Why so much hostility towards "tactical"

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Xavier: that reminds me of a guy at the Ft Wayne gun show selling suppressors.

He had several mounted samples, and all this great literature about this brand and what made them so awesome.

I asked about handling one to get a feel.

"Oh, but you must only hold it vertically. Don't stick it straight out because I'm worried about damage to the barrel or bushing or suppressor itself I don't know I stopped listening because it was HYSTERICAL to watch him cupping his hands underneath mine in case the precious suppressor should DROP!"

I can understand not wanting the merchandise scratched, but no pointing the weapon, ONLY hold it vertically in case of some undefined damage? WTH kind of tactical gear is THAT?:rolleyes:

EDIT I believe it's Storm Mountain Training Center where someone started classes by dropping his pistol on the ground, and telling the people with the anodized race toys that if they won't or can't do the same, they're not serious about being in a firefight.
 
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strambo,I doubt anybody here would consider you a wannabe.Only other than the fact that you probably wannabe comin' on home seeing as you are in Afghanistan.

Nothing wrong with wearing BDU or adding accessories to a weapon.My mere pov is that some like xavier stated so well is that it does'nt make you a bada** as a civilian

I stated that on my own away from people I have practiced certain things,one thing for me,after doing some manuvering at different targets how quickly I become out of breath and huffing and puffing which its hard to fire a effective shot when you can hardly keep your breath.

So I could hardly consider myself warrior ready and if I ever find myself in a situation my limitations may seriously impede me.So hats off to you guys who are carrying that gear for real.

now I really am going out now,do some milsurp shooting today...ah the sunshine so beautiful.

cheers
 
I don't know what the heck that was about, but it's effing hilarious!

< edit > But hey, at least the big kid in the second pic had his finger off the trigger while pointing his gun at his fallen buddy. Three out of four ain't bad! LMAO!
 
Tactical is overused.

Few folks anymore seem to associate tactical with tactics. They seem to think because they have the uber (and I am getting sick of uber, used facetiously or not, too) "tactical coffee mug" they are Rambo.

I am willing to bet the folks who buy all the tactical crap out there don't know the first thing about tactics. (I don't know the first thing about tactics, either, but I am not the one buying all the black carbon fiber nylon tactical drop leg light rail junk.)

Apologies to skunkabilly.:D
 
i dont know what it is, or where it came from. All i know is that it would have a heart attack ina ny real fight.

i may be over weight, but at least i can still run and shoot for several hours at a time.
 
Those pictures are my problem with "Tactical."

I have no problem with you buying whatever gizmo, doodad, or jimcrack you think will help you/your firearm, as long as you don't mind me snickering behind your back about trying to buy skill and experience (depending, of course, on the gizmo, doodad or jimcrack). I don't care what you wear to the range, as long as you are comfortable and SAFE. You're free to wear what you want, (please wear pants while at the range, I'm there with my kids.), and I'm free to roll my eyes at what you've chosen to wear.

I do have a problem with the Stay-Puf Marsh-MellowMan wearing BDU pants and a 4XL "Special Forces" T-shirt with the obligatory Burrito stains trying to pass himself as some kinda "operator" or expert, when the closest he came to any type of military service was watching "Stripes" and "Full Metal Jacket" back-to-back on the VCR in his mom's basement.


P.S. Caption for second picture: "Roger, I confirm, shoot the wounded."
 
I wonder how many times a guy has walked into a range with a thigh holster and a light on his pistol, maybe even some BDUs on, got snickerd at behind his back, and the turned out really to be a member of the military or a LEO practicing with the tools and methids he uses on the job.

Can't someone's groups speak for themselves?


And those pictures are some of the funniest things I have EVER seen :)

Also, you guys all know #### well that when you were 12 years old, you would have LOVED to have all that stuff to play with.
 
A "tactical error"?

Shouldn't Pvt. Lumpy von Pushdagger, with all that extra muscle mass, be carrying the casualty, freeing up the machinegunner to eat a few sammiches on his own?

"Shoot the wounded!" - I love it. May be time for a new signature line...
 
Also, you guys all know #### well that when you were 12 years old, you would have LOVED to have all that stuff to play with.
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Heck, when I was 12 (1977) I did have all that stuff to play with. I had one brother still in the Nasty Guard, and two others that had served in Vietnam. They gave me and my friends all their old uniforms and other crap (my one brother let us use his NG TA-50) and we would run through the woods and fields having a grand time playing "Army" and camping out. We had no illusions that that's what we were doing, playing.

No one, however would mistaken us for the Real Deal, nor did we try to pass ourselves as such. (We were all Captains and Generals, except Chuck B., he was a little unclear on the concept and always wanted to be an Admiral. :rolleyes: )

Most of the time you can tell Real Deal from the Wannabe's fairly quickly. I don't snicker at the guys at my club who shoot at Camp Perry, they setup the wind flags and propellers, wearing the shooting jackets and slings and then REALLY practice to hone their skill. Nor the guys on the pistol range who have obviously nice and or "issued" equipment and are working on their groups.

You can tell by the conversations who's who.

The professionals are professional, they don't feel the need to advertise.
 
When my wife and a friend of mine were preparing for Basic, I put them each in body armor, helmet, LBV and weapon with fixed sights to do BRM and speed drills. This was at the civilian range at Camp Atterbury. Whether in or out of uniform, pretty much everyone figured out what we were doing and no one snickered.

Of course, we tend not to snicker at real loons either. It's not polite, and they do have guns...
 
Those pictures are freakin' hilarious! And that comment someone made, "Roger, I confirm, shoot the wounded," OMG! I hope I didn't wake my wife up laughing so hard!

I recently bought my first couple pairs of 5.11 pants. I needed something other then jeans for the range for when I teach classes. I was hesitant, because of the whole "tacticool" thing, but they are practical for what I need them to do. I found out that I really like the pants. Their comfortable and the pockets come in handy to carry all the cra...er,..stuff we carry around in daily life.

As far as firearm accessories, if I haven't been trained on it, or don't know how to use it, I don't see the point in having it. I do eventually want an AR with either a Eotech or Aimpoint scope, but I plan to use an AR in a rifle class with iron sights first. Then, after that, take another class with the scope. I want my rifles light and not full of, um, "Stuff," so I'd max out with the scope and a light. I can see the need for each of those.

Right now my "house gun" is a M-1 Carbine and my "OMG! THE ALIENS HAVE LANDED!" rifle is a M-1 Garand. The carbine is light and handy and easy to use. The Garand is the rifle I'm most familiar with if I need something with more authority then the carbine. I've shot both extensively and know the capabilities of the weapon and my ability to use them.

Heck, I'm so "Un-Tacticool" that a carry a 6 shot Model 65 revolver as my daily carry gun. If "Pink is the new Black," maybe "Retro is the new tactical?"
 
When my wife and a friend of mine were preparing for Basic, I put them each in body armor, helmet, LBV and weapon with fixed sights to do BRM and speed drills. This was at the civilian range at Camp Atterbury. Whether in or out of uniform, pretty much everyone figured out what we were doing and no one snickered.
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At Bragg, it wasn't unusual to see people at the local ranges wearing BDUs/ACUs and all their battle rattle getting in some extracurricular training. My joes and I used to do it all the time prior to our deployment. (After each session, AARs were usually held at the nearest bar ;) ) The extra trigger time really paid big dividends for us in Iraq.

Contrast this with the Ft Sill area - I went to the local range directly from work one day (still in uniform) and others on the line looked at me as if I had a certain body part growing out of my forehead. I guess "Tacticool" depends on the attitude of your area.

All the tactical weapons and gizmos are cool and all, but if you you can't use it properly ten times out of ten times in the dark, groggy from being woken up or from lack of sleep, when you're sweaty, and when you're shivering then you shouldn't use it at all.

Mike
 
Given the range I shoot at is on military property and all the LE agencies use it along with some military units I doubt there are complaints about "Tacticool" .

After spending 13 years wearing that stuff day in and day out you won't find me wearing BDU's at the range or any other time. I'm now a full time member of the Blue Jean and T-Shirt Army. Yes there are more formal times where my West Texas Granny Gots a Gun (WTG3) attire doesn't fit. Like when I have to appear as a properly dressed lady at a luncheon to other event but I can't wait to get back to my WTG3 attire.

Finally
My only problem with it is I would rather spend the money on training,ammo,mags or another weapon then buying someone's old issue..



Sorry I must admit that I do have some "Tacticool" uniforms in Black. All women have that basic black dress they look great in and of course a pair of shoes that make Kimber's look cheap. Lets not forget the jewelry too.
 
Maybe being un-tacticool...

...is the new tacticool. :)

My home defense weapon is a cap and ball rifle...I only move up to the Minie balls if I REALLY expect trouble.
 
FWIW, thinking of cap&ball weapons, I wouldn't feel undergunned with a Colt's Navy .36 loaded with round ball knowing it has more punch than some .38Specials. And round ball, according to Elmer Keith (Sixguns by Keith), had more knockdown than a conical fired from the same weapon. The only problem with it is it's slower to reload. That's why it was considered tactically/strategically/logistically sound to carry more than one ready to go, especially when riding in Indian Country or as Confederate Cavalry. But thinking of Confederate Cavalry, I think it was Gen. Forrest's command that they carried multiple double-barrel shotguns while conducting fast hit and run raids.

BTW, those fast hit and run tactics were also employed by the British SAS in North Africa. Their favorite vehicle was the U.S. Jeep with belt feds mounted. They'd run down the length of the German flightlines with the machineguns blazing blowing up as many planes as possible. They'd make a pass in and a pass out and be gone before Jerry got halfway woke up. Their actions became a TV series called "The Rat Patrol".
 
So, the ULTIMATE in tacticool is a Jeep with no fenders, 10 jerry cans lashed on, twin Vickers or a Browning, some Stens and Browning HPs, shorts, a shaggy beard and a rag on the head.

desert2.jpg


"The jeeps were stripped of all non-essential parts including the windscreen, most of the radiator grille bars and even sometimes the front bumper to increase the effective load carrying capacity of the vehicle. Thus the large amount of fuel and water needed for fast long-range raids could be carried avoiding the need for slower support vehicles. A water condensing unit was fitted to the front to reduce loss from the radiator which would otherwise have had to be topped up from the limited drinking water supplies. The jeeps also carried sand mats, metal wheel channels, radio equipment and large quantities of ammunition.

The jeeps were heavily armed with combinations of both Browning and Vickers K machine guns. The ex-aircraft Vickers weapons were generally mounted in pairs and a total of up to five machine guns were carried on some vehicles. The effectiveness of this armament firing a mix of ball, armour-piercing and tracer shells can be judged from one assault on an airfield where 12 aircraft were destroyed in a five minute raid. With all guns blazing a single SAS jeep could deliver an impressive 5000 rounds per minute! The net result was that over 400 aircraft had been destroyed on the ground by November 1942. Stirling was finally captured in 1943 but escaped four times before being sent to Colditz where he spent the rest of the war."

I like it:evil:

more here
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/jeep_man/sasjeep.htm
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/jeep_man/sasjalb.htm
 
Tactical or whatever, I quit buying Levis years ago and the Wranglers just never fit me right. I now have bought six or seven pairs of 5.11 pants, wear them to work, wear them when traveling; they are comfortable, carry what I need to carry in pockets (I smoke a pipe and the little pocket on the left leg is great for that) and the price is under $30 a pair in many colors. I never even thought of them as "tactical" they are accepted in my part of the world as "hiking" pants or other outdoorsey stuff.
 
I can do without all the "tactical laser zipper pulls" and so on. As for BDUs, heck, even the EMTs wear 6 pocket trousers and black nylon boots. Stuff like that works for them. If it comes in handy, or works for you, why not? Most everyone can tell a poser from someone who walks the walk. It helps to remember everyone started out green at one time or another. Most eventually learn the ropes.:D
 
As for BDUs, heck, even the EMTs wear 6 pocket trousers and black nylon boots. Stuff like that works for them.
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You know, in the field we had a name for those guys: "Ricky Rescue". The new guys show up with the 6 pocket pants and the paratrooper boots and either a fanny pack or a black leather "scissors and penlight" holster. Known, BTW, as "Rickypacks".

The old hands wear Dickies and steel-toed lace-ups, and keep their equipment in the jump box where it belongs.

:neener:​
 
You know, in the field we had a name for those guys: "Ricky Rescue". The new guys show up with the 6 pocket pants and the paratrooper boots and either a fanny pack or a black leather "scissors and penlight" holster. Known, BTW, as "Rickypacks".

The old hands wear Dickies and steel-toed lace-ups, and keep their equipment in the jump box where it belongs.
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I've had my butt saved by both kinds. If it works for them and works for me, it's not stupid.
 
Around here, it's part of AMR's uniform. The local SO even ditched the wool dress uniforms they'd had for the last 40 years and went to jumpsuits and subdued patches. You know what they say...California leads the way...:cool:
 
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