If you’re looking for straight-up tactical talk, look no further than Trigger Pull Tactical. The blog is operated anonymously by TP (Trigger Pull), a veteran law enforcement officer who also served in the military and now works with a full-time tactical team. His description is vague and for good reason, his agency has strict rules about name and title usage outside of work.

So, why risk it by blogging? TP says he blogs for one reason: To make tactical operators out there think.

On his blog, he often shares informative articles and insights from his own experiences, careful to not reveal too much information. TP told us he’s been writing for quite awhile, though he has been blogging for less than a year. Along with his blog, TP just started hosting a weapons and tactics forum over at OfficerResource.com.

You emphasize that tactical operators should think. Who is out there not thinking? Is it something civilians should worry about?

I don’t think anyone specifically is not thinking, rather I believe there is room for improvement in the tactical field. I believe many tactical teams are under trained, under staffed, under paid. With that comes a lot of bad decisions. The old way of doing things is to gear up, grab your weapons, hit the door, arrest the bad guys, and hope for the best. The tactical field has come a long way in the last 25 years, but many teams and agencies still have the old way of thinking.

What’s something you’ve witnessed in your line of work that had you smacking your hand to your forehead?

I laugh at this question, because there is probably too many to even narrow it down to just one. Let’s just say I’ve seen, been involved in, and will continue to see head-smacking things in my line of work. Let’s just hope they are few and far between.

Your blog is anonymous. Has anyone from work called you out on this? Does anonymity give you more freedom on what you disclose?

Nobody has called me out because nobody knows who I am. Other than my wife, nobody knows Trigger Pull’s true identity. Anonymity is nothing I really wanted to do myself, but rather something I had to do or this project would be counter-productive. If you read my postings and articles you will notice that I never use names, very specific instances or locations. This is so I don’t get in trouble with my agency, and more importantly so that NOBODY ever finds out my true identity.

You explicitly say in your “About” section that you’re not blogging to sell tactical gear. However, if you had to pick a favorite brand and/or item that has helped through the year, what would it be and why?

Hands down — my EOTech. They are simple to site in, take a lot of abuse, and you never miss.

Let’s say you weren’t in the tactical field. What can you picture yourself doing instead?

A high school teacher or coach and a maybe fitness instructor on the side.

What’s your hope for 2010?

We lost 125 police officers in the line of duty and 469 American Soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2009. Although I realize we will lose more and that’s the price of doing business in this line of work, I hope those numbers dwindle drastically.

• In the above video, see what this cop dash cam captures in South Korea. (Break)
• And guess who is the Fire/EMS blog of the year?! (Medic 999)
• eMedic iPhone app debuts with algorithms, acronyms & abbreviations, emergency medical treatments, and medicine records. (EMS Daily News)
• The soundtrack of a shift prep includes ACDC and Godsmack. What does yours include? (Beat and Release)
• Another day, another police impersonator. (2theadvocate.com)
• Time to learn all about the Zoll E-Series Monitor. Get excited. (Everyday EMS Tips)
• What’s the most important piece in your kit? A coffee maker? A stethoscope? Find out. (Medic 999)
• MC puts to bed his ongoing beef with the media’s use of accident verses collision. (If You Got Stopped … You Deserved It)
• Being an EMS dad: Reality is the hardest part. (Medic Three)
• Welcome to the United States of America … can you respect the laws? (Officer Smith)
• Carjacking a police officer should probably be filed under “not such a good idea.” (Police Magazine)
• Oooh, so that’s what you call alternative medicine. (Rogue Medic)
• Recommended reading: 11 articles discussing police force. (Spartan Cops)
• What age should you turn in your badge? (The Fire Critic)
• Ten million crimes mapped in 2009. (The Crime Reports)

Watch out: Bodice-ripping romance just got a lot more tactical.

Yes, you heard right. Tactical corsets are changing the face of tactical gear — literally. Those who squeeze into the black form-fitting foundation garment are encouraged to strap on pouches that carry fire-engine red lipstick instead of bullets.

Touted as “the new hotness,” TacticalCorsets.com is now taking preorders for its custom-made MILSPEC corset that features MOLLE (Modular Lightweight Load-carrying Equipment) modular pouch attachment webbing. While this site has no affiliation with TacticalPants.com or its sister sites, it was way too ridiculous and creative to ignore.

“For too long, women have had to compromise practicality for beauty,” its website reads. “Men got pants with cargo pockets and built-in knee pads, women got clothes whose only built-in feature was cuteness. But why should men get all the high-speed low-drag tactical toys?”

Yeah! Although we weren’t aware tactical vests were gender specific. Are they?

“I really think girls deserve to have the same kind of functionality,” said creator Alex Peake, in a YouTube interview. “My vest constricted me, and it made me think ‘this must be what a corset kind of feels like.’ But I could never be as beautiful as a lady in a corset, so I had to make something for them to be able to carry the kinds of stuff that I can carry.”

Alex constructed the tactical corset with three main selling points in mind:

• It makes pockets/purses obsolete. Plus pockets “bulge and take away from your beautiful figure.”
• It makes laces obsolete. Instead of the infamous lace-up back, the tactical corset has adjustable plastic buckles. “Laces slow you down and makes you a dependent lady.” And nobody wants that, right?
• Forget buckles, too. Wait, what? The tactical body constrictor features a front quick-release, high-speed/low-drag zipper for special “covert operations.” Sure, uh-huh.

“Your tactical corset is your gateway into becoming a tactical human being,” says Peake.

Now we’d just like to see someone model the tactical corset wearing a nice pair of tactical pants. We’ll be the first to forecast it as the fashion statement of the century.

(Image via TacticalCorsets)

Today we’re taking a break from our regularly scheduled tactical pants coverage to give you the scoop on a new movie called Battle: Los Angeles.

Why? Well, aside from our penchant for tasteless celeb gossip, our sister site, BDU.COM, is supplying the film with uniforms, boots and various tactical items. However, the jury is still out as to whether some lovely tactical trousers will make a well-deserved cameo.

The premise of the movie, presented from a real-time perspective, involves a Marine staff sergeant (Aaron Eckhart), his newly formed platoon and a slew of potentially creepy-looking spacemen (since there’s an alien invasion and all). Some have called it an amalgamation of Independence Day and Black Hawk Down all taking place in sunny Los Angeles.

We hear that primary production wrapped in late December on location in Shreveport, La., which means it’s halfway there to becoming the next big blockbuster. But don’t add it to your Netflix queue just yet: Battle: LA isn’t scheduled for release until February 2011 — that’s more than a year away! But no timeline will keep a few onset photos from popping up online.

Jonathan Hoff managed to catch Eckhart in full-combat glory (via i09). It also looks like he has more to share, writing on Flickr that he has 40 original photographs. More pics appeared on manwithscaryspouse’s Webshots page with some real action (fire, car crashes, various mayhem). Unfortunately no one has yet to capture the mysterious, Earth-invading aliens.

What has surfaced, however, is a snapshot of teenybopper heartthrob Lucas Till, who plays Corporal Grayston in the movie. Till recently told MTV News that working on Battle: LA is a “dream job.” “I get to go to work and shoot guns all day so it’s pretty awesome,” he said. That is pretty awesome.

And now you can view part of the Shreveport set from the driver’s seat (see video below). As the videographer describes it, the street he films looks *nothing* like it did before — no Ben & Jerry’s or Maytag. The crew transformed a church into a bicycle shop. And, hey, wait … they even recreated the famous Laugh Factory. Is this supposed to be the Sunset Strip after an alien attack? Oh, Hollywood, you never cease to amaze us!

(Images via Jonathan Hoff and manwithscaryspouse)

Our friends over at Tactical Gearhead recently did a side-by-side comparison of 5.11 Tactical TDUs (tactical duty uniforms) with Traditional BDUs (battle dress uniforms) and found while there are many similarities, there are also an equal number of differences.

This 10-minute video (above) covers all the bases. Here are the highlights:

• Both pants large pockets on the front and back.
• TDUs have a self-adjusting strap without a metal drawstring, which can “get in the way.”
• Area between belt loops is wider on TDUs to accommodate a canteen or pouch.
• TDUs have gynormous pockets with Velcro closures, while BDUs have buttons.
• BDUs also feature fly buttons as well, which the reviewer believes was developed for troops in the field because it was easier to repair. TDUs not only have a zipper system but a snap button as well.
• TDUs are water resistant. He demonstrates this by dumping water on the TDUs and quickly mopping up the mess with the BDUs. He also makes a reference about a Mrs. Gearhead, for those of you who were wondering…
• TDUs have removable kneepads, which can get very uncomfortable in warm weather if left in place. “Especially if the sun is beating down on your leg… it will really heat up and you will sweat some more,” he says. KZG65VR62PGG

TAD Gear Force 10 Pants

TAD Gear isn’t exactly a household name.  So it’s no wonder we’ve only recently discovered this high end manufacturer, who has a series of tactical pants that attempt to trump all others.

The TAD Gear Force 10 Pants emphasize all the finer points of garment construction, including stitches per inch, top quality threads and cottons, and a US based labor force.  In executing all these details without compromise, they’ve created an incredible line of pants that approach $100 a pair – more than double the price of a typical pair of imported tactical pants.

There’s no denying the quality of the garments – they are top notch, and feature some innovative functionality. We find their pricing interesting, as law enforcement and military types are rarely top earners.

Chalk us up as fans of the Force 10 Pants.  But we’ll be watching closely to see if such a high end offering can gain momentum in a market dominated by lower cost imports.

Learn more about the Force 10 and other TAD Products at TADGear.com.