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Spent a few days in Modesto, California last week on a dealer retreat with 5.11 Tactical, a favorite company of mine. It was refreshing to see such a competently run large business. 5.11 is mostly oriented towards the brick and mortar retail stores, but we at OpticsPlanet do a large bit of business with them as well. The embellishment section of 5.11 is state of the art, with complex looking machines hooked up to Macintosh computers directing the embroidery and silk screen operations. OpticsPlanet doesn’t use this service, but we may in the future. Their warehouse was expertly run, and was packed with the most modern picking and shipping equipment and methods. Very efficient.
The Light For Life is the most exciting product on the 5.11 menu at the moment, and it is revolutionary in every sense of the word. It has a polymer body and is fully charged in 90 seconds. Maximum lumens are 270 peak, and 90 lumens standard, plus a strobe. The unit is comfortably large but light. This is a superb light for uniformed officers, as well as home use. The mid-sized Light For Life will be on the market shortly. The 5.11 Light For Life can be charged up to 50,000 times!
The 5.11 Tac-Lite pants and shirts will also prove to be favorite items of mine. I like the bit more freedom of movement and comfort over the standard 5.11 Tactical pants and shirts, which are superb. The covert pants are great, too.
Dan Costa’s famous prime rib was excellent, and one night after product training in a vineyard we sampled some fine red and white wines. Well, some people sampled. I just drank it. The fantastic blues band was a fabulous treat to compliment the excellent food, and Dan’s brother plays a mean guitar. A good time was had by all.
Input was received by the upper echelon of 5.11 at every stage of the retreat, and they are very receptive to ideas suggested by their dealers. They will not put up with less than outstanding performance from their products or their people. A big atta boy to the managers there. Keep it up.
This company has nowhere to go but up. Look forward to new releases of Blade-Tech holsters, knives, uniforms, and footwear to excite 5.11 Tactical to even greater heights. My thanks to Dan and everyone at 5.11 for a fun and informative retreat, and I can’t wait to send Mark and Ryan next year. They will eat it up.
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