5.11 Day at Urban Tactical 2026

The old adage “often imitated, never duplicated” could very well apply to 5.11 Day at Urban Tactical. Indeed, I have noticed that several retailers have started offering promotions/events around May 11^th to celebrate the 5.11 Tactical brand but no one does it better than Urban Tactical! I have been covering their event for years!

We didn’t make it in time to be one of the first 25 to get a free 5.11 hat this year (I have in the past) but we did get some opportunities at the prize table as we did some shopping 😊

Play Plinko to decide your prize!

The 5.11 promotion applied across the board to the brand’s huge and expansive lineup, from clothing to footwear to gear like bags and packs.

There were also promotions on many other brands that Urban Tactical carries like UF Pro

And Oakley, where I saw some new eyewear that I haven’t seen before, such as their Vanguard Electronic Sunglasses! These feature an ultra-wide 12MP camera that captures hands free video from your point of view, has open-ear speakers and can connect with Garmin devices and fitness apps through Meta AI to track progress and analyze performance. The apps can give you historical data to track your progress over time, real-time metrics, “Action Auto Capture” to trigger highlights automatically, action LED signals for instant feedback, and shareable action media with activity data overlays to relive and share your moments.

The Standard Issue Ballistic HALO were more my speed though. These are part of the ALPHA modular and scalable “ecosystem” that “offers multiple configurations based on the mission and methods of infiltration.” Haha I love that description!

But seriously, ALPHA is a three-part system composed of a frame, gasket and goggle. It meets ANSI and MIL PRF standards, is compatible with multiple helmet platforms (e.g. Team Wendy, Ops-Core, PASGT etc. ) and is fully compatibility with PHANTOM Mask and Regulator Assembly for Military Free Fall (MFF) & Operations. I should have bought these!

Also super cool, this display of a Hero lens withstanding a shotgun blast.

More cool eyewear from Warbird. I liked the red frame Deep State with 4SHADOW™ polarized lens, Kaiwall™ Plant-based TR90 Frame Material and ANSI Z87.1 protection.

Gear to cover you from head to toe…you know I love balaclavas! Note the Ice Warrior Tac Gear Mammoth-X Winter Mitt/Glove to the right of the balaclavas as well. These were designed for extreme temperatures by a police officer with tactical team experience. They are tested and used by law enforcement, military professionals, and tactical teams across Canada. Some of the key features are 3M™ Thinsulate™ 240g insulation, a removable glove, wind resistance, two inside pockets for hot pouches, and a durable leather palm.

Urban Tactical actually carries about 15 brands of gloves including Mechanixwear

MoG Masters of Gloves

Hakson

5.11, HexArmor, Oakley, Turtleskin, Outdoor Research etc. etc.

Huge selection of boots from 5.11, Salomon, Lowa, Haix, Danner, etc.

Funny, ceriksson and I were talking about Streamlight on the drive up. He has the Wedge and I have the new Wedge SL. Never seen these in blue

Huge selection of Yeti!

Ultimately, ceriksson and I both bought Viktos jeans, at huge discounts I might add! He got the Operatus CCW while I got the Operatus XP Tactical Jean

The Operatus XP Tactical Jeans have an “Attackposture™ fit” that uses a stretch 12oz denim chassis with slightly oversized thighs designed to “move with the operator through the myriad of combat postures.”

It has two front slash pockets for AR15 mags.

And two leg slash pockets for pistol mags. I would use my NEOMag magazine holders but was too lazy to get them out of the safe for pics lol.

Other interesting features include a dual-pull fly zipper to give you “access” without having to remove your gunbelt.

And a gusseted crotch so you can kick like Chuck Norris

I didn’t get pics of the guns in the store but they had something for everyone…

I did however get a pic of some of the guns on the line for the shooting portion of the event.

Love the Marlin 1895 lever action in .45-70! Someone shot that in the stall next to me and you sure notice it going off!

I was super excited that they had a SIG Flux on the line! I have seen these at past events

And now I get to shoot one!

The results downrange were quite interesting. My first mag was a perfect vertical line (don’t think I have done that before). I tried to make adjustments with the second mag but I think that just widened the spread lol. Either way I really liked it! It felt similar to the B&T USW I shot at SHOT Show.

Another guest shooting it as well. BTW, as I have said repeatedly, I hate posting pics of other people lol. Don’t let my cropping them out of pics fool you, there were at least a couple of hundred shooters throughout the day.

A precision rifle on the line

We grabbed a hot dog on the way out as an appetizer for our upcoming wings of doom lol.

Thank you once again to Urban Tactical for putting on another benchmark 5.11 Day and your awesome hospitality, you guys are the best!

We stopped at Triggers and Bows on our way to Wingmaster. I haven’t been here in a while and ceriksson was looking for a specific type of gun oil but no luck.

Ok now for Wingmaster and some 10 MILLION SHU Blackenstein wings! A quick pocket check as we wait for Tre to whip up our cocktail of pain.

And here with go with Blackenstein!

This was my 4^th or 5^th time having them and I am a very experienced heatseeker so not quite dramatic

ceriksson was new to such extreme heat though so his vid is a bit more entertaining lol. He actually did well considering though I believe he had a rough night lol

these screenshots capture the essence of the experience quite well

A-OK…or so he thought lol

I usually have Wingmaster’s Hulk wings but I wanted to try another one of his crazy near 300 flavours! I went to the opposite side of the heat scale with Peanut Butter Only!