5.11 Tactical TacTec Trainer weight vest review
Our Verdict
The v.xi Tactical TacTec Trainer is a weight vest that adapts a armed forces design for the gym, and does it without losing functionality or quality construction – but it's a lot more affordable.
For
- Adjustable blueprint that can fit any body
- Durable construction
- Great features for gym goers, like extra pockets and easy adjustments
- Affordable price
Against
- Color options aren't all great
Tom's Guide Verdict
The 5.11 Tactical TacTec Trainer is a weight vest that adapts a military design for the gym, and does it without losing functionality or quality construction – just it's a lot more affordable.
Pros
- +
Adjustable pattern that tin can fit any body
- +
Durable structure
- +
Great features for gym goers, similar actress pockets and easy adjustments
- +
Affordable price
Cons
- -
Colour options aren't all cracking
As part of my never-ending battle against the inevitable effects of a desk job, I started looking at several types of fitness gear, but I was almost intrigued by weight vests, since they looked like a great selection for enhancing the workouts I already do.
And afterwards ane week of testing, I was sold. Whether you're at abode with YouTube conditioning videos, a CrossFit fan at your local box, or a focused athlete looking to better your endurance and force with some cross preparation, you can add together a weight belong to your setup and immediately encounter benefits.
Simply there are several different weight vests on the market place. One of the best brands isn't even a traditional fettle make, but one that supplies constabulary and security equipment — 5.xi Tactical. Ane await at these weight vests, and you'll see the connection. These weight vests wait similar body armor, because that'due south literally where they come up from. The plate carrier blueprint is the same ane used to protect soldiers and constabulary, but instead of bullet-resistant ballistic plates, these vests are loaded up with weight to provide more resistance during workouts.
5.11 Tactical sent u.s. two unlike weight vests to test, the repurposed armor of the 5.11 TacTec Plate Carrier and the more fettle-oriented 5.11 TacTec Trainer weight vest, which nosotros're reviewing here. Though the plate carrier is the more recognisable and popular of the 2, the v.eleven TacTec Trainer may be the ameliorate weight vest, cheers to a pattern that ditches unneeded tactical features in favor of fettle-friendly elements, and a toll tag that's a petty easier to deal with.
five.11 TacTec Trainer weight vest: Cost and availability
The TacTec Trainer sells for $130 through Amazon and 5.11 Tactical, and comes in a variety of colors.
- Blackness
- Kangaroo brown
- Python light-green
- Tungsten greyness
While nigh of the colors are fine, I'm not a fan of the Tungsten grey, which looks like it uses a fleck of grey and a bit of khaki. The result is a two-toned look that is kind of ugly. Merely maybe that's but me.
In addition to the belong itself, you lot'll need weight to load the vest with. There are several weight plate options that volition work with the vest, including shaped weight plates from 5.11, Rogue Fettle, and other fitness brands.
But, in response to increasing steel prices, 5.11 has also introduced a rugged fabric sandbag that matches the shape and general dimensions of the weight plates, and works with the belong in an identical way. The 5.eleven Weight Plate Sandbag sells for $50 for a pair, and is made of the same tough 600D polyester that's used in the company'southward weight vests.
All together,t he price for the fully loaded 5.11 Tactical TacTec Trainer weight vest is $180.
5.11 Tactical TacTec Trainer weight vest: Design
The pattern of the TacTec Trainer is rooted in the combat-tested designs of its progenitor, the 5.xi TacTec Plate Carrier. Both are based on plate carriers for ballistic armor, and there's an undeniable family resemblance between the ii. If anything, the TacTec Trainer looks like the "Lite" version of the plate carrier.
But unlike the plate carrier, which is repurposed tactical gear, the TacTec Trainer is fitness equipment outset. Yep, it still has a very similar await and feel, but one time it was strapped onto my trunk, information technology was clear that the TacTec Trainer is more than streamlined and user-friendly than the bulkier plate carrier.
The belong is made with rugged 600D polyester, with compartments in front and back for conveying weight plates or sandbags. The belong goes over the caput, bib-style, with a padded yoke that keeps the straps and vest comfortable. The front and back panels are not only padded, merely the padding uses a breathable mesh fabric to help you stay cool and dry during workouts that are neither.
But different its more rugged plate carrier sibling, the TacTec Trainer is definitely more than civilian in its blueprint. The rubberband cumberbund that cinches the vest around you has been modified into a pair of pockets — one zippered, one open with an overlapping flap. They're perfect for, say, a set up of keys in the zippered pocket, and a smartphone or MP3 histrion in the open pocket, with the open closure well-suited to wired headphones.
A forepart breast pocket is found on both vests, simply the TacTec Trainer's chest pocket is a little more than accessible. The belong yet boasts a generous amount of MOLLE webbing on the front and back, as well every bit a Velcro loop panel on the upper half. Merely, dissimilar the plate carrier, the TacTec Trainer ditches the more tactical features, similar a take hold of-and-drag handle on the back, and a quick release handle for emergency belong removal.
five.eleven TacTec Trainer: Setup
Before you tin offset a workout with the weight belong, you'll need to load it.
The forepart and back of the vest are large compartments for inserting purpose-made weight plates or (in our case) an equivalent sandbag. The lesser border of the front end and back compartments are closed with basic hook-and-loop closures, with a pair of 50-shaped straps within that use the aforementioned hoo-and-loop to attach to the inside of the weight pocket. One end wraps effectually the sides of the plate to hold it horizontally, while the other end of the strap comes under the plate to agree it vertically.
Once the straps are deeply positioned, you merely close upwards the lesser of the chest or back compartment, and you're done.
Getting the plate or sandbag properly positioned and secured tin have a few tries, particularly with the Velcro-on-Velcro-on-Velcro that the sandbag introduces, then allot some fourth dimension to getting everything assembled and secured earlier you start your first workout.
The skillful news is that y'all probably merely need to load the vest once unless you want to change out the weight plates. Once the vest is loaded with weight, it can exist stored as-is between workouts.
5.xi TacTec Trainer: Fit and adjustment
Putting on the vest is simple, with an over-the-head bib-style vest pattern that secures effectually the middle with an rubberband cumberbund that secures in front. For many people, the only aligning that will be needed is in how tightly you want to wrap the cumberbund effectually yourself, since it's very firmly secured with a claw-and-loop console under some other claw-and-loop abdomen flap.
If you need farther adjustments, the shoulder straps can exist easily diffuse or shortened, thanks to a two-slice design. The ii-piece strap has a Velcro strap cover that has to exist opened, and so the 2 layers of the strap are separated. Printing them dorsum together at the desired length and close up the cover. The event is a super-secure, well-padded strap that is much, much easier to adapt than the straps on the v.11 Plate Carrier, which uses a more than complex cablevision organization to concur the vest together.
Similarly, the waist ring cumberbund can be adapted independent of the shoulder straps, but it's not as straightforward to adjust. Opening the back flap to shorten or lengthen the waist cumberbund straps, you'll detect a tie-down system that involves threading a length of cordage through loops on the cumberbund straps. It's non hard to figure out, merely it's non something you'll desire to change frequently. Nevertheless, even with that wrinkle, information technology's yet easier to adjust than on the 5.11 Plate Carrier, which again uses a more complicated cable-based system to adhere the two halves.
Once it'south all adjusted to your body shape, however, the vest fits very comfortably. The padded straps and front and back compartments let the weight sit snugly against your body without constricting your movement or breathing. The straps acquit the weight comfortably, and the cumberbund pockets are easily accessible.
v.eleven TacTec Trainer: Weight
For our review, 5.11 sent us the TacTec Weight Plate Sandbag, which is designed specifically for use with the vest. Filled with sand they let you lot load up the belong to twenty pounds of full weight, but they're easier to ship than a pair of traditional steel plates.
Selling for $50 for a set of two, they're as well significantly cheaper than either the laser cut steel or cast metallic used in other weight options. However, because they don't come with sand, the sandbag selection is a lilliputian more than labor intensive to set up.
The sandbags are made of the same 600D polyester fabric that the vest is made of, with a heavy duty claw and loop closure on one border and hook and loop straps that tighten downwards to remove any backlog slack once the handbag is filled to the desired weight.
The fabric is backed by rigid plastic boards to retain the right shape. It not only prevents bulging, it also helps the numberless maintain rigidity while loading the vest and working out. The bag itself has a bifurcated, 2-compartment design, which helps spread the sand evenly across the vest, minimizing whatsoever shifting or jutting from settling sand subsequently the pocketbook is full.
A rolled hook and loop enclosure at the bottom of the sandbag does a surprisingly skilful chore of preventing leaks — in my weeks using the sandbag with two dissimilar vests, I never noticed whatever stray sand in the vest, or when switching the weight from one belong to another.
The simply issue that the sandbag presents is the need to purchase some sand — a 50 pound bag of all purpose sand does the trick for nigh $v — and the i-fourth dimension hassle of filling. While a plastic cup and a bathroom calibration are really all you need, you will want to take intendance to make sure that yous fill the two compartments of the sandbag evenly. Too, only a tip from someone who's washed it, you'll desire to fill this outdoors, or put down some sort of a drop material, considering in that location is no fashion to scoop 20 lb of sand without making a bit of a mess.
I filled the two bags to 8.75 pounds each, for a full of 17.five pounds. Combined with the weight of the unladen vest, it totals out to 20 pounds of extra weight. This effectively filled the sandbags to maximum volume, so going heavier would require a different fill up material, such as BBs.
The filled bag is then cinched tight with the three aligning flaps. Once information technology's filled and adjusted the sandbag feels pretty solid, without any of the shifting and unstable load that y'all might recall of with granular fillers like sand.
5.xi TacTec Trainer: Workout
Using the TacTec Trainer weight vest in a number of workouts, I was pleased to larn that information technology was not merely comfortable, only very well suited to a range of movements and tempos.
The test the belong under real world conditions, I incorporated it into my own workouts for a couple of weeks, wearing information technology for long thirty-minute walks in a hilly neighborhood, a bones calisthenics routine or pushups, squats and pullups, and a HIIT boxing routine with a heavy handbag.
Whether I was hanging from a bar, hiking up a hill, or trying to stay light on my feet while I threw hooks and uppercuts, the vest stayed right where I wanted information technology to. It didn't ride up, it didn't sag when I got down into a pushup position, information technology didn't bounce when I quickened my pace.
The belong is also notably less beefy than the 5.11 TacTec Plate Carrier, despite the obvious similarity of design. Between the change in side panel construction and removing tactical features like the grab handle or quick release strap, the whole thing felt sleeker and lighter, despite letting me carry the verbal same xx pounds of weight.
The simply issue I had with the vest was one I besides had with the plate carrier — the mesh fabric that covers the padded straps and interior of the vest is too rough to wear on bare skin. (Or, at least it was besides rough for my delicate epidermis.) A T-shirt was enough to solve that problem, simply users online study the mesh as well being too rough for some technical fabrics, with ruined shirts as the effect.
Through all of my workouts, the TacTec Trainer did everything the 5.11 Plate Carrier did — hold the weight deeply to permit me focus on my workout. Whether I was grinding out pushups or trying to stick and jab, the weight was a solid, stable presence on my chest and back, with no worrying almost shifting loads.
5.11 TacTec Trainer: Verdict
In the end, it seems that the 5.11 TacTec Trainer does everything that the 5.11 TacTec Plate Carrier does, merely does it a little amend. The vest is easier to get on and off, more usable during workouts, thanks to the integrated pockets, and the redesign eliminates nearly every irritation I had with the plate carrier.
By ditching the tactical elements and focusing on usability for regular folks trying to stay fit, they made the leading weight belong fifty-fifty better. And they did for a much more affordable price — the TacTec Trainer will relieve you a full $lxxx over its SWAT-squad sibling. That'south plenty to make it my favorite of the ii.
Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/reviews/5-11-tactical-tactec-trainer-weight-vest
Posted by: endothervitur.blogspot.com
0 Response to "5.11 Tactical TacTec Trainer weight vest review"
Post a Comment