Sara Tipton modelling 5.11 tactical yoga pants (courtesy The Truth About Guns)

The idea of tactical yoga pants intrigued me from the get go. Since 5.11 introduced the concept at SHOT Show, I’ve been asked by several women to put them through their paces. The company sent me a pair simply wrapped in plastic with a tag stating the size (small) and color (“Tundra”). It’s not like a product called “Raven Range Tights” (RRT) needs a fancy package . . .

(courtesy Sara Tipton for The Truth About Guns)

“Tundra” is marketing speak for dark green. The pants are tagless. OpSec rules! I can take a yoga class in my RRTs without announcing my tacticoolosity. The 5.11 tights aren’t as soft as most yoga pants, but God knows they are sturdy. The belt loops and waistband are stitched with parachute-like panache. Next step…putting them on.

The tactical yoga pants are really sung from the knee down and looser up top. It’s a positive point, which I’ll explain in a moment. First, cardio . . .

After 30 minutes of strenuous exercise I concluded that the RRTs “sweat wick” as advertised. Later, I did an hour of yoga in the 5.11 tights. I was mostly looking for their ability to facilitate a range of motion, especially as the RTTs are not soft and the reinforced knee made me worry a bit about their flexibility. Again, mission accomplished.  I didn’t use a belt while doing yoga, but they didn’t slip down.

Bakasana (crow pose) in the 5.11 tactical yoga pants (courtesy The Truth About Guns)

The next day I put on the RRTs, grabbed my EDC and AR and headed out to the range. I deployed my Rekkr Custom Kydex IWB style concealment holster.

Sara T. Tactical yoga pants review (courtesy The Truth About Guns)

Thanks to the RTT’s industrial grade waistband and belt loops I could tool-up as per normal. The tights remained comfortable and effective after repeated draws. The fact that they weren’t tight around my backside meant I could move while standing with my side arm in the waistband. As I said above, the extra room is a good thing not a bad thing.

Sara T. Tactical yoga pants review

On the downside, after a day of working out and shooting, the RRTs were not ideal for lounging around and relaxing with a hot cup of coffee. The seams are noticeable. As snug as they are — without being soft like yoga pants — the RRTs wouldn’t be my first choice for relaxation. That said, they were more comfortable that jeans or other work-type pants.

At $89.99, 5.11’s Raven Range Tights aren’t cheap. But they’re ready for TEOTWAWKI and they bring welcome style to range days, without sacrificing utility. If you buy one pair of tactical yoga pants, this is it.

5.11 Raven Range Tights

SPECIFICATIONS

FABRIC: Stretch Ponte di Roma fabric, antimicrobial, moisture-wicking
FEATURES: Elastic waistband, ankle-length inseam, abrasion panels, belt loops
COLORS: Black and Tundra (dark green)
SIZES: XS – XL
PRICE: $89.99 msrp

RATINGS

QUALITY * * * * *
The double reinforced knee and sturdy material make these ideal to wear all day.  They won’t tear easily and the seams are stitched together well.

PRICE * * * * 
At $89.99, these are some pricey pants. But they’re perfect for yoga and tactical ops, or tactical yoga ops. Result.

PERFORMANCE (YOGA) * * * *
The seams were a bit bothersome especially compared to “normal” yoga pants, but they got the job done. They stretched as needed and didn’t restrict movements when doing poses.

PERFORMANCE (SHOOTING) * * * * *
These are now my go-to pants for the range. They’re comfortable and sturdy and loose in just the right spots to make them work for my preferred IWB holster. Any pair of boots should go right over the pants because they are so tight around the bottom.

OVERALL * * * * *
What well-armed woman doesn’t want tactical yoga pants? 5.11 did a great job of creating something genuinely useful for women.

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64 COMMENTS

  1. Definitely not an expert in women’s fashion, but it seems to me that these have crossed some sort of line from “yoga pants” to just “pants.”

  4. That “strenuous exercise” photo makes me hurt just looking at it. Putting the “OF” in OFWG here.

  5. I’m staying with ranger panties for operator workout wear. Remember folks, always go down a size from your normal wear when ordering.

  6. Eew! They clash with the purple camo on the rifle.
    No self-respecting operator-lady would be caught dead with non-matching accessories!

    I am kinda digging the thought of purple camo tactical yoga pants on a woman, though.

  8. For the copchic who is ready to retire.

    “Look as my ass”. “OFFICER BAGODONUTS IS CREATING AN THREATING WORKPLACE, I’M SUEING”

    • Surely, no one sues the guy with a bag of doughnuts. If so, then that’s it folks, we are beyond saving.

  9. Great option for the Ladies but I’m starting to see Guys (usually the Man-Bun types) running around in them… PLEASE DON’T…. For the Children if for no other reason!!!

  10. I would own yoga pants and tactical pants, but I don’t wear pants while fighting or doing yoga.

    So you best believe, I’ll be pantless while yoga fighting.

  11. Sounds good. For me, I’ll stick with the baggies. Breaks up the outline and assists in concealment, don’tcha know?

  12. They just look like stretchy pants to me. Not that I’m an expert on yoga. And 90bucks? Ouch…

    • My wife loves to shop and if it has taught me anything, it’s that women’s clothes are either ridiculously under priced or ridiculously over priced.

  13. I own three pieces of 5.11 clothing. Outstanding – well constructed, versatile, lots of pockets in the right places. A++ so far.

  15. It’s an interesting concept. I’m still looking for a good pair of lognjohns that will fit under utilities on cold days. (You haven’t run 3-gun until you ran in 20 below windchill with regular white-outs.)

    Right now, your only real uptions are either Underarmor compression fit, or issue gear which tends to be hit or miss. The compression fit long sleeve shirts work great to keep your core temperature up, but the boys get a little chilly when your lying face down in a snow bank waiting for the wind to settle down so that you can take that 200 yard shot.

      • The problem is bunching. Most thermal underwear tends to be lose and does not stay in place rather well when you have to do a lot of crouching / crawling through snow.

        • Ibex is your answer. Look them up. You don’t need anything heavier than their midweights. Wore them through 2 deployments during the cold months in Afghanistan up in Gardez and Ghazni. Pricey but worth every penny.

        • Thanks, I will keep it in mind. $85 for a pair of longjohns is not cheap. How do they handle water? The thing I love about my Underarmor is that is just does not stay wet with proper ventilation.

        • They are 100% wool so they get wet and don’t dry unless they are exposed to air, in which they dry pretty quickly. But, since they are wool, they retain 85% of their R value when soaked, and actually heat up a little as they get wet.
          All of the Under Armor synthetic stuff is an absolute no go for me. I’ve seen it melted into the skin of too many patients. There is no reason that these fibers, which melt in a flash, should be allowed in the military.
          Wool, however, has at least some flame resistance and won’t flash melt.

        • True, but that’s what your flame resistant outer layer is for. If fire is a serious risk, cold weather generally isn’t. Let’s be honest, if you’re on-fire enough for an interior layer of underarmor to melt, you have much more serious problems.

  17. Tactical? Throw a flash bang near them, slide down a rock face in a far away land, lay in them for hours on end while watching in the cold or heat, tell me how much they chaff after 15 miles. Then call them tactical. Don’t think cause you threw on some pants that match the name brand molle color of your weekend range warrior boyfriend and stood a static line it’s tactical.

    • Opsec is good but the pants don’t make the warrior. I’ve stood the line without pants in armor, unlaced boots and rifle in tighty whities.
      Yoga is a great stretch and calming but My TACTICAL pants have the soot from an M2 heater, the burn from cutting the lock with the oxy torch, the marks from the rope, the missing button from camo net, the smell of OC, CS and CN, the fade of the desert, the salt stain from the recon, the worn seat from the haul and the blood from the soldier we pulled from the hummer. They’ve seen the concrete and bars, lands across the pond and the streets while others slept. I wear mine with pride in any place. Live it don’t pretend it. Tacticool

      • Yes and your heavy weight bdu’s will be great in a zombie apocolypse, until then, ever ask yourself why ‘the high speed’ crowd doesn’t wear carhartt weight gear when they are kicking down doors? Too hot, too constricting, and too heavy, in a short term crisis you need a balance of toughness against light weight and mobility and strong pockets. If you are smart your essentials will be on your belt anyway and if your pants do rip, so what, change em out when you get home. As it stands, if its not the end of the world, ill take the girl in the yoga pants over the roughneck in welding gear. Because she wont gas out as quick, or overheat as easily, she’ll be lighter and quicker and if everybody runs out of ammo she’ll be flexible enough to put you in an arm bar or a choke hold and your dumb ass is gonna be taking a nap in your arctic rated armour while she slips out the broken window or up the fire escape or out the doggy door or whatever. Nobody said she was going to deploy in them dude, and you said it yourself, you stood the line in your underwear, how critical were pants then? Obviously they weren’t, speed and mobility were paramount even in a combat zone. All due respect to your experience, but no one is going to take a yoga class in heavy weight bdu’s. The term ‘tactical’ here applies to a civilian woman in a civilian world trying to cut the balance between being safe and being functional and maybe even a bit fashionable. How much experience do you have in that arena?

        • I have and did take yoga in bdu pants as well as LAPolicegear pants. Not hot yoga mind you.
          I’m not a woman and the tactical label is being thrown around in not only this but everything. I sent this review of hers to my daughter in law because I can see her wearing these however my opinion of “tactical” still stands

      • And from what I understand, the farther out and higher up you get into the mountains of Afghanistan, the more likely you are to see guys in less gear, minimalist plates, maybe even fucking flip flops. Keep your heavy shit close by in a vehicle. If you need protection that bad put on armor and pads, but keep the pants light. And situational awareness is important my man, like maybe if your mission is getting to and from a yoga class safely, then pack just what you realistically think you’ll need, the rest is dead weight and probably more a liability than anything else. And again, respect to your experience, but dude, you are just straight Ft. Braggin it here, not even a humble braggin, in a comments section on an article about yoga pants. You took a yoga class in bdu’s? Great, because when parisian or Bernardino style terrorists come through the door, its gonna be you that gets lit up first.

        • Earn it
          If you don’t then don’t claim it
          $store flip flops cause no one wants feet issues and you don’t cry when you leave’em behind when you rotate cause your C is already overloaded
          Real Tacticool they don’t make a pvc patch for

    • Tactical is just the name used by people to describe them, it isn’t anywhere in the actual product name. Nor are these meant as a replacement for so called “tactical” pants. These are meant to be range wear for women that like to wear yoga pants, nothing more.

      • They’re doing that for a good cause, so as silly as an “operator’s” flip-flop is, it wouldn’t be right to make fun of them for selling it.

        And they already make tactical aprons and neckties, so I’m at a loss for deliberately-absurd tacticool products that don’t exist yet. Damn.

        Uh…Tactical clown noses, maybe?

  19. What an interesting product. It’s looks like it might nicely fill a niche. Thanks for review!

  20. This reminds me of that scene in the film Sniper where Tom Berenger throws Billy Zane’s “tactical” underwear out the window of a moving train.

    • See my above comments to mattinoklahoma. You think 5.11 is more or less keyed in to the realities of contemporary urban life for woman than the writers of that most excellent and oh so realistic fucking hollywood movie, set in the jungles of Vietnam, decades ago?

      • Dude, calm down and proofread your posts. You make no sense in your rush to defend yoga pants. Just because I said it reminded me of a scene in a movie doesn’t mean I’m defending the authenticity of said movie. We’re all so duly impressed that you’re operator AF and so tiered out. Take a breath and work on your sense of humor.

  21. I forwarded this to my daughter. Her comment, “They’re not tactical – they have no pockets.”

    • May I politely suggest that your daughter not rely completely on pockets for anything critical. Try putting that stuff on your belt if you can.

      • Agreed, old chum. Ever since one unfortunate incident on the high seas, I always keep my Shark-Repellent Bat Spray on my belt for ease of access.

  22. There are a couple companies out there making stretchy jeans for guys and gals if you’re not into yoga or tacticool they might be worth a look.

  23. Way back when we had the self-loading rifles in service rifle competition, a few girls who competed wore riding jodhpurs. They said the padding on the inside of the knees was a great place to put your elbows when shooting from the sitting position.

  24. Sara makes them look good. I just don’t get pants with no pockets though.

    I imagine they’ll debut on the The Walking Dead soon.

  25. Given my current situation ( and circumference ) , I feel much more comfortable in strategic pants.

  26. It is weird that I wear my 5.11 pants essentially everywhere except to the range. I wear normal jeans there cause I don’t want people to be like, “Lulz, look, an operator”, especially since I am a crappy shot. I find 5.11 pants really comfy but realize that they are super lame.

  27. A lot of people criticizing these pants, mainly guys. I don’t think they are aiming for you guys.
    If you don’t like this product, then don’t buy it.
    Personally the more women wearing yoga pants the better.
    Come on ladies, lets see pictures of you wearing them.

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