. The last two categories encompass “heavy and not useful”.
“Is that why my tactical light goes on the tactical rail on the tactical foregrip below the tactical sight on my tactical carbine?”
At 0600 I rolled out of the rack & set my rifle aside to whip out my gun in the latrine. Then I pulled on my tactical operator pants, triple knotted my boots operator style like Dick Marcinko. As my team wolfed down their chow I reviewed the sitrep and verified they knew their orders to move out @ 0700. Strapped into the vehicle, we moved out of our FOB but I was waxed in the back of the head because my six got me with his binkie from the back of the minivan…but at least I was wearing Propper.
All kidding aside, their stuff is a good value and that super compressible ruck looks very handy.