LA Police Gear has been distributing gear and clothing to law enforcement and civilians for over 20 years, and they’ve created their own product lines of clothing and protective gear as well. Today we’ll take a look at their Urban Ops Tactical Pants and see what they have to offer, and how they held up for me, on and off duty.

LA POLICE GEAR URBAN OPS TACTICAL PANTS review

The Urban Ops Tactical Pants from LA Police Gear are built under the cargo pant genre, but feature seven pockets in total; two rear, two front-side, two cargo, and an extra sap/phone/AR magazine pocket on the front-left. The openings to the front-side pockets are scooped low and have a horizontal cut at the bottom to better accommodate pocket knife clips. The cargo pockets are slanted, which LAPG states that it makes for easier access while seated. The middle of the cargo pocket flaps have an opening for easy access, which could also work for clipping a pocket knife to.

I find that rear pockets with flaps or hook and loop closures can be annoying, so I was happy to see that LA Police Gear left the rear pockets with open tops.  Accessing my work gloves and wallet was uncomplicated and still look good… if I’m allowed to complement my own backside.

Another noticeable feature of the Urban Ops Tactical Pants is the horizontal pleats above and below the knees, LA Police Gear and other outdoor companies bill this as articulating knees. At first, I almost thought they were convertible from pants to shorts, but the pleats are only designed into the front panels of the pants. This pleated feature gives more flex for bending, kneeling, and squatting.

LA Police Gear lists the Urban Ops Tactical Pants with 11 color options; black, boulder, brown, charcoal, coyote, grey, khaki, navy, OD green, ranger green, and sierra. As for the navy, I found it matched what is also known as midnight navy, and seemed to match perfectly to my other midnight navy uniform items. The 65 percent polyester and 35 percent cotton blend material in the Urban Ops is very light, breathable and comfortable. Despite the light feel, the Urban Ops pants are also made with rip-stop pattern.

FEATURES

• 65% Polyester/35% Cotton Rip-Stop Fabric
• Fabric Weight: 7.5 oz.
• 7 Total Pockets
  • (2) Front Pockets – Built With A Notch To Allow For Clipping A Knife Or Tool
  • (1) Front Slip Pocket – A Great Option For Phones, Magazines, EDC Items, etc. Positioned On Right Side
  • (2) Hook & Loop Cargo Pockets – With Top Flap Pass Through For Quick Access
  • (2) Rear Patch Pockets – Open Top For Quick Access To Wallet Or Other Items
• Articulating Knee
• Elastic Waistband
• YKK Locking Brass Zipper
• Brass Tac-Stud Closure – Extremely Reliable And Tough
• Gusseted Crotch
• Slanted Cargo Pocket Flaps For Seated Access
• 22 Individual Bar Tacks To Increase Strength
• 6 Belt Loops – Accommodate Most Belts Up To 2″ Wide

DUTY & field USE

While donning the LAPG Urban Ops Tactical Pants for my first shift at work with them, one of the rear belt loops ripped, but it ripped where the fabric is doubled, so the loop still worked, but was now just larger than the rest. After examining it later, it appears as though it had been sewn differently than the rest of the belt loops, and probably just got missed somewhere along the line before getting its final stitching. I’ll sew it back to normal when I have more time, which is a really quick fix.

I liked the way the side pocket openings were deep enough to reach my hands into while wearing a full duty belt. The pockets were still deep enough though. The cargo pockets are large and hold all sorts of stuff I carry with me on duty. A minor gripe is that there aren’t any dividing pockets inside the cargo pockets, but I only had to adjust my cell phone a few times, and the overall design of the Urban Ops Tactical Pants outweighed the minor inconvenience.

While seated, the Urban Ops Tactical Pants were still comfortable, and as advertised, the cargo pockets were easy to access in the confines of the squad car. The bottoms of the cargo pockets have extra material to expand while carrying a lot of stuff. In the right cargo pocket, I stored two notebooks, some reference cards, and a 20-round AR mag. I still had room for more, but that’s just my normal load for duty.  My cell phone is the exact size as a 20-round AR-15 magazine, both of which fit into the front slip pouch. While standing, putting my cell phone or a 20-round mag was fine, but after sitting with this setup, I decided it was a bit hard to retrieve my phone, so I opted to just put it in the cargo pocket.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The Urban Ops Tactical Pants from LA Police Gear have been comfortable, durable, and practical. Even though my primary use so far has been for law enforcement duty, they could certainly be used for anything under the sun (or moon, for us night shifters). Although the one belt loop came loose, it appeared as though it was an honest mistake, and it was still usable, and it can be quickly remedied with a needle and thread.

LA Police Gear lists the Urban Ops pants for $39.99, which you can find HERE with color and sizing options, or you can visit LAPoliceGear.com to view all of their own products, as well as other popular brands they carry.

What do you think about the Urban Ops Tactical Pants from LAPG? If you’ve already been wearing this model, how has your experience been, and how do you use them?