I come from a long time 5.11 user, with everything from t-shirts and uniform shirts to pants and belts, bags and boots. I've had or tried at least one of almost everything they offer, so when FirsTac started to replace 5.11 in a few stores and eventually met 5.11 when it came to offering BoP approved apparel, I wasn't too surprised. I got this shirt thinking that it would improve on the past in every way, I was wrong.
The first thing I noticed is that the collar is too big, the ends hand down low past my neckline and obstruct my badge no matter how far I pull the shirt up. Second, the zipper is nice but 5.11 did that over a decade ago. Why the zipper is shorter than 5.11's and has no gap for a mic to be attached to the under-shirt vest, I'll never know. Literally a step backwards with the zipper. Also, the shirt doesn't breathe that well, I see the mesh part behind the neck, but I notice it stays very warm even if I stand in front of a fan.
I'm also starting to notice little things as I get used to the shirt; like the pockets' Velcro is too thick and stops most pens from sliding into my breast pockets (not cool). Then I notice that seam threads are beginning to fray after only a MONTH of ownership (very not cool).
Overall, I am very mixed to say the least. Either I will go back to exclusively buying from 5.11 (which has its own issues) or I will try to stick to FirsTac items that aren't prone to these issues (like their polos). I look forward to these two companies fighting for market-share, and hope that we can get better performing products out of it.