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“Diplomat” Tactical Pant

A Product Review by Phil Elmore

While I don’t know if the term “man of action” springs
to mind for most people when my name comes up, I am a fairly busy guy.
I’m constantly on the go, engaging in martial arts training, taking photos
on location for articles, crawling around industrial settings for my work
as a technical writer, and traveling with my lovely wife. I’ve had
my picture taken in front of Canada’s

parliament, with a wax figure of Star Wars’

Salacious Crumb, and with a giant bronze frog in

Boston Common. I’ve dodged forklifts in Erie, Pennsylvania and
I’ve hiked through standing stones in the Poconos. I’ve used rattan
sticks to fight people I didn’t know at seminars and I’ve jumped from a
rolling, smoking Volvo on an ill-fated trip across New York State.

Through it all, I was wearing pants.

No matter where you go, there you are and hopefully
you’re wearing pants.

The problem is that I’m awfully hard on my casual slacks.
I’ve never had too much trouble with jeans (though the right leg on more than
one pair of denim pants I own is pierced or slashed I’ve managed it more
than once while using or testing knives). I cannot wear jeans all the
time, though. Even in settings where jeans are appropriate, I sometimes
want more pockets and a slightly less “common” look.

I spent a few years kicking around in military BDU pants but
eventually abandoned them. The buttons got on my nerves (the button
flies, especially) and the cuffs never looked right unless the pants were
tucked into boots. The ripstop fabric wore fairly well, but BDUs just
weren’t the solution.

When the “Dockers Mobile Pant” debuted, I thought I’d found
what I wanted. Unfortunately, I managed to prove that even these were
not ideal for me. While training in street clothes in Silat, I managed
to experience a “pantal rupture” while moving into a lower stance, ripping out
the inseam of my trousers. This was on the heels of a similar blow-out
in the office, which occurred when I was squatting down to take a photo of
some equipment in a warehouse.

“Damn these pants!” I muttered at the time.

When I complained about my pants problems online, the nice
folks at Countycomm
were listening. I ordered some Nylon goods from Nick and Frank at Countycomm in the past and was impressed by their selection and their
excellent service. They contacted me with a possible solution to my
pants dilemma. They wanted to send me, they said, a sample of the
“Diplomat” tactical pant that they sell.

The Diplomat is available in sizes through 3XL in regular
and long lengths. Made of ripstop fabric that is 60% cotton and 40%
polyester, it will not (at least in theory) fade or shrink as do 100% cotton
BDUs. I’d characterize these pants as the offspring of a pair of cargo
pants and military BDUs. They have a level of workmanship roughly
comparable to BDUs (reasonably rugged construction, some rough or ragged
stitching in spots, and fairly course mating of hook-and-loop patches to the
fabric) but have a metal YKK zipper and a metal stud anchor button above the
fly.

The author tests the Diplomat Tactical Pant in
less-than-ideal conditions.

When I received my pants (mine came in “khaki” for testing
and photos Diplomats are also available in black) my wife pronounced them
ugly. She is right, when you think about it. The Diplomat has a
very pragmatic look, including an asymmetrical pocket configuration (and no
one ever accused BDUs of being terribly attractive). For the man of
action, however, these pants are ideal (and their look can be expressed as
“masculine” rather than unattractive).

The first thing I did after receiving them was launder the
pants a couple of times. This caused the usual curling of the pocket
flaps (a problem with which anyone who has owned BDUs will be familiar).
I then wore them out and about for testing and training to see how they would
hold up and, more importantly, how comfortable I would find living and working
in them.

The front wireless phone pocket is very handy and
well placed. Light shown is
the author’s trusty NightCutter P20
Strategist, a daily carry item at the time.

The Diplomat has an elastic waist with widely spaced
two-inch belt loops. The two very large rear slash pockets have
hook-and-loop closures. The front swing pockets have reinforced tabs of
fabric at the mouths and something I was very pleased to find inner slim
pockets that are perfect for keeping a pocket knife separate from the other
items in (like keys) in your front pocket(s). These pockets are
completely concealed inside the front swing pockets.

The Diplomat’s hook-and-loop closure rear slash
pockets are wide and deep.

The thigh pocket on the left leg is a deep bellows pouch
with dual hook-and-loop closures. The
right thigh pocket is divided into three separate compartments. The
first is extremely thin and ideal for slim items like pens or pocket sticks.
The second is twice as wide as the first, and the third is larger still.
The second two pockets run half the depth of the slimmer pocket. Above
these pockets is a separate wireless phone
pocket with a hook-and-loop closure. This is just the right size for
small, modern phones but will not fit larger, out-of-date models.

Mating of hook-and-loop patches to the fabric is a
little rough, but functional.

The legs of the Diplomat have
velcro tabs at the cuffs. These can
be arranged for a normal cuff (wide enough to fit comfortably over boots) or
tapered by repositioning the strap. I chose to wear my pants tapered
while making my way through the snows of Central New York.

I wore the pants while engaging in my usual
routine, my pockets full of accessories (car keys, house keys, tactical
folding knife, comb, NightCutter flashlight, and wallet included). I
carry my phone most of the time when I am out and found the wireless phone
pocket extremely convenient. It is well placed to keep the phone out of
harm’s way while sitting in a car or moving around. It also fit my phone
quite well (though this will vary by model).

The Diplomat has double reinforced knees and a
double reinforced seat. I tried very hard to see if I could split the
crotch or otherwise “bust” the pants to no avail. Walking, running,
training, and kicking in the pants were all easily accomplished. Nick of
Countycomm encouraged me to “kick some ass” in the pants, which I did.
No pantal failures occurred.

Ass-kicking in the Diplomat occurred without pantal
failure.

The front swing pockets were adequate and kept
my keys secure throughout my activities. I really enjoyed having the
inner pockets to secure my pocket knife, because this meant I could keep other
loose items in the pocket without fear of them scratching the knife or getting
in the way of deploying it. The rear pockets were more than up to the
task of holding my full-sized Spec Ops T.H.E. wallet (also available from
Countycomm as of this
writing). They are so deep, in fact, that my wallet was riding over the
back of my thigh rather than over my behind. This was actually not all
that comfortable, so I switched my wallet to the left-leg bellows pocket.
I tried different assortments of items in all of the pockets of the Diplomat
and found the storage and carry options very well conceived. Once I
become accustomed to having these pockets it is going to be difficult to go
back to five-pocket jeans.

I’m no commando, but I appreciate a good tactical
pant rain or shine.

These are well-designed pants that would suit any man or
woman of action. The pocket layout is very practical, the workmanship
is adequate, and the “look” of the pants is acceptable (at least in my
less-than-fashionable outlook). I intend to buy several pairs of these
through Countycomm and
integrate them into my wardrobe.

You might consider doing the same.

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