Living the pants free lifestyle isn’t always that easy. With all the restraining orders and ever increasing court appearances for disorderly exposure (I swear, they made that charge up just for me), there comes a time when pants are simply required and ‘open-rear kilts’ are a no-go. So, because they are necessary, it behooves one to have a few sets of slacks in the closet just in case.
A while back, in what I can only surmise was a joke amongst the marketing department, I was approached by Woolrich (not to be confused with Woolworths) to see if I would forgo the freedom of the PFL™ and try out some of their wares.
This is going to be hard for me to say, so bear with me… But Woolrich’s Elite Concealed Carry Chinos are the most comfortable leg-shirts I have ever worn. Not only are they comfortable, with elastic side panels for that extra bit of ‘give’, but they have plenty of room to carry stuff. My Kel-Tec P3AT can slip inside the oversized pockets and simply disappear. The pockets make clipping on my 5.11 XPRT easy and the knife stays upright. Wallet, phone, keys, extra magazines – all just slide in with plenty of space left over.
The great thing about these chinos are that they don’t look tactical. You can wear them to work without looking like you’re fresh from the Mall Security Convention. They also have a reinforced crotch which really comes in handy when your as well… hmm… maybe they’d prefer I not review that. They do have a great YKK zipper for ‘quick egress’ though.
Also provided to sample were a pair of Elite Shorts. These are more Cargo-like and have extra pockets for carrying gear. They are the perfect shorts to wear while you’re disqualifying yourself at a USPSA shoot. In fact, when I broke the 180 rule, the shorts did not bunch up nor did anything fall out of the pockets besides my pride. If I were to DQ myself again, I would hope that I could hold up as well as the Elite Shorts did. The shorts are built very similar to the chinos thus the quality is right up there.
Both have seen multiple washings and wearing and neither have shown even the slightest bit of shrinkage. This is especially important with the shorts as too much shrinkage and you end up with 80’s Gym Coach shorts and trust me, nobody wants to see that.
How comfortable are the Elite Concealed Carry Chinos? Even with my aversion to pants, I plan on purchasing a few more pairs to keep around the house.
You never know when the next court summons shows up!