As the weather is getting hotter each day it is about time to present you a very specialized piece of clothing today. The OG Velocity Systems Range Shorts Gen 1, which was developed for a specialized unit which was “in need” for shorts that would provide them comfort and freedom of movement on the range.
The aforementioned background of the range shorts may sound a bit odd, but those special development works are the works that Velocity Systems has become famous for. And believe it or not, you are able to work on the range without wearing a chestrig or plate carrier.
When you look at the shorts the first time you will recognize it’s very utilitarian and specialized pocket configuration that reminds a little bit of work clothing. On the back you find two velcro closed rear pockets and on each side a deep stash pocket that goes through nearly a quarter of the leg space.
This sounds familiar to most military/tactical pants out there. But when we promise you uniqueness, you will get uniqueness. Looking at each side, where you normally find cargo pockets you will see a compound construction that is made of two. 223 magazine pouches, one dump pouch (!) and a pen/ shade holder. So the range short is more of a load bearing device than a regular piece of clothing.
The side pouches also feature a strip of fabric, which have a piece of loop velcro sewn to the inside. You find the fitting square of hook velcro above the mag pouches and inside of the dump pouches. When fixed inside the dump pouch you can use the pouch to – well, dump stuff. When fixed above the magazine pouch the dump pouch gets divided into two sepperated compartments, each giving you room for one additional 223 magazine. So it is possible to in fact carry eight 223 mags inside the Velocity Systems Range Shorts, if you wish to do so.
Also the shorts mag pockets – as I would further like to avoid the designation “pouches” here, offer you the ability to snugly carry two 9mm pistol or subgun mags, this snug fits suffers a bit when you remove one mag, but it works okay for the flat range.
The Velocity Systems Range Shorts are made out of standard NYCO Multicam fabric and the cut is that of traditional shorts, with the legs ending a hand wide above the knees. This combined with the slits on the legs provides you with a good range of motion. We weren’t RBT if we did test the shorts only on the range, we also took it to the gym and during K9 training and it works fine for all tasks except the deepest kinds of squat exercises.
Clothing and opening the shorts is done by a small canadian button and a zippered fly. You can also slightly adjust the waist size by two velcro tabs, located on the left and right side of the hips. This cinching feature is more of an afterthoughts as the cinching tabs don’t feature a channel system like some other tactical pants.
You can further hold your shorts in place by placing a belt inside the roughly 40mm wide belt loops.
Now, after writing everything I can – and propably ever will, about a pair of shorts it’s time for a short synopsis. Is the range shorts a product for everyone? Well it depends on your approach of training, If you are more a fan of the “Train as you fight” mentality it is definitely not your piece of cake. If you are on the point of being forced to train, or even teach in arid condition it is a real benefit in comfort as you will have everything you need on your body while staying cool even in the hot sun of elsewhere.
Sadly the Gen 1 configuration isn’t available for private purchase, but you can go for the more traditional Gen 2 Range shorts, available directly from Velocity Systems.
Liked this article? Or you are just in need to see more pictures of men in shorts, follow us on Instagram.
