New 5.11 tacticool hat for 2012.

Most people who carry a radio or two in their line of work are probably familiar with the 5.11 Tactical line of clothing designed for extreme operators, door kickers, and donut munchers. I know a few blacktical shemagh wearing forum moderators who have whole 5.11 outfits that color coordinate with their Magpul accessories.

Now nothing says Mutual Aid like 5.11's fade resistant polo shirts that have three points to clip speaker mics, and you gotta love a pair of pants that have enough pockets for a couple dozen radios. But before you suit up to head down to the local Starbucks you better pick up the new 2012 hat from 5.11.

5.11 doesn't sell their hats, they only give them away. I picked mine up last week at the SHOT show, but I'm sure LAPG will soon have some sort of deal where you get one free if you buy three pairs of pants, or a Light for Life, or some polos, etc. 

I will admit for being a Cambodian made give-away-able hat, 5.11 did a good job this year. The hat is made of ripstop material, and the embroidery is pretty solid, they even embroidered a little sniper dude on the side. They removed the traditional metal button (the thing that smashes into your skull when you wear shooting muffs) from the crown of the hat and replaced it with a 1" x 1" piece of "loop" which I guess you could velcro a infrared reflector patch to so helicopters can see you sitting out on the patio at Starbucks. I also noticed, the interior stitching is piped with a 5.11 ribbon similar to the way New Era does their 59Fifty ball caps, but unlike the 59Fifty's these of course are not fitted. However, the adjustable hook and loop on the back can reasonably fit my size 7 1/2 mellon.