Choosing Concealed Carry Pants or Tactical Pants

Dressing for your gun; it’s unsightly, uncomfortable, and really defeats the idea of “concealed” carry.

For those of you not familiar, a wardrobe can easily become a problem for anyone carrying concealed, making the outline of your handgun clearly visible under your clothes and leaving a nice visible imprint for everyone to see. The common solution for this sort of problem is to wear heavier coats, baggier clothes, and pants with a wider cut to accomodate an IWB holster.

But what if you don’t want to dress around your handgun? While you’re probably going to be okay with any pants for a pocket single-stack .380 or a small caliber revolver, your larger revolvers, compact semiautomatics, and most semi-compact handguns are probably going to need a bit more room.

To that end, you are going to want to look into concealed carry pants which are also called tactical pants. Essentially, they are pants that are “purpose designed” for a holster; while your favorite pair of jeans from college may fit well, they weren’t cut and designed to be worn comfortably with a compact or full size handgun. Below, we’ve got a few good pairs for both men and women that will make concealed carry much easier and much more comfortable.  For other CCW clothing options or women’s specific holsters, be sure to check out the “accessories” section.

 

The Best Concealed Carry Pants or Tactical Pants

Whether you’re a plain-clothes police officer, a private security contractor, a world traveler who wants to keep themselves safe, or just an average citizen looking to carry concealed and comfortable, each of these pants can help you carry your personal handgun comfortably, securely, and without drawing attention to yourself.

 

1. Propper Men’s Lightweight Tactical Pant and Men’s Canvas Tactical Pant

Even though these are “tactical” pants, this setup from Propper looks anything but; after all, if the best concealed carry pants make you look like a SWAT officer, it’s a pretty safe bet that people will suspect you’re carrying a handgun.

No, these pants come in a nice variety of shades and colors that range from khaki and brown for the office professional to navy and black for someone who works in the outdoors.

These pants don’t just look the part, either; they are a ripstop cotton/poly blend that won’t fade or wrinkle, decked out with nine pockets, a stretch waistband, extra large belt loops, and an internal openings for knee pads. To top it all off, the entire pair is treated with a Teflon fabric protector, making them stain and water-resistant.

Of course, you could get all that information from their Amazon page, so let’s break these advantages for you personally, whether you’re in the field or in the office. The Dupont Teflon coating keeps spills from staining your clothes, whether they’re mud or just an accidentally knocked over cup of coffee.

For both the office professional and the outdoor professional, comfort in your concealment pants with your handgun is a must; as such, the flexible waistband and extra-large belt loops means that you can easily carry both covert inside your waistband and overt on a larger belt with the same ease. The nine pockets, including the deep wallet back pocket, hold extra magazines and smart phones just as well, and the internal knee pads are equally useful for IDPA shooters, rofessional law enforcement, or simply construction workers who spend a lot of time on their knees.

The only real difference you’re going to run into on these pairs of concealed carry pants for men are the materials, with a ripstop cotton poly blend for the lightweight pant and a thicker canvas for the canvas pant. The ripstop fabric, like its name suggests, is woven in such a way to stop rips and tears in your concealed carry pants, all while being lighter and more breathable than the heavier canvas pant. In contrast, the canvas keeps you warmer and stands up to abuse better than its lighter counterpart. Depending on where you live, the time of season you wear them, and the nature of your work (time in the woods versus time in the city) you may favor one over the other.

Simply put, these pants for concealed carry have a lot of appeal across a lot of professions. Depending on the realities of your job and their individual needs, you can tailor your setup for whatever works best for you on either pant. Camping pants, survival pants, professional pants, or just a more comfortable pair of concealed carry pants, the Propper Lightweight Tactical pant and Canvas Tactical Pant are not only some of the best pants for concealed carry you’ll ever wear, but they’re also useful for whatever you need.

 

2. Vertx Men’s Phantom LT Tactical Pants

In much the same vein as its Propper contemporary, these lightweight CCW pants from Vertx are CCW clothing designed to look like camping pants and function like duty pants, giving you the options to use them for both. Made with lightweight rip-stop fabric and treated with Vertx’s own proprietary water-resistant formula, you’re definitely going to get the most out of these pants in warmer climates; unlike Propper’s model, these pants are also designed to wick moisture on the inside, so even while sweating, these lightweight pants stay comfortable.

A quick look will tell you that these pants are designed for activity, as they provide a lot of useful details for anybody who’s always in motion. In addition to the rip-stop fabric and the wicking interior, you’ll notice that many of your pockets on the Phantom pants are zippered, perfect for keeping their contents in, no matter the circumstance. Specially articulated areas in the knees and crotch make moving easy, so even while carrying concealed, you don’t need to worry about your pants binding you anywhere and limiting your range of movement, and the new cut on the Phantom series suits better to normal shoes than a typical boot-cut style.

Depending on the color (or your line of work), these pants can either be a comfortable pair of casual around-town pants, a solid pair of pants for camping and hiking, or a piece of your professional wardrobe.

While these aren’t really athletic pants, you’ll find that they do fill a lot of the same roles, striking a good balance for anybody whose work could require both professionalism and performance and doesn’t want to sacrifice either.

 

3. UnderTech Undercover Women’s Concealment Leggings

If concealed carry pants for men are difficult, concealed carry pants for women are even more so. Different styles, tighter cuts, and different materials means that purpose-designed clothing becomes even more important to avoid advertising your handgun. Fortunately, UnderTech’s Concealment Leggings fit the bill perfectly, combining form and function to be both comfortable and useful.

Of course, because the details are everything, we’ll break them down and, more importantly, how they’ll help you carry comfortably and covertly. Surprisingly enough, the most impressive part about these concealed carry leggings are the fact that they are incredibly ordinary; they’re cut, designed, and made from the same material as all the popular leggings brands, so they’re functionally identical.

For your carry, you’ve got two pockets on your dominant side, one in the front and one for appendix carry, that will easily secure most compact semiautomatics and small-frame revolvers. They secure with a Velcro strap that keeps your handgun safely in place, yet easily releases when you need to draw. Even these pockets themselves add to your concealment; because they aren’t molded to a handgun, you can store a smart phone or keys inside one or both pockets, furthering the idea that you aren’t carrying a handgun at all. Whether you’re carrying a handgun and spare magazines, or rather a wallet and music player, both will appear equally as inconspicuous.

Functionally, having workout pants that also act as concealed carry pants is a god-send.

You can run trails without being away from your personal protection, you can layer your leggings with a pair of pants in cool weather without sacrificing your concealed carry, and, because these leggings come in black, they work with pretty much anything else in your closet. You feel good, you look good, and nobody suspects you’re carrying a handgun, the epitome of good concealed carry cargo pants.

 

4. Can Can Women’s Concealed Carry Holster

With a setup like the Can Can Women’s Concealed Carry Holster, you can side-step the problem of CCW pants altogether, opting instead for a discreet, heavily pocketed belly band. And when we say heavily pocketed, we mean it; you’re getting pockets for four concealed carry handguns and three slim pockets for magazines, all secured with military elastic and three rows of hook-eye closures. Much like the UnderTech leggings above, you can easily use the extra pockets for everyday items like your phone or keys, furthering the idea that you aren’t using your holster as, well, a holster, thus keeping potential attackers in the dark.

When you do need to use your pocket for your handgun, you can feel secure knowing you’ve got options; the model is ambidextrous, and the appendix pockets are lined with rare Earth magnets to give you an added bit of retention.

With the Can Can holster, women now have just as many options as men to dress with their handgun without sacrificing. Simply strap this compression holster on just below your stomach (keeping your handgun around your belt line), put your pants or skirt on over them, and you’ve got comfortable, secure, covert carry with anything you choose to wear. While this holster won’t be completely out of sight while wearing high-cut shirts or anything skintight, it will work perfectly with almost anything else.

Whichever of these concealed carry pants you prefer, you’ll find that they all give you a great way to keep yourself comfortable and safe.