Behind the [MultiCam] Curtain at Tactical Tailor and Grey Ghost

We've known the people behind Tactical Tailor and Grey Ghost Gear for a long time–and the gear, especially Tactical Tailor, for much longer. More than one RECOIL employee has had Tactical Tailor gear among their kit when rolling around overseas, myself included. What we hadn't done, however, was actually see behind the veil at the production facility itself.

Tactical Tailor, Grey Ghost Gear, and Grey Ghost Precision can safely be viewed as a three sided coin. The Grey Ghost divisions are nimble and suitable for more custom work–but if you need to outfit an entire army, Tactical Tailor is your answer.

Located literally just off the runway of Fort McChord sits Tactical Tailor. It's housed in a rather nondescript warehouse, with a tank outside.

Well, okay, a British FV101 Scorpion Armored Reconnaissance Vehicle. Big treads and big gun, close enough. And it's done up in Multicam.

This wouldn't be the first nor the last impressive piece of ordnance we'd see on site, but it certainly was the only one with tracks. Of course, we drove it around the parking lot and [narrowly] missed some vehicles.

The normal entrance to the shop looks almost like a little off-base retail establishment. Almost.

Once you go through the locked and coded employee entrance, everything changes.

Racks and racks of fabric, all being tested and worked with to discover the next big thing. Then there are inventory shelves filled to the brim with completed gear. Think Sam's Club for warfighters.

Throughout the building, every wall and surface is covered with magazine articles, movie and videogame posters, all that featured guns and gear made by Tactical Tailor and Grey Ghost.

There's a quiet, somber area in the building to honor Logan Coffey, the original founder of Tactical Tailor who tragically passed back in 2008.

He started the company in his barracks room, with nothing but a sewing machine and a head full of ideas. He made and modified gear for his friends and fellow fighting men, and that tradition continues to this day. CEO Casey Ingles tells us, "We've always been about the end user. It started that way, and it will continue that way. If we're not getting the guys downrange what they need, then there's no point".

Being next to McChord was no accident either. Everything they make, from pouches to rifles and pistols, gets tested and vetted by the nearby Special Forces bubbas before it goes out to market. We know, companies that are full of shit often say things like that. Whereas Tactical Tailor has done the opposite. Though this has been going on for years, it's only recently that this has become public knowledge.

While there may be another American CEO that was gifted an original captured ISIS flag that's hanging in their office–we don't know of any.

As we roll deeper into the building we find production facilities, skunkworks, laser cutters, machines churning out MALICE clips, and more.

We spied a belt on one of their skunkworks tables. Ultra lightweight and full of hypalon, after trying it on we immediately wanted one for ourselves. We're pretty sure it doesn't even have a name yet.

The back of the building sported a different sort of skunkworks: the weapon division. Over the last couple years Grey Ghost had been developing Glock slides–not from blanks formed from another company, but completely of their own design. Each one is finished by hand.

Recently they've paired up with Aero Precision for mass production of these slides. Read about that here. And see a video of them in action below

Despite the high tech machines, it's always good to know you're someplace where sparks can still fly

We saved the two best photos for last though, you can decide what's more badass: GW Ayers in his office, or the quad 50. Our money is on the old man.

If you're near McChord, it's definitely worth stopping by. For everyone else, you can hit them up here and here.