Originally Posted By: msincOriginally Posted By: fitzOK I will be the contrarian here. And just by the way I don't even own an AR and if you saw me in the field you would hardly think I looked tactical. But I do like to be squared away and I do like to be prepared for as many contingencies as possible without feeling like I am too loaded down with gear. I think that is the appeal of the tactical look. Everything in its place and a place for everything. Do some guys over do it. Probably. But the idea behind---being squared away in the field----makes a lot of sense.
Yeah, I mean being organized can definitely help to get the game. Military gear is very good well made stuff and since it's usually stolen from the Army it's cheap enough!!! That said, we probably look like a pack of hillbillies going to market when we go out hunting. There is tactical and tacti-cool....the difference being...those guys with the bayonet on the H-harness, tactical...hey, they could call in a bear??? Now, if they had this years Sitka gear camo print on a diaper so they could sit there and keep right on calling and not have to "go behind a tree"....THAT is tacti-cool, buddy...in fact, that even has a little "spec-ops" mixed in!!!! If they did a HALO jump into their first set up.....that, my boy, is black ops!!! They could tell us whether or not they got a coyote...but then they'd have to kill us!!!!
Edit: this makes me think of what a guy told me once...he said, "fewer than 90 Navy seals served in the Vietnam war...and so far, I've met 42,000 of them!!!
While there is nothing wrong with being squared away, Tacti-cool Teddies don't do it for that reason. They do it to LOOK cool. We call them Wanna-be's. I have seen them at matches, I have seen them in the field. Want to see a bunch of them? Go to Cabelas or Bass Pro Shops and follow the sound of the call. You will see a herd of them collecting around the FoxPro display. They will be discussing what kind of gear that you MUST have to hunt predators, and every one of them has to sound like THE authority on predator hunting. Invariably it involves a plate carrier, 400 magazine pouches, a Ukranian 37mm flare launcher look alike M203, etc...
AzBushman and I took a guy out predator hunting. In the week leading up to the hunt he was pestering us about what ammunition to buy, what gear to bring, etc. So on the appointed day he shows up with 1,000 rounds in an ammo box, 2 bags worth of gear and...wait for it...body ARMOR!!! We laughed so hard!! BODY ARMOR!! To hunt predators. If I hadn't seen it with my own two eyes, I wouldn't have believed it.
I am all for using equipment because it works regardless of where it comes from. Certainly there is gear from the military that works and can/should be used. But not just because it "looks" cool. That is Tacti-cool.
Tactical is a fad like anything else. Zombies, Pokemon, the latest cell phone, Obammy...