is camo clothing frowned upon at matches?

[Chaser_2332]

bottom line is come out and shoot, even if you do dress like a COD tool bag you are still supporting the shooting community no matter how dumb you look.

[ScottQ]

Wow, I had no idea wearing something like camo was even an issue. Maybe that's because I'm in Georgia, but when I go to a match (any kind of match - USPSA, NRA High Power, 3 Gun, whatever), I choose my clothes based on the shooting I expect to do. The weather, the expected range conditions, the amount of movement (or not), all factor in. One of my common choices is a pair of cargo pants that are loose fitting and have plenty of pockets. They hold up well to muddy conditions, and are loose enough so that movement and odd shooting positions are no problem.

They also happen to be old fashioned woodland camo. If I were told to go home because my pants were camo, that's most assuredly the last time I'd be going out to that match. The truth is a lot of military gear is used by competitors because in many cases it performs very well. And a lot of it happens to be camo. Who cares what color it is.

Safe shooting,

Scott

[Sarge]

They also happen to be old fashioned woodland camo. If I were told to go home because my pants were camo, that's most assuredly the last time I'd be going out to that match. The truth is a lot of military gear is used by competitors because in many cases it performs very well. And a lot of it happens to be camo. Who cares what color it is.

Safe shooting,

Scott

Just keep in mind:

USPSA RULE BOOK

5.3 Appropriate Dress

5.3.1 The use of offensive or objectionable garments is not allowed. The

Match Director will have final authority in respect of what garments

competitors are allowed to wear

IPSC RULE BOOK

5.3 Appropriate Dress

5.3.1 The use of camouflage or other similar types of military or police garments other than by competitors who

are law enforcement or military personnel is discouraged. The Match Director will be the final authority in

respect of what garments must not be worn by competitors.

[Poppa Bear]

I think the whole argument comes down to if you arrive trying to look tacticool.. If you come wearing your duty gear because you are active LEO or Mil.. We can generally tell who is who.

We will occasionally see LE shoot using duty gear, especially if they are new. They find out quickly that competition holsters and pouches are a bit quicker. We rarely if ever see MIL compete in their tactical gear because it is not well suited for USPSA and pistols. They might show up in a 3 gun where the gear is more suitable. Usually both groups try to keep a low profile. Competing with your peers who are also all wearing duty/tactical gear makes you one of many. Competing as the only one makes you stand out. How many LE/MIL have we all seen show up with the expectation that because they are LE/MIL they can out shoot us only to get their butts handed to them. The true professional knows to NOT draw attention to themselves when not on duty.

[bbbean]

How many LE/MIL have we all seen show up with the expectation that because they are LE/MIL they can out shoot us only to get their butts handed to them. The true professional knows to NOT draw attention to themselves when not on duty.

The percentage of LEOs who overestimate their skills seems roughly equal to the percentage of non-LEOs who overestimate their skils, in my experience. Their reaction to discovering that they are not, in point of fact a natural GM is what tels me whether we'll ever see them at the match again. Those who complain about their gear, the stage, the sport, the rules, the weather, and everything except their own skill don't typically come back. On the other and, those who seek out the better shooters and start asking questions about technique and strategy tend to come back and enhance the match.

For whatever reason, most of the MIL shooters I've encountered have a more realistic idea of their skill levels. They still run the gamut from great to not-so-great, but they usually know where they are on that continuum.

Edited October 2, 2013 by bbbean

[RammerJammer]

How many LE/MIL have we all seen show up with the expectation that because they are LE/MIL they can out shoot us only to get their butts handed to them. The true professional knows to NOT draw attention to themselves when not on duty.

The percentage of LEOs who overestimate their skills seems roughly equal to the percentage of non-LEOs who overestimate their skils, in my experience. Their reaction to discovering that they are not, in point of fact a natural GM is what tels me whether we'll ever see them at the match again. Those who complain about their gear, the stage, the sport, the rules, the weather, and everything except their own skill don't typically come back. On the other and, those who seek out the better shooters and start asking questions about technique and strategy tend to come back and enhance the match.

For whatever reason, most of the MIL shooters I've encountered have a more realistic idea of their skill levels. They still run the gamut from great to not-so-great, but they usually know where they are on that continuum.

I sure as hell overestimated my skills due to Mil/LEO experience. All that did was motivate me to get to where I thought I was in the first place. I'll let everybody know when I get there.

[ben b.]

Going to a first USPSA match with A, M & GM shooters should be an eye-opener for dern near any pistolero. The level of acquired skill is astonishing, if all you could compare yourself to before the match was the typical range drone who might shoot 10" groups at 12 yards..

[bbbean]

Going to a first USPSA match with A, M & GM shooters should be an eye-opener for dern near any pistolero. The level of acquired skill is astonishing, if all you could compare yourself to before the match was the typical range drone who might shoot 10" groups at 12 yards..

Going to my first match with B C, and D shooters was an eye opener! I was certain I'd initially classify with a 75-85%, because I outshot all the other ditchbank shooters. By the end of that first match, I was pleasanty surprised to see I made it al the way to a 38% on my first classifier.

Getting back to the topic, though, I have noticed that guys who come out in hunting camo and gear tend to be better and safer than the guys who come out in tacticool gear. Something to be said for actually getting out and shooting your guns instead of just reading and posting about them.

Edited October 2, 2013 by bbbean

[Poppa Bear]

Which I think is part of what I was referring to. We quickly recognize who is playing tacticool and who is wearing clothing they are comfortable in outside of the range. It is not so much what you are wearing but how you are wearing it.

[sperman]

We had a guy show up at a match a couple of years ago in full Tactical Timmy gear. Camo from head to toe, body armor, thigh rig, mags on his chest. I have no idea why the match director let him shoot. Maybe he assumed the shooter was active duty, but at the first "make ready" it was clear he had very little experience with fire arms. I think someone said he did something with movies and got all the gear from the prop department. We were all very glad that he never showed up again.

[mpeltier]

I fully get the intent of the discouraging "military camo/clothing" in the IPSC rules (also previous USPSA rules) but unfortunately some people have trouble with reading comprehension and would lump civilian casual camo and hunting camo in there with it, which is rediculous.

[ScottQ]

Which I think is part of what I was referring to. We quickly recognize who is playing tacticool and who is wearing clothing they are comfortable in outside of the range. It is not so much what you are wearing but how you are wearing it.

I think you hit the nail on the head. When/if I wear something camo it's a combination of a) I like camo, It's comfortable to shoot in, or c) that's what was clean. It's certainly not tacticool, at least not what I wear.

To expand on what I said earlier, if Match Director sent me packing because my pants were Old Navy Cargo Pants in a Woodland Camo pattern, I would not go back to that match. I respect that the Match Director has the right to make that call - it is after all their match, and I'm a guest. As a guest, though, I won't choose to put myself in that situation again.

Ironically, last night we had a new shooter at our regular weekly match wearing jeans and a t-shirt. Nothing at all out of the ordinary. He turned about to be some ex-military guy who wanted to argue about whether or not he had to keep the hammer dropped on his holstered pistol. Needless to say he lost that argument, and was watched very closely for the entirety of the match. Nothing he did turned out to be unsafe, but I suspect he won't be back as his ideas on how to shoot were quite a bit different from ours.

[MetropolisLake]

We had a guy show up at a match a couple of years ago in full Tactical Timmy gear. Camo from head to toe, body armor, thigh rig, mags on his chest. I have no idea why the match director let him shoot. Maybe he assumed the shooter was active duty, but at the first "make ready" it was clear he had very little experience with fire arms. I think someone said he did something with movies and got all the gear from the prop department. We were all very glad that he never showed up again.

I have a coworker who is in the national guard, and an Iraq + Afghanistan vet. He knew how to do something or another and ended up being embedded with Green Berets in the mountains. He's got some "different" ideas about how to shoot and wanted to get into 3-gun to keep his skills tuned and to put what he already knows to use, but he'd be laughed out of the place.

One of the odd things is that he basically wears his pistol on his chest like the rig below. They do that because they shoot the rear windows out moving cars in traffic and it's too hard to draw quickly while sitting in a humvee with body armor on. When there is a convoy coming through, car bombs are a big fear, so if a car doesn't yield properlly, they'll tap it as a warning, and if they still don't yield, they'll take their pistol and shoot out the window. If they still don't yield, crap gets real at that point.

Sad thing is, apparently he got very good with this setup, but to compete he will have to learn everything all over again, and purposely dress down.

http://www.americanrifleman.org/wp-content/uploads/Webcontent/gallery/73/2047chest-mounted-holster_PG.jpg

[Steve RA]

He should have started when Tommy Campbell was wearing his chest rig.

[SoCalNoMore]

To me there is nothing funnier to look at then a fat old guy with all camo on at a match.

But here is why, IMO, I would not wear something like all black, camo etc. One time in band camp, no it was at a restaurant, a guy was wearing his black tactical pants with and a Fire rescue T-shirt. There was a situation where a patron was choking and someone asked the guy dressed like he was fire rescue to help. Guess what, the guy said I am not a firefighter or EMT I just wear the shirt because my brother gave it to me. I'm sorry I don't know the Heimlich procedure.

Point is, don't dress like something you are not prepared to be. Unless you are a D-Bag tool.

[Flexmoney]

Sad thing is, apparently he got very good with this setup, but to compete he will have to learn everything all over again, and purposely dress down.

http://www.americanrifleman.org/wp-content/uploads/Webcontent/gallery/73/2047chest-mounted-holster_PG.jpg

Your buddy should be good and used to adapting.

[MetropolisLake]

http://thefirearmreport.com/2013/10/an-urban-operators-first-idpa-match-part-1/

http://thefirearmreport.com/2013/10/an-urban-operators-first-idpa-match-part-2/

Mildly humorous. Seems fitting for this conversation. Mild language warning.

Edited October 7, 2013 by MetropolisLakeOutfitters

[ToddKS]

http://thefirearmreport.com/2013/10/an-urban-operators-first-idpa-match-part-1/

http://thefirearmreport.com/2013/10/an-urban-operators-first-idpa-match-part-2/

Mildly humorous. Seems fitting for this conversation. Mild language warning.

That should be its own thread. That is some of the funniest material I have read in a long time.

“LIFE IS NOT A GAME! LIFE IS DYNAMIC! YOU DON’T KNOW STRESS UNTIL YOU’VE PATROLLED THE SUBURBS AT 2100 ON FOOT!!” Win!

As I was reading it I realized the voice I was hearing in my head was the guys from the Mo' Molle video which made it even funnier.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrAIFP2pfew

Edited October 9, 2013 by ToddKS

[sperman]

It is.

http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=182784

[Ghorsley]

Personally I don't get it. You are not duck or turkey hunting. You are not on a secret mission for SOCOM.....why wear a silly costume?

[ben b.]

How did you know about the SOCOM mission?

[Ghorsley]

This one is super secret

[KellyTTE]

Personally I don't get it. You are not duck or turkey hunting. You are not on a secret mission for SOCOM.....why wear a silly costume?

For the same reason that people who wear football jerseys that aren't players, or flannel that aren't lumber jacks... Or cowboy hats/boots. Its something that works or they like.

Let it go man.

Galaxy Note II + Tapatalk 2

[Aglifter]

A) Yes, we will all laugh at you - and everyone else. Goofy, hilarious things tend to happen in matches - it won't have anything to do w your gear...

I doubt anyone will laugh at any normal kind of gun - although I think an ACOG would be a challenge to use, ESP wo an auxiliary sight of some kind.

Now, when I remember to bring it down, and my game gun gets maroon white and gray tiger stripes... That is meant to be amusing...

[bonglee0507]

Most of the guys that wear camo stuff are the so called tactical guys who are soldier or police wannabees. I read one quote but i forgot where it says "tactical is a mindset not equipment" and james yeager said in his youtube video "idpa guys think they are gunfighters and they are too serious"

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