Why is everyone so "anti-tactical"?

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"Tactical" has been turned into a bad word by marketing. The current craze for the word "TACTICAL" was started, AFAIK, by Federal ammo. They had a reduced-power 12 ga buckshot load, which had been requested by various police agencies - it seems normal buckshot kicked too hard, and was bruising the tender little shoulders of delicate and slightly-statured officers hired under PC diversity mandates.

Nobody else was interested in buying this ammo, calling it a "wimp load" - or worse.

So Federal briefly took it off the market, repackaged it and relabeled it as "TACTICAL BUCKSHOT," raised the price, and had a sudden hit on their hands.

Go figure. :rolleyes:

So other companies followed the same marketing strategy, and are now selling overpriced, underperforming products with the label "TACTICAL" attached.

And in the process, they're earning the contempt and derision of those "in the know" who can distinguish between actual value and performance . . . and marketing hype.
 
You know what all those dressed-in-black guys remind me of? The thousands of current and former art students at Va. Commonwealth U. - black pants, black shirts, blacks hair, black makeup...shesh, don't they ever get hot standing the summer sun.

Nevermind.

John
 
I must say I agree with most of your assertions that "tactical" has become an overused marketing idea. I really don't care what manufacturers refer to as tactical, as I know what I want and what is "tactical" and what isn't. I'm not going to jump all over a new gun just cause it has tactical in the name and pay out the butt to get it. I do, however, tend to like guns in dark black finishes as well as options such as accessory rails and the like. I've liked those weapons way before the whole tactical revolution though, and as long as it gives me more products to choose from I don't see it as such a bad thing.
 
Whether you jump on the bandwagon and buy black because it's cool, or you jump on the bandwagon and diss the black gear because it's cool to, you're just as much as a poser.

You guys need to lighten up!
 
I refuse to use tactical nylon accessories. I only use 'ballistic' nylon accessories.

The only funnier thing than the ninja photo is seeing this for real at a match or two. To all the gear add a giant belly and a waddle.

However, I could lose a tad of weight myself - sigh.
 
I don't like all the "tactical" stuff because it scares the hell outta folks who aren't in the gun culture, or who are fence-sitting...

I mean, you or I would laugh at the average mall ninja, but show him to Sally Soccermom, and she gets everything that he's heard from the Thousand or So Mom folks completely reinforced - this guy is OBVIOUSLY dangerous!

Tacticality...

Paint it black.

Claim 1MOA accuracy.

Sell it for 3x the "normal" variety.

I know a 5'5" girl who shoots a pink rifle who can outshoot most of the "tactical" guys out there...
 
I'm too old to lighten up. :D

I'm not going to either. Be it tactical, stratagy, Lite, Reduced Fat, Sodium Free, On Sale, Tastes better , Less Filling, With Vitamin E, Lanolin, Aloe Vera 1.5" at 25yds...

Because we have oversaturated and line extended too many things in todays consumer impulse world whom are running away from reality and escaping by buying an image.

It is said in various religious writings, that whatever one focuses on becomes that persons god.

It is also written in various religious writings in order to find answers and become one more close to ones true Diety, to be brutally honest when looking at oneself , look at one's inner self [heart and soul] , educate one's self in that which is true and pure, and by doeing so one can let go and let that Diety take care.

There is one fellow , now dead, that mentored me in some stuff, shooting and whatever. He was the real deal. He had to survive during the Cold War.

He had studied tactics and strategy from histories , not only military but political and economic histories. He knew firearms, some not for civilian use...Heck I don't even know if the mitilary knew what all was actually used, taught in training. His Brain was his most effective weapon.

He "blended" in, he was accepted into just being part of the scenery. He could kill you in the blink of an eye , with whatever was handy...even with nothing but his hands.

He could be all Proper in a Tux,tall and erect, or slightly stooped over in overalls with shuffle to his step out in the country. He could throw on 3 pc suit and discuss politics, economics or legal matters with the best.

"It comes from within, from training my mind and honing my skills...this other **** gets folks killed, can get me killed".

Volumes were spoken without a word being said, his eyes and the way he carried himself spoke the words of wisdom.

Once upon a time in another life I had to be more concerned with Professional Thugs ( I call them). They dressed like everyone else. Including the 5' 3" petite gal that would shove a shotgun in your mouth and make one go back to the business and open the safe. Kidnap your child for same reason from school playground. Run a sales rep's car off the road to get the line in the truck.

Most guys just wanted to get her phone number for a date if seen in public....
 
Many of the manufacturers simply substituted the word "Tactical" for "Black". It was also substituted for "Nylon"

If a piece of gear serves a purpose and it is not black or nylon is it not tactical?

I agree with most that the word has simply been over used to death.

Smoke
 
"If a piece of gear serves a purpose and it is not black or nylon is it not tactical?"

Nope, it's in the duck hunting section of the Cabela's catalog. The only thing worse than the duck hunting stuff is the deer hunting stuff...odor-eating, camo'd, sweat absorbing, silent, layered, windproof, waterproof, multifunctional and downright handsome, but not tacticool.

John
 
When I think "Mall Ninja" I generally think of people who hang so many accessories on their firearm that it becomes nigh-unusable. IE: Someone with the following on their AR:

ACOG
Reflex Sight
Flip-up backup sights
NV scope
Visible Laser
Infared Laser (for the NV scope)
Surefire light and mount
Bipod
Vertical foregrip
Regular sling
"Tactical" Sling
Etc. etc. etc.

"Tactical" I think, has become a bad word because of, like others have said, marketing. Additionally, camoflage and black-nylon tactical accessories are "high profile". Sheeple think that the average gun-nut is a camoflage-clad, ammunition-draped, rambo-wannabe nutbar who thinks the government is out to get him, and that the only way to get his rifle is from his cold-dead fingers. I think some people object to this image, and refuse to associate with it, to avoid being stereotyped, or something like that.

Eh, I dunno.

~Slam_Fire
 
I'm tactical, and I'm proud...

Sheeple think that the average gun-nut is a camoflage-clad, ammunition-draped, rambo-wannabe nutbar who thinks the government is out to get him, and that the only way to get his rifle is from his cold-dead fingers. I think some people object to this image, and refuse to associate with it, to avoid being stereotyped, or something like that.
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I resemble these remarks ;).

Seriously, I think Skunk' got it right:

Whether you jump on the bandwagon and buy black because it's cool, or you jump on the bandwagon and diss the black gear because it's cool to, you're just as much as a poser.
Click to expand...

For some, it's hip to be cool because you wear black (I find it slimming to my Michelin Man physique...er...integral "tactical padding").

Some find it ahem...more...mature, to disdain such useless accessories.

I buy what I want, I wear what I want, and I am a gun nut who may indeed die in a pile of brass with my Blackhawk knockoff on...or my 5.11 vest...or my camo' t-shirt, or a cheap Wal-Mart Polo. I certainly hope it never comes to that.

In the end, you need to be comfortable in your own skin. Nobody can tell you how to think or feel. If you worry about getting some fun poked at you..."sticks and stones" applies as much today as it ever did.

If you feel contempt for "poser's" that's your right.

If you feel distrust and frustration with the "Duck Hunter 'elite' crowd" (e.g. John F. Kerry) that may be poking fun, that's your right to.

To be sure, no Camelbak system is going to make you a better shot...but if you feel like wearing one while standing in the hot sun during a range session so you don't dehydrate...who cares if somebody calls you a Mall Ninja...laugh it off, and take another sip. At least you are at the range practicing instead of sitting at a keyboard pontificating.:neener:

Safe shooting,

CZ52'
 
In the end, you need to be comfortable in your own skin. Nobody can tell you how to think or feel. If you worry about getting some fun poked at you..."sticks and stones" applies as much today as it ever did.
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I rather be a poser than someone who's so self-concious they change the way they act, dress, talk and walk because of what strangers on the Internet think. Man, they called me a M4ll N1nj4 because I have a Milt Sparks BLACK 1.5" belt! I better go out and get me a Milt Sparks brown 1.5" belt!

There's a handful of these people on this board that are the real deal. And when they call me a poser, you know what? They're absolutely right--My gunfighting experience is limited to Rainbow Six and Simunitions.

And I'm fine with that; I rather know my place and be in it than think I'm tacticaller-than-thou.

ninjavanish.gif
 
Tactical depends on the situation...

I live in an urban setting, drive in heavy traffic, and spend time in great crowds of people at the mall and grocery store. I haven't crept through the jungle to 'take out' a sentry in - heck - two or three weeks at least. I have to get me and my family from home to the store and back, or to church and back, or to the restaraunt and back. And I don't get to dress so anything shows.

On my job, I deal with possible criminals all the time. But I work inside and backup generators are part of the building. I'm never in the dark at work. (Well, physically, anyway.)

My 'tactical' equipment is what I can carry to help me do my job. If I have a exigent circumstance, I don't get to go to the car or the locker and put on my 'tactical' stuff. What I got is what I play with.

Here's my take on 'tactical'.
I was at a range some months ago. I was working with a bullseye pistol (45 wadcutter gun), shooting one handed at twenty-five yards. Concentrating on putting round after round after round in the same basic hole in the middle of the target....
There was another fellow there, giving his Beretta a work out. He'd load a magazine, then pull up with both hands and crank off 15 rounds as fast as he could. He wasn't doing bad; his shots were mostly on the torso of the sillouette he as blasting... some near misses.
During a lull in the shooting, the Beretta shooter (who is some form of miltary/law enforcement sort, we'll protect the guilty here) looks at my target and says "None of that one-handed stuff for me. I'm all tactical! (No kidding, he bolded the word.)
I asked if I could take a shot at his target. He agreed. I chanbered a round, pulled my pistol up to eye level, and cranked off a round. The impact was slap in the middle of the head of the sillouette he had been shooting... the only hole there, so it was pretty obvious.
Then I asked, "What's so un-tactical about being able to hit what you shoot at?"
He didn't have an answer. But I think I saw the wheels starting to go around.

Similarly, in my case, 'camoflage' involves a white shirt and tie more than anything with mottled dark greens. Depends on the circumstance.
 
Well some of us will have to agree to disagree.

Me- I really don't care what folks think, never did, ain't gonna start now.

We did use old motorcyle helments, the padding like Umpires use when shooting primer fired wax / rubber bullet to learn some stuff. Folks want to get shorts in a wad over that...go right ahead.

Never played a video game or similar. I do play mean game of pinball on a real pinball machine, not bad at pool , shuffleboard, table tennis too...when I was younger and before double knee surgery...Volleyball. Yeah we had real live girls with real life parts that shake and wiggle doing that stuff too. Real live girls smell good too. Hey I've shot a "girl" in the "parts" ...she did me as well...Reality means stuff happens.

I have a Woolrich blue very light rain jacket, the type that rolls up and fits in its own pocket for easy carry. I was given 2 in blue, 1 in yellow. I wish I another one in green. The yellow was good in case of car trouble, folks would be better to see me. I lost it.

Now I was "mistaken" for an UC cop once and and I do not like real bullets being fired at me. I tore the one blue jacket and in my diving behind and running to cover. I still have that one...I don't wear it often.

This design is maybe 15 yrs old or older. LLBean is where it came from...

Yep, LEO SWAT and similar have a blue windbreaker with the Agency name in bold yellow letters. Mine does not.

All I was doing was looking for lost dog , in the middle of the day , broad daylight. I had no idea some punk was trying to take a screen off a house to gain entry. Blue jeans, oxford shirt, tennis shoes, a blue jacket because of light drizzle...model 64 was tucked in waistband with no holster. I'm looking for a friggin' black lab pup....

When I did actually go take something to a UC cop...I have played street bum, dressed in tattered clothes. Usually we met in a bar or somesuch and our business was handled. I have "bailed" a UC out of jail...to keep his/her cover. I have also " picked up a loose broad" that was UC to get her out of a bad deal. I have also had to strike a officer who was tryng to break up a fight with a UC so we both could get tossed in aquad car to safety...all planned, all staged.

I can say this now, but I have had a million dollars worth of mdse in my pocket, walked in a titty bar on Harry Hines Blvd, put a dollar in a G string and walked right out the back door to use another vehicle , placed there, for me to drive. Two "customers" had my six...they were actually security guards hired by Loyd's of London.

So I have had to "play a game" but this one had real folks with real bullets, with real bad intent. " Game Over" for me meant forever. So perhaps I am touchy, and sensitve about perceptions and image. I have never before and I won't begin now to apologize. I still do this, but I am still here .

Just the nature of the business I was in.
 
Maturity ?
Maturity and age do not always go hand in hand.
My position, my intent-

I deal in Reality. I was brought up in, taught the realities of life. Oh I had fun with cowboys and indians...played army too...all that stuff.
There is BIG difference in being paranoid and being prudent and aware of enviroment.

Some folks shudder and hit the deck if a loud noise is heard. Well that is not paranoia...being in/ having been in harms way it becomes a reflex.

A girl may turn an slap the fire out of if you sneak up and act cute to tap her on the shoulder, she may shoot your butt if you put your hand over her mouth from behind...you do not know if she has been assaulted, raped and this is how the perp attacked her.

There are perhaps different degrees of "elephants" for folks. Common factor is the "elephant" for the rape victim that survived is just as real and serious as the "elephants" that Preacherman and others have faced and survived. H&H hunter can tell you about the "elephant" that is a real elephant.

None of these are the critter in the zoo. Makes no nevermind what the elephant is, folks that have survived the real deal and continue to and all will share that reality differs from non reality.

I want to be low profile, and not be noticed.

I have that right, and I choose to do so.
 
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Tactical?

Ya' all ain't seen tactical until you've seen my " mall ninja rat ba$**** step son in law." He's a wannabe Navy Seal and can dress to match, especially when we go hunting or shooting. It's embarrassing I tell ya. I suspect he actually tells people he's a Seal. If he weren't related, I'd dis-own him. The net result is that I dress as untactical as possible when I'm around him.
 
I want to be low profile, and not be noticed.

I have that right, and I choose to do so.
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Agreed.

Well some of us will have to agree to disagree.
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A sign of maturity.

For some its Blackhawk gear, others Cabelas, others the 5.11 line, still others think Wal-Mart's just fine.

To each his/her own.

Stay safe,

CZ52'
 
Tactical shooting vs. attire...

"What's so un-tactical about being able to hit what you shoot at?"
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Nothing, as long as we all realize that effectivity against stationary targets that aren't shooting back is a sign that...we are capable of hitting stationary targets that aren't shooting back.

My club has both Bullseye and IDPA programs. While there is some debate about the relative merits of each, I wouldn't say one discipline can claim ultimate superiority over the other.

I find the Bullseye shooters to be excellent marksman, but that IDPA presents a challenge in that you aren't allowed the luxury of getting the perfect grip, taking the perfect stance, and getting the perfect sight picture. I'm not aware of any rapid reload requirements in Bullseye shooting, or contorting your body behind cover either. Shooting while moving is also something I believe IDPA requires that Bullseye shooting does not.

The other side of the coin is that I've found that IDPA shooters often fall into the trap of shooting too fast, and missing shots that they should be able to make...-0 is 8" in diameter...even the Head Box is 6" square...most shots in IDPA are taken in the 7-12 yard range...with some extended range shooting thrown in to keep things interesting.

I think a good Bullseye shooter has the advantage of a solid foundation to build upon...the "Tactical" skills can be learned...fundamental accuracy can be difficult to acquire if you've become accustomed to a "rhythmic cadence"...harder to slow down and become more accurate than to incrementally improve speed.

Bottom line, the 15 rapid shots to the torso are likely to have the desired effect as much as the single shot to the face.

Is there anything "un-tactical" about being able to hit your target? Only if precise conditions and sufficient time are required to do so which exceed that of the threat that may present itself. A fast draw, quick presentation and rapid trigger work won't help either if you can't hit the threat.

Safe shooting,

CZ52'
 
OK, I'll play. I'm more or less with Preacherman, sm, and Archie.

My background is more towards business planning/consulting, so if I may expand and expound, "tactics" are those activities, techniques and tools used to affect a "strategy", which is a planned approach for achieving a set of defined goals and objectives.

My goal/objective is to lead a peaceful life and go about my business with a minimum of fuss and hassle (low speed/low drag) while being able to defend me and mine in the event that excrement occurs. Part of this requires a peaceful, respectful demeanor on my part (which I'm fairly good at for an opinionated boob), along with dressing to blend in, and otherwise paying attention to my surroundings and keeping my wits about me.

I'm not in a war zone or on a SWAT team. "Tactical" to me means clothing and gear that lets me comfortably carry my kit discretely and accessibly. I keep it simple - shoulder bag with cellphone, OC, back-up folding knife, flashlight, Leatherman, Palm, etc easily accessible. Sharp folder clipped in strong side pocket, compact handgun carried out-of-sight appropriate to uniform of he day where permitted.

I look like a somewhat portly middle-aged duffer going about his business, not exactly a target of economic opportunity, and I like it like that. So far, so good. :cool:
 
You know...

Life was a lot easier when I was kid. I could strap on my .22 revolver, sling a rifle or shotgun get on my bike and ride down the street to the woods. Nobody cared, nobody was worried, nobody called the police.

I need a new Western Flyer. I got this dealie figured out- finally! :D
 
Dbl0Kevin, the term 'tactical' is nothing more than a marketing term. Period. There's no such thing as a tactical flashlight, sling, rifle, shotgun or anything else. The term was dreamed up by the marketing plugs. It means nothing.
Don't buy into the marketing BS and buy stuff that works for you.
Firearms like the 14" barreled shotguns are as useless as useless gets, almost as bad as a shotgun with a folding stock or worse just a pistol grip. That doesn't mean that if you want one there's anything wrong with it. It does mean that if you ever have to defend yourself with one, you're at a serious disadvantage.
 
Jeez, I just like wearing black pants.

I've got black jeans, cargo shorts and dress pants.

I like it because black goes with any shirt I'm wearing and stains don't show up well. Which with my job is important.


If I really wanted to be tactical I'd wear Wermacht gray which I've heard is one of the best camo schemes ever.
 
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