Tactical Gear at Matches

[Jim Watson]

We get military guys shooting in their gear, and the same with law enforcement. For them, I personally think that makes even more sense than shooting in competition-exclusive gear.

Helmets and armor are also relevant for the regular everyday citizen, so I think it makes sense to shoot in that stuff too.

True, for real duty personnel with real duty gear.
But then there was the guy who assured the MD with a straight face that his Chicom surplus bandoleer was part of his PD equipment.

I don't recall anybody shooting in a helmet, but one of the few enthusiasts deputies here would compete in full fig, vest, retention holster, flapped magazine pouches, etc. Left his radio off, though. We had some stages to show the value of carrying a radio in the off hand and to be willing to drop it when the shooting started. But not with a real department Motorola.
He learned that the vest constricted his movements and some positions were not easy to assume.
He could get a gun out of a Level 3 holster faster than any other I have seen.

[Glenn E. Meyer]

Sidebar - do folks drop their extraneous stuff. At the NTI, we had to go to a house with a pizza for our friends. You got to the door and saw blood. You had to enter (some folks argued to lay back and call the law - but you had to go in). Amusingly, some guys took the pizza through the exercise, I ditched it and the SO said that was correct and laughed at the others. Interesting nuance in realistic exercises, some folks just said - nope, not going in as on DA STREETZ you wouldn't but since you were to 'clear', you had to . I was critiqued once for staying out, seeing a bad guy, shooting him but not retrieving his gun and going in. Later, all the bad guys charged out and killed me. So they would have killed me if I went in? Oh, well.

Interesting discussion of what you get out of a match, chasing milliseconds with gamer gear or practicing with realistic gear. DA STREETZ, blah, blah.

Question to some- do the realistic gear guys in your experience, plan the unrealistic but planned dropping of partially loaded mags to shave milliseconds? Do they carry more mags than they normally would?

[Zincwarrior]

In TX, I had one of those cooling scarfs that I would pour cold water on and wrap around my neck and down my chest, under my shirt. Since we had big coolers of ice water at every stage (to avoid folks dropping dead), you could re-soak it. I have seen folks with little electric fans. Not so hot here to worry about that.

I discovered doing that at a match in the ArkeTex. Great match but the humidity was brutal to someone used to Central Texas.

To the topic, we have a fair number of PoPos attend matches and they often come with their carry gear at IDPA or the above carbine matches. Its specifically permitted, and good trigger time.

At the carbine matches (same ones as Glenn) I see a lot of taco mag holders and such. I also see a fair number at club matches in near Killeen but figure thats due to its proximity to Fort Cavazos. I do see a fair number of TQs and just hope they know how to use them. I carry a stop the bleed bag in my cart, but I don't care about little BooBoos people might get, just big ones.

[Jim Watson]

You had to enter (some folks argued to lay back and call the law - but you had to go in).

I have always imagined starting a match stage by shooting the targets in view and then running the other way.
Why go on a solo search and destroy?
One instructor said to consider a match stage to be a series of separate encounters, just combined for convenience.

[Olim9]

Regarding plates and helmets, the only issue I can see is if it gets to the point where wearing it at a match degrades your performance/concentration. I haven't been to a match in years but I seriously doubt you can shoot USPSA with an empty rifle slung infront of you anyways. If someone is bringing their JPC and Team Wendy ballistic helmet to a match along with D-C class performance, I think they should let the gearflexing take a backseat but that's just me.

[Jason M]

Regarding plates and helmets, the only issue I can see is if it gets to the point where wearing it at a match degrades your performance/concentration. I haven't been to a match in years but I seriously doubt you can shoot USPSA with an empty rifle slung infront of you anyways. If someone is bringing their JPC and Team Wendy ballistic helmet to a match along with D-C class performance, I think they should let the gearflexing take a backseat but that's just me.

I was thinking along the same lines. Matches could also be a good way to check integration of new gear. It is one thing to do it on the flat range but doing it with time and competition pressure could be a good test of new stuff before it debuts for real.

“Gearflexing” is being pirated for future use…

[JCN]

Interesting discussion of what you get out of a match, chasing milliseconds with gamer gear or practicing with realistic gear. DA STREETZ, blah, blah.

I’ll make a counterpoint about gamer gear versus “realistic gear.”

My realistic gear is a pocket revolver and I rarely carry reloads when carrying semi-auto.

The problem/ not problem with that is… there’s nobody to compare against and no standard.

So to me there’s not much point in running that gear at a match. If I want to practice with that gear, I’ll set up drills and practice with that gear.

But the flipside is that I know I exceed objective standards with my carry gear… so it’s not very motivating to me.



My USPSA gear (or IDPA gear or Steel Challenge gear) isn’t about chasing milliseconds…

It’s about getting on the same page as the hotshoes so I can compare my performance apples to apples.

So I’m not chasing milliseconds, I’m trying to remove a comparative variable from the data so I can better judge my deficiencies and strengths. So I know where to focus practice.

By prepping equipment, I effectively am taking equipment off the table.

I’d have no problem if everyone had to shoot provided stock guns, but that’s not feasible.

I’m really only competing against myself… but I want the standards to be apples to apples.

[Glenn E. Meyer]

I get it that you have your view about skills and transfer of training. I hope it works for you.

[DDTSGM]

I was critiqued once for staying out, seeing a bad guy, shooting him but not retrieving his gun and going in. Later, all the bad guys charged out and killed me. So they would have killed me if I went in? Oh, well.

I wonder if the charging out and killing you was scripted or something they decided on the fly? It really sounds like it was some clownshoes scenario supervision.

[Glenn E. Meyer]

Who knows? Years ago. I agree it doesn't make sense. I was staying outside and telling them that the police were called and they should give up. But then, the AAR was that I should have picked up the downed gun and go in. Kind of a no-win. I would have had a revolver and they had several long arms. Maybe I should have just run down the street - LOL.

Did get a touch bloody, black and blue from close in training stuff in some scenarios. A little different from standing around waiting for the beep and counting points. I mentioned before I got strange looks in the liberal arts locker room from that. Too old for that now.

Fun stuff, some Marines used a dead body draped through a window for cover. Another guy forget his offset on his rifle (not a marine) and put all his rounds into the same dead body from the firing position.

Got blown up by a guy in an explosive vest - I inquired whether he was a hostage and he blew up. It was thought that I should have just taken the head shot to prevent him from activating.

Different experiences from matches.