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Thread: The Specialized Clothing Issue Always Seems To Crop Up.

  1. #1
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    The Specialized Clothing Issue Always Seems To Crop Up.

    The reason I started this thread I'd because it comes up a couple of times a year on every single firearms forum I read usually combined with a warning not to put NRA/Gasden Flag sticker on your car. If it's considered inappropriate please accept my apologies and delete it.

    I know this subject has been discussed before but I want to try to get a different angle on it. It's a known fact that certain types of clothing are associated with shooting sports/Law enforcement /concealed carry. My question is "Is the general public really that aware of these trends?"

    If you walk by me in a pair of "tactical pants" or a concealed carry shirt I'm going to pick up on it because I've seen it discussed ad nauseum on the Internet. My wife(who hasn't been indoctrinated by AR15.com) may not even notice you. To be honest I've seen a couple of 5.11 "covert" shirts that I wouldn't look at twice.

    Those of you who are police, do you pay that much attention to people's fashion choices? Is it really something you even focus on?

    Again, I'm not trying to focus on the clothes themselves so much as asking Is this real or is it something we've made up amongst ourselves?
    Last edited by Cypher; 06-06-2018 at 11:14 AM.

  2. #2
    Some say a photographer's vest is a dead giveaway, but I don't think it applies across the board. I was a newspaper photographer for 36 years before I retired and wore a vest when needed, but not all the time. I've seen others wear the vest as a fashion statement, or perhaps they just need extra pockets. I've not worn my vest since I retired because it's just dorky to wear it and not need it.

    I wore 511 cargo pants for over 25 years because they're rugged, stain resistant, they dry quickly when they get wet, and it seemed like I always needed extra pockets.


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    I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous.
    Last edited by SkippySanchez; 06-06-2018 at 11:35 AM.

  3. #3
    Member ubervic's Avatar
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    I think it probably depends on the general frequency of that 'type' of clothing in any given environment.

    I live/work in a place where there are many people who work for 'the government' and where there are many agency offices of many kinds in the immediate vicinity. It's not uncommon for me to see a whole table full of guys wearing tactical pants, untucked plaid-patterned shirts and black tactical or hiker style footwear. Same thing as I see lots of times at the range. Maybe I'm more aware and sensitive to it, because I get it, but perhaps few other people get it.

    I don't want to ask others about their awareness on this because I don't want clothing to suddenly become a tell for those who don't already get it, if that makes sense.

  4. #4
    Member Peally's Avatar
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    Regular people don't give a crap. 5.11 is now common enough a brand that "tactical" clothing is standard fare in public. Vests are things old people wear, the average pedestrian doesn't immediately think "hardcore IDPA shooter" when they see a lame elderly vest.

    Most it'll get out of me is if someone really outdoes it, at which point I'll internally call them a nerd.
    Last edited by Peally; 06-06-2018 at 11:39 AM.
    Semper Gumby, Always Flexible

  5. #5
    Site Supporter CCT125US's Avatar
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    Most folks are too tied up on technolgy to notice. Most. Some will notice, most won't care. How many ill intentioned actors target the tac timmy? I have no idea. When you have "made" someone, did it matter at the end of the day? Just the other day I was at a rest stop, I noticed a gentleman with his family. He was being aware and observing his surroundings, it even appeared he was glancing at the belt lines of passersby. As I approached my car, it was then I noticed his BRCC shirt, paracord bracelet, clipped knife and slight bulge in the 330 position. He glanced in my direction and hoped in his van. I noticed him, he saw me, but at the end of the day it did not matter. Professionally, I service the insurance needs in the homes of folks 50-85. I may sit with 2-5 individuals or couples on a daily basis. Based on the client, and the warm up conversarion, I may discover they have an interest in firearms. I treat that info as a small point of connection, and nothing else. That is not my purpose for being there. I have sat across the table from many "gun" folks, who invite a completely unknown, armed stranger into their home for sometimes hours at a time. As far as I can tell, I do not exude gun, much at all. But it dosent matter, until it does. I do follow the no identifiable labels or stickers.
    Taking a break from social media.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by ubervic View Post
    I don't want to ask others about their awareness on this because I don't want clothing to suddenly become a tell for those who don't already get it, if that makes sense.
    That's where I'm at with it. In the shirt thread someone said something about Hawiian shirts being a dead give away. I never would have thought that BUT as I mentioned in that thread it turns out the guy I was thinking about who always wears Hawaiians does, in fact, carry a gun.

    I also started a thread about the guys in tactical pants at my church and how that was a "tell" to me but Last Sunday I was in the lobby again and out of say 500 people 300 of them were wearing some kind of cargo pants. It would be like looking for a bean in a pile of beans.

  7. #7
    New Member schüler's Avatar
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    Not popo any longer but YES you notice them. Otherwise you're not paying attention.

    Full "5.11 tuxedo" to me generally indicated State/Fed uniform issue/allowance or a sign of someone I probably wouldn't enjoy conversing with.

    Just trousers or just shirt on an otherwise normally dressed person in decent physical condition generally meant a 50/50 chance of someone with conversation potential.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by CCT125US View Post
    Most folks are too tied up on technolgy to notice. Most. Some will notice, most won't care.
    I have a hard time trying to communicate on this topic. My question isn't so much "Will they notice?" As it is "Do they even know what they're seeing?"

    My wife bought me a pair of 5.11s at a garage sale before I became an initiate in The Brotherhood of the Traveling Tactical Pants and I had no idea what they were. I thought the strap on the back (that I now know is a hold over from the Royal Robbins days) was stupid and I thought the magazine pocket was for your pocket knife. It wasn't until I was issued them at work that I became familiar with them. Even then I never thought of them as a "Tell" until the Internet told me they were.

  9. #9
    Site Supporter CCT125US's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cypher View Post
    I have a hard time trying to communicate on this topic. My question isn't so much "Will they notice?" As it is "Do they even know what they're seeing?"
    This would be a great study on the observation habits of people.
    Taking a break from social media.

  10. #10
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    I have a belief that by the time this stuff makes it into the mainstream the people who are "in the know" have moved on. Like the red bandana / blue bandana thing.

    I suspect that by the time REI is selling 5.11s we'll all be wearing Dickies Bib Overalls in FDE

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