Pants having waistband for receiving flexible restraints

Abstract

A pants garment is provided with features for storing and/or concealing flexible restraints such as plastic restraints commonly used by law enforcement. A restraint tunnel may extend along a waistband of the pants garment and include an opening. The opening may be sized and arranged so as to facilitate, when a flexible restraint is stored in the tunnel, removal of the flexible restraint from the tunnel through the opening when the plastic restraint is grasped and pulled by fingers of the wearer from a position along at least one of the interior side or the exterior side of the pants garment when the pants garment is worn by the wearer. The tunnel may attach to the interior of the pants along the waistband, or may be incorporated into the waistband with an opening to the exterior or interior side of the pants garment.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A pants garment, comprising:
 an interior side of the pants garment configured to face toward a wearer of the pants garment when the pants garment is worn by the wearer;   an exterior side of the pants garment configured to face away from a wearer of the pants garment when the pants garment is worn by the wearer;   a waistband configured to be positioned about a waist of the wearer when the pants garment is worn by the wearer; and   an elongated tunnel extending along the waistband, said tunnel sized and configured for receiving and storing at least a portion of each of one or more flexible restraints therein, said tunnel further having an opening therein, said opening sized and arranged so as to facilitate, when the one or more plastic restraints are stored in the tunnel, removal of at least one of the one or more plastic restraints from the tunnel through the opening when the at least one of the one or more plastic restraints is grasped and pulled by fingers of the wearer from a position along at least one of the interior side or the exterior side of the pants garment when the pants garment is worn by the wearer.   
     
     
         2 . The pants garment of  claim 1 , further comprising belt loops having upper and lower attachment points, wherein the elongated tunnel is disposed within a region of the pants garment circumscribed by the upper and lower belt-loop attachment points. 
     
     
         3 . The pants garment of  claim 1 , wherein the tunnel comprises a tube fixed to the interior side of the garment. 
     
     
         4 . The pants garment of  claim 3 , wherein the tunnel is positioned proximate to a lower seam of the waistband. 
     
     
         5 . The pants garment of  claim 1 , wherein the waistband comprises a hollow inner portion, and wherein the tunnel is formed at least in part by the hollow inner portion such that the opening of the tunnel forms a passage from the hollow inner portion to at least one of the exterior side or the interior side of the pants garment. 
     
     
         6 . The pants garment of  claim 1 , wherein the opening of the tunnel forms a passage from the hollow inner portion to the exterior side of the pants garment. 
     
     
         7 . The pants garment of  claim 1 , wherein the opening of the tunnel forms a passage from the hollow inner portion to the interior side of the pants garment. 
     
     
         8 . The pants garment of  claim 1 , wherein the opening is sized and arranged so as to facilitate, when the one or more plastic restraints are stored in the tunnel, removal of at least one of the one or more plastic restraints from the tunnel through the opening when the at least one of the one or more plastic restraints is grasped and pulled by fingers of the wearer from a position along the exterior side of the pants garment when the pants garment is worn by the wearer. 
     
     
         9 . The pants garment of  claim 1 , wherein the opening is sized and arranged so as to facilitate, when the one or more plastic restraints are stored in the tunnel, removal of at least one of the one or more plastic restraints from the tunnel through the opening when the at least one of the one or more plastic restraints is grasped and pulled by fingers of the wearer from a position along the interior side of the pants garment when the pants garment is worn by the wearer. 
     
     
         10 . The pants garment of  claim 1 , further comprising a slit providing a passage through which the opening is accessible from a position within a pocket so that a wearer of the pants garment can grasp and extract at least one of the one or more plastic restraints stored in the tunnel when the pants garment is worn by the wearer and when fingers of the wearer have been inserted into the pocket. 
     
     
         11 . The pants garment of  claim 1 , further comprising a flexible restraint stored in the tunnel. 
     
     
         12 . The pants garment of  claim 11 , wherein the flexible restraint comprises a head and a tail, wherein the head has a larger cross-sectional size than the tail. 
     
     
         13 . The pants garment of  claim 12 , wherein the opening is sized relative to the cross-sectional sizes of the head and the tail so to permit passage by the tail through the opening into or out of the tunnel and to prevent passage by the head through the opening into or out of the tunnel. 
     
     
         14 . The pants garment of  claim 1 , wherein the tunnel is arranged relative to the waistband so that, when a belt is worn with the pants and a flexible restraint is received in the tunnel, at least one of the tunnel or an end of the flexible restraint is hidden from view by the belt. 
     
     
         15 . A pants garment, comprising:
 an interior side of the pants garment configured to face toward a wearer of the pants garment when the pants garment is worn by the wearer;   an exterior side of the pants garment configured to face away from a wearer of the pants garment when the pants garment is worn by the wearer;   a waistband configured to be positioned about a waist of the wearer when the pants garment is worn by the wearer; and   an elongated tunnel extending along the waistband, the tunnel formed at least in part by a tube fixed to an interior side of the pants garment at or adjacent to a lower seam of the waistband, the tunnel sized and configured for receiving and storing at least a portion of each of one or more flexible restraints therein, said tunnel further having an opening therein, said opening sized and arranged so as to facilitate, when the one or more plastic restraints are stored in the tunnel, removal of at least one of the one or more plastic restraints from the tunnel through the opening when the at least one of the one or more plastic restraints is grasped and pulled by fingers of the wearer from a position along at least one of the interior side or the exterior side of the pants garment when the pants garment is worn by the wearer.   
     
     
         16 . The pants garment of  claim 15 , further comprising a slit providing a passage through which the opening is accessible from a position along the exterior side of the pants garment. 
     
     
         17 . The pants garment of  claim 15 , wherein the opening is disposed along a front portion of the pants garment. 
     
     
         18 . A pants garment, comprising;
 an interior side of the pants garment configured to face toward a wearer of the pants garment when the pants garment is worn by the wearer;   an exterior side of the pants garment configured to face away from a wearer of the pants garment when the pants garment is worn by the wearer;   a waistband configured to be positioned about a waist of the wearer when the pants garment is worn by the wearer, the waistband comprising a hollow inner portion; and   an elongated tunnel extending along the waistband, the tunnel formed at least in part by the hollow inner portion of the waistband, the tunnel sized and configured for receiving and storing at least a portion of each of one or more flexible restraints therein, said tunnel further having an opening therein that forms a passage from the hollow inner portion to at least one of the exterior side or the interior side of the pants garment, said opening sized and arranged so as to facilitate, when the one or more plastic restraints are stored in the tunnel, removal of at least one of the one or more plastic restraints from the tunnel through the opening when the at least one of the one or more plastic restraints is grasped and pulled by fingers of the wearer from a position adjacent the opening when the pants garment is worn by the wearer.   
     
     
         19 . The pants garment of  claim 18 , wherein the opening of the tunnel forms a passage from the hollow inner portion to the exterior side of the pants garment. 
     
     
         20 . The pants garment of  claim 18 , wherein the opening of the tunnel forms a passage from the hollow inner portion to the interior side of the pants garment.