5.11 quality going down hill?

[Jarred J.]

before I go into a lot of detail anybody else note any downshifts in their apparel?


I've got a 6 month old pair of the taclite "double gusseted croutch" with the crotch blown out already... the thread just shredded.


I emailed their customer service and all I got got back from them was my letter I sent them as an auto reply....


Might be time to start buying another brand of pants seeing as how I cant just afford 8 hours of my pay for 1 pair of their pants every 6 months...


I've also got an issue with a pair of boots I bought from them. :bonk:

 

[MEVS06]

Yes, it has been less than thrilling.... I am going to be going with Vertx for now for pants through govx.com


As far as boots, I tear them up in 3 to 4 months time and the 5.11 pair I had I went through in less than 2 months. Won't be spending my money on them any longer either. I might try some Converse or the new Bianchi boots.

 

[J-Rock1944]

I've noticed it, too. I've switched over to the Rustic Ridge brand. They have the same designs and features as 5.11 gear, usually for a lower price.

 

[crescentstar69]

Can only speak for the quality of the Utili-T tee shirts, which are definitely cheaper in quality and a lot higher in price than before.

 

[MESDA6]

I have been buying Propper brand pants. Very satisfied with them.

 

[uniden278]

Are you considering boots in this discussion? I love my 5.11 tac lites (8" zip side model) and the have held up well. However, that being said, I shouldn't have used them for snow removal purposes because the ice melt/salt has eaten away at the finish (my own fault) but the build quality is guite good compared to other brand (Bates and Rocky) I have owned.

 

[justavillain]

I get 3 new pairs of 5.11 tach light pants for work a year and no issues at all. New and old some are faded pretty hard though.


Now their boots are horrible quality. My DC at the poc dept sent back 3 pairs in the last 5 or 6 weeks for the sole separating, the zippers and more.

 

[HILO]

I had a pair of 5.11 boots last me 4 years. However, when I went to purchase new boots, I read reviews that mentioned how 5.11 has switched to Chinese built boots and clothing, and the durability and customer service declined after the switch. So I decided nope.

 

[minig0d]

+1 on proper pants... the pockets aren't the best of layouts but the pants are WAY higher quality than 5.11...


Honestly I've never been really impressed with 5.11... it has a great tacticool factor but none of it is very high quality...

 

[Doug]

We use them for a lot of uniform clothing. I have a few pairs of the TacLite Pros, as well as some of the golf shirts - no problems to speak of. They're all about a year old.

 

[Eric1249]

I pretty much live in my job shirts. They have held up well. They do not fade nearly as fast as other brands I have had, The t-shirts have held up well and have not faded. My old tactical pants held up well and after 5 years they were still solid and they became work pants. (painting etc) I have a couple of the newer pants and they are wearing out all over. The hem where it meets my boots is terrible. These pants are about a year old. Boots seem to never last.


I will continue to buy the job shirts and t-shirts, but that is it.

 

[justavillain]

Last time I put my order for another job shirt(I have 3 and no issues with them and the water resistant one I ware every day at work) I did see there is another choice Vertex like the radio, I'm assuming it's no relation.

 

[MEVS06]

Last time I put my order for another job shirt(I have 3 and no issues with them and the water resistant one I ware every day at work) I did see there is another choice Vertex like the radio, I'm assuming it's no relation.

Its Vertx and all the reviews lead me to believe that they are a much higher quality product than 5.11 has become.

 

[Hoff]

Its Vertx and all the reviews lead me to believe that they are a much higher quality product than 5.11 has become.

I love my Vertx pants. The cut is great and they are very comfortable and don't have the same lines as the 5.11s so it's a bit more incognito.

 

[Turd Ferguson]

I had a pair of 5.11 boots last me 4 years. However, when I went to purchase new boots, I read reviews that mentioned how 5.11 has switched to Chinese built boots and clothing, and the durability and customer service declined after the switch. So I decided nope.

That one says it all. Keep it in 'Murrica, people.

 

[dustymedic]

We bought Lion uniforms at my FD for years. About 3 years we switched to 5.11 as did several other departments in the area. This year we went back to Lion for shirts & pants, Game for jobshirts. We stuck with 5.11 for t shirts.

 

[vonirkinshtine]

I shake my head at all my FF buddies who swear by their 5.11 EVERYTHING. My station pants are the same pair of black Dickies I bought at Walmart 6 years ago. My uniform shirts I got from Target and had them embroidered. If you want to spend $50 on a polo...well, you're and idiot.

 

[FSEP]

My 5.11 pants have torn 3 times while on patrol. It's a real pita having to sew pants together before your next shift 12 hours later... :hissyfit:


Though, the job shirt I got through was amazing! Best fitting and warmest job shirt I've ever had.

 

[Sarah@P1]

Being a 5.11 Full Line Dealer, I'm disappointed to hear you guys aren't getting support if/when you have a problem... I have to admit, out of all of the brands we carry through both divisions (vehicle and uniform) 5.11 is BY FAR the easiest to deal with for warranty issues. Its almost a no-questioned-asked policy where they stand behind their products... they even pick up the freight for me, as a dealer, to ship their products back to them if one of my customers needs to exchange or return something for due to an issue (which truly, the ratio of things I see go back is VERY small, but this thread is interesting to read because you never know if they are changing things behind the scenes). They make it easy for me and easy for the end user... and that's the support you should be getting from shopping with a Full Line Dealer... now shopping from a sub-dealer or directly, I can't speak much on.

 

[justavillain]

One thing I can say is sometimes the sheer amount of failure causes people to not call or try and get it fixed.


If you have the same product fail 4 times and get it replaced 4 times that just tells me "nothing is going to change the 5th time so why deal with the issue/head ache any more" it's the fool me once twice deal

 

[Jarred J.]

Sarah will the warranty items that have been altered? as in I head to get a pair of pants hemmed cause they don't make 28 inch hems....


The place I got my pants from are roughly 45 miles away from me. I don't want to drive 90 miles to find out they wont warrantee something

 

[Sarah@P1]

Sarah will the warranty items that have been altered? as in I head to get a pair of pants hemmed cause they don't make 28 inch hems....

The place I got my pants from are roughly 45 miles away from me. I don't want to drive 90 miles to find out they wont warrantee something

Absolutely!! They obviously expect some of their items to be altered (some of them of them come unhemmed) and an alteration like that shouldn't affect the performance of the item (because if it does and then that's more of an issue with the seamstress or tailor who did the alternations, who should also have a separate warranty and an obligation to take care of you should their workmanship fail). In my opinion, assuming the place you bought it from is a full line dealer, tell them about your issue and ask them for a call tag (shoot, even tell them you heard from another FLD that 5.11 covers the cost and makes it easy!). From my experience I know this would be as simple as a quick email to my customer service rep referencing your date of purchase from us, the details of the problem and asking a favor that they send you the label directly since you live so far away from [my] store... admittedly that's not the norm (they send the labels to us) but truly, they are so accommodating that I would see no issue with this.

 

[Jarred J.]

Ok thanks.

 

[Phillyrube]

Yes, it has been less than thrilling.... I am going to be going with Vertx for now for pants through govx.com

As far as boots, I tear them up in 3 to 4 months time and the 5.11 pair I had I went through in less than 2 months. Won't be spending my money on them any longer either. I might try some Converse or the new Bianchi boots.

Converse boots are great! I have 3 pair I alternate, had them over a year. The key is the alternating to allow them to fully dry between uses.

 

[Jarred J.]

2 and a half weeks later...


Good afternoon Jarred,


Thank you for your inquiry. I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you. Before we can go further, I do need some more information. I would need you to provide myself with any images of the item as well as a proof of purchase in order to determine a time frame of when the pants were purchased. Once I have this information I will be able to validate the warranty and better know what options are available.


I look forward to your response and thank you again for contacting 5.11 Tactical.


Marissa Carranza


Customer Service Representative


Tel: 209.527.4511 x7624


Direct: (209) 566-7624


Fax: (209) 552-7752


MarissaC@511tactical.com

 

[MESDA6]

They're going to need to know what you were doing in that guard shack that caused the crotch to wear out.

 

[Turd Ferguson]

They're going to need to know what you were doing in that guard shack that caused the crotch to wear out.

He doesn't by chance work for Whackenhut Security, does he?

 

[Jarred J.]

He doesn't by chance work for Whackenhut Security, does he?

I'd kill to be able to wear my own uniform items at work. I have to wear issued pieces of crap that fall apart after 6 weeks from "martin uniform supply" because allied barton has he rights to their patches and cant be bought elsewhere. they used to issue us belts. then they quite so i bought my own bdu type belt.


I wear tactical pants off duty. as much stuff as i carry i like the extra pockets. i bought a brand new pair back in september for a high school reunion. and those are the ones that fell apart.


just got another email from them. they will pay to pick these pants and will send out another pair when they receive the "at our warehouse"


so atleast they are trying to make it right

 

[Turd Ferguson]

Ha. I used to work for Allied just before the Barton merger in '03. Back then we had gear from Lion Apparel. Kind of funny side note, I was working a contract at Benaroya Met Park in Seattle when we lost the contract to Barton. 3 months later was the merger.