The only 5.11 pants that I have direct experience with are the Royal Robbins ones.

I liked them because they were all cotton and they were comfortable. I thought that strap thing was the best thing since sliced bread because losing the site keys was grounds for immediate termination. So I hung the key ring on that.

I liked the front and back pockets. I could carry an M&P Shield in my back pocket in a DeSantis gunhide and it looked like a wallet. That magazine pocket on the front IMO was a waste of time and the cargo pockets seemed really small to me. Nothing fit in them but your cell phone or a handkerchief.

I wear Wrangler cargos now. They cost less than half what the 5.11 cost. The cargo pockets aren't the size of BDU cargo pockets but they're big enough to be useful and I really like that built-in phone pocket.

My "EDC" apart from work isn't much. I carry a Glock 19, a multi-tool and 2 reloads on my belt and cargo pants wouldn't change that one way or the other.

If I'm going out to walk the dogs or if I'm going someplace where I can't take my gun in with me I carry a glock 26 and 1 reload. And that fits in the pocket of the Wranglers. I'm not going to tell you that you can't see something in there but the shape of it is broken up and it's not so tight in the pocket that I can't get it in and out if I need to.

I always have my cell phone even if I never use it and that is right in the phone pocket. I always have a pocket knife I always have a flashlight I always have a handkerchief and I always have my wallet and keys. Handkerchief in one cargo pocket wallet in the other. Flashlights in one front pocket and pocket knife in the other. If I have the Glock in my front pocket then the knife goes in my cargo pocket. I don't carry anything in the rear pockets.

That's pretty much all I carry with me on any given day so I don't need a gazillion pockets.

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Retired Career Security Guard