All the talk of "gear queer" makes me wonder what would you all qualify as a gear queer? Just curiosity speaking.
All the talk of "gear queer" makes me wonder what would you all qualify as a gear queer? Just curiosity speaking.
it's different depending on context. can be positive or negative. i'd apply it in the same manner as the term 'gun queer', 'car queer' etc, or 'enthusiast'. i'd qualify as one, under at least one definition. as one who designs gear, it's in my best interest to be aware of what's on the market, what the users are looking for, which designs work best for particular purposes, and where the current and future trends in gear may lie.
i have a friend who's the resident 'gear queer' on his SWAT team, but he's the one in charge of equipment selection and training. he's as enthusiastic about the latest in gear as i am, except he's coming from the end user point of view.
Depends on how you use it. "Gear Queer" is one of those terms like "that guy" that can be used self-deprecatingly or in good humor, or it can be used more seriously as a derogatory term. For example, Pat Rogers gives out a "That Guy" hat at the end of his classes to the guy that just had the most mental ****ups and it's given in a good-natured way, but there is also always a real "that guy" that nobody wants to talk to at dinner, that holds up the class, that can't get his shit together, and can't hit the broadside of a barn.
Gear Queer works the same way. I call myself one all the time because I like seeing, and trying, new things. It's part of what keeps me motivated. If I have a new mag pouch and I want to test it out, I have to go shoot, so as a side benefit I'm also getting in more practice and building the skills. I think that last bit is what makes all the difference. The guys that are just buying gear (and guns) to buy it, to get into what they perceive as some kind of social circle, to post pictures on the internet, without any analysis or any evaluative process, those are the ones to whom we apply "gear queer" in an entirely derogatory way.
I would agree, but add some to the bad side, things that are excessive or useless to the buyer. Or people that like to post pictures of themselves in it. tell you the truth I don't like telling people what I have because I find it to be envasive.
Its funny the the Corps it depends on your mos. I was with tanks they make fun of you if you own your own holster and use it instead of the ones we are issued. But the ground pounders is a different story they have drop pouches, drop leg holsters, lights on their rifles and all kinds of crap. For the grunts though their gear is usually justified.
The Brits use the term "kit pest" to describe a gear queer.
It is one thing to be a gear queer with good skills, but if you are a "shit bloke" who happens to be a kit pest, you are not well thought of.
You would not believe the amount of kit that is being destroyed in Iraq right now. How about a connex full of brand new Paraclete vests with plates being torched? Our contract is running out in a few days and everything is being destroyed. Cheaper than sending it back.
ParadigmSRP.com
As some have said there are positives and negatives. There are those that need to know all about kit for their work, and there are those who buy and fondle kit because they are sad lonely people.
Kit monster is used too ...... mainly for those who accumulate kit.
S'nuthin, I can show you places in the UK where entire collections of Sherman tanks were buried after WW2. Some years ago a mate dug up some WW2 Harleys - he is a hobby metal detecting treasure hunter. He said that from the excavation of the dig it looked like a trench had been dug, lined with canvas tarps, the bikes ridden in, greased up, covered up and then buried. Local farmers regularly complain about metal gear snagging their ploughs (plows) .... I have seen a couple of salvaged, rebuilt M1 carbines - woodwork was rotted to shite on both, metal was 85% ok and polished out fine before refinishing.
Two reasons are mooted around for the burial of kit: 1. Too expensive to ship back to the USA; 2. They were just a tad suspicious of Ivan so thought the would leave a stockpile in the UK....just in case.
Last edited by Von Rheydt; 06-25-11 at 19:43.
Shemaghs and morale patches. Multicam everything.
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