The 5.11 Rapid Assault Shirt is officially the most Tacticool shirt in my closet. At $65 USD its not  exactly inexpensive, and boy is it worth the price tag. The designed originally reminded me of the Flame Resistant Organizational Gear (FROG) combat shirts that the US Marine Corps started issuing to troops in Afghanistan a couple years ago.

Rapid Assault Shirt Front

What I Bought

Collar details of the Rapid Assault Shirt

5.11 has produced another great item in their clothing line up with the Rapid Assault Shirt. Like many clothes the Rapid Assault Shirt is made overseas, in this case Cambodia. The shirt is offered in Black, TDU Green, Dark Navy, and TDU Khaki. A separate SKU is available just for the MultiCam version priced at $80.

Material specs on the shirt are;

• Body – 55% cotton/37% polyester/8% spandex knit
• Sleeves and collar – 65% cotton/35% polyester ripstop
• Mesh – 55% cotton/41% polyester/4% spandex

The shirt is not Fire Resistant, which for range use is just fine. The half zip collar can be worn up or down. The collar and sleeves are the same rip stop material as 5.11’s TDU Pants. They are quite long and have Velcro closures.  The elbow area of the shirt has two layers of fabric.

Mesh side panel and double layer section of the arm on the Rapid Assault Shirt

Both arms have slanted pockets covered with loop panels for patches. The flap loop patch is  4″ x 1.5″. With the flap closed and the exposed loop area on the pocket is 4″ x 3.25″. The closures for the pockets are also Velcro like material and cover an additional 1.5″ of the loop field.

The body of the shirt is cut with very little extra fabric, but it is very long, much like a dress shirt. The shirt is solid front and back with mesh on the sides an below the back of the neck.

What I Thought

The sleeves are a little long for my taste, but with the Velcro cinched, stay above my wrists and don’t get in the way. There is also a lot of room in the sleeves and I don’t feel like my range of motion is in any way limited. The saddle construction of the shoulders offer a wider range of motion that I can comfortably achieve.  The body of the shirt is close fitting without being tight. The material has a lot of give. The shoulder pockets are not very practical for anything pointy or heavy. I’ve been using one to hold a digital camera and that’s worked out well so far.

Rear of the Rapid Assault Shirt

The shirt screams tactical and I don’t think its great for office wear, but on the range its right at home with a pair of cargo pants and boots. I’ve worn this shirt in humid weather on a day over 25°C under my chest rig and its very comfortable. The body material breaths well and perspiration seemed to be wicked very effectively.

I’m pretty sure the Rapid Assault Shirt is going to be my go-to shirt for CQB and multi-gun matches this summer.

Pros

• Style
• Breathability
• Range of motion

Neutral

• Shoulder pockets

For the price and what you get, the Rapid Assault Shirt is a great shirt for wear under a chest rig or armor. I’m not sure what the intent of the shoulder pockets was, but I suppose its better to have them and not need them rather then need them and it only be a loop panel. You can order directly from 5.11. The Rapid Assault Shirt is defiantly a top pick for use at the range as long as you don’t mind the odd person thinking you look like a Mall Ninja.