The Making of the Carlos Ray Tactical Pant

TD has been selling gear for around 10 years. During this time we have seen a void in the tactical pants category. Our answer was the Carlos Ray pant.  The Carlos Ray pants have been evolving for over 3 years. Each evolution we have taken user feedback & our personal T&E back into the design room. This helps us in making & adjusting features to enhance the users experience. We feel that the TD Apparel line offers the customer great gear at a reasonable price. 

Where did the name come from? This is a common question that only a few people get. We wanted to add some humor to a serious pant. If you Google Carlos Ray you will find  a photo of 80's icon "Chuck Norris". 

Development team: Frankie Collins and Todd Askins have been designing apparel for over 15 years. Every component of this pant has been carefully selected to give the user a comfortable pant that can be used on low viz operations or on the weekend journey... or your everyday roundhouse kick to the face! Hence the name Carlos Ray aka "Chuck Norris". 

There are many stages of development and design. Featured in the photo are a few of the many pages of the Technical drawings we create for the manufacturing process. Each feature is made to our exact specification.

Design: Every product that Tactical Distributors produces is designed and created from scratch. This process takes about 9 months from conception to delivery. We create what are called "Tech Packs" these technical drawings are basically exact measurements, placements and embellishments that make up the garment. 

Samples: During this process the factory will submit many types of samples for us to review based upon our tech packs and specs. Changes or enhancements are made after reviewing each sample.

The first is the Proto sample. This sample is a very rough draft that could be made of some random fabric and have labels or screen prints taped to it, but gives us a rough idea of how the pant will look.

The second is called a Fit Sample. This version will have the correct fabric and trims and "SHOULD" also, have the correct fit. We measure all of the "specs" to make sure that the factory is on target with what we submitted. If there are aspects of the pant we would like to change we submit these request during this part of the process. For this pant we have 32 points of measurements to give the customer comfort and ease of movement. These points range from waist measurements, pocket size and placements, multiple points of measurements in the legs to get a smooth contour and correct articulation dart placement. Basically this spec sheet is the architectural map for the pant.   

The third sample is called the Production sample. At this point of the process all of the major details of the pant are established and cannot be changed. There are cases when we have added a pocket or dropped an embellishment, but for the most part we are 90% there.

Then the final sample we receive is the Bulk shipment sample. This sample is what we use for product shots and or promo shots for blogs and photo shoots. 

Carlos Ray Pant features: 

Fabric: Mid weight 2 way stretch, 97% Cotton 3% Spandex

Pockets: 8 Pockets

Fit: Made for meat eaters, Gusseted Crotch, Articulated Knees and generous leg room.

Extra Features: Left hand leg mag pocket, 2 way stretch fabric, reinforced pocket edges, Articulated knees, 2" belt loops and Velcro jean patch.

Photo: Reviewing the spec sheet to make sure every measurement of the pant is correct and meets the TD standard. 

Photo: Technical Drawing for the front button shank. 

Photo: Spring 2016 color selection. Back to front: Flat Dark Earth, Ranger Green, Dark Desert Tan and Dark Urban Grey.