Diplomat Tactical Pants

As many of you know, Royal Robbins 5.11 Tactical Pants have dominated the market for "concealment" or "low visibility" tactical wear for several years now. They provide a very practical alternative to solid color, miltary style BDU trousers, wear well, and have an assortment of useful features. Interestingly, they really did not enhance the features that appeared on their ancestor garment, the Royal Robbins climbing pants that appeared in the early Nineties. Even the 5.11 Gear name is a nod to the original purpose of the pants, which were for outdoorsman trekking to their favorite rock-climbing spot. The 5.11 pants are now pretty standard issue to a veritable who's who of federal, state and local agencies.

And maybe that's why there have been no competitors until recently. Woolrich, an esteemed outdoor outfitter jumped in last year with a near copy of the 5.11 pants. Now there's the Diplomat. These pants also do not depart too radically from the 5.11 pants, but they still have some differences: a couple of cleverly placed additional pockets and velcro tabs at the ankle. They retail about $5 cheaper at the online sites I've located for them. My personal R&D budget has dwindled, so I do not have a pair of these for review, but I will say they look promising. If anyone jumps in to get a pair, please let me know what you think of them -- especially if you can compare them one-to-one with the 5.11 pants I love so much.