Why dress this way at the range?

And, if the range doesn't have one...the local Sheriff's office has one.

So let me get this straight, you're calling aside perfect strangers to tell them you't don't like the way they dress, and you you think THEY'RE the ones that need to learn something?

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That pretty much sums it up.

How about everyone just stay concerned with whether or not other people are acting safely,
and keep your noses our of anything else?

No one is obligated to live up to your standards of anything. You don't know them, you don't know why they are acting or dressing the way they are, and honestly, you have no right to say anything or judge them unless what they are doing is actually affecting you.

The old statement about "you know what happens when you assume..." rings more true in this thread than in most. Stay in your own lane, but literally and figuratively.

Free advice is usually worth what you paid for it. And that goes for fashion advice too. One of the most aggravating things about going to any organized range is other shooters giving unsolicited advice on everything from what gun one should have bought, to they should be shooting a different way, and everything in between. I guess we can add "this is how you should have dressed yourself this morning" to the list of stuff no one wants to hear from a stranger. You wouldn't stand behind a stranger in line at Wal-Mart and say "excuse me, you don't know me, but you should have picked a different outfit today" would you? Would you want someone to do that to you? Why is the range any different.? You're a stranger. Back off and mind your own business. If someone wants your advice or help, they'll ask. And even if they're too scared to, oh well. Part of being adult means doing your own thing. Giving unsolicited advice is basically treating someone like a child. Stop being patronizing and condescending, do your thing, let them do theirs, and just have your own fun. They can safely have their fun however they want. They don't owe you an explanation, and they certainly don't owe you a change in their own behaviour or manner of dress to fit what you think is right.

It's not about whether your advice is good (in your eyes) or not. It's the fact that as one adult to another, you really have no place offering any advice at all if it wasn't asked for.

CSB: The first and last time I went shooting at a DNR range in Michigan, I went to zero my AR-15. I had no less than three separate elderly "gentleman" approach me and ask me why I bought an AR-15 for hunting. This was before I shot at all, and no, I never said anything to them at all in the first place, much less that I was there for hunting at all. They just assumed I was a hunter, that I was planning on using a AR-15 for it, and that was somehow a big error on my part and it was their job to correct it. So they walked up to me while I was setting up and just struck up a conversation about how wrong my rifle choice was.

Yeah. Thanks. But no thanks.

Glad to read the many responses here from "mature" folk, who don't go around looking down their noses at others. All too often forums sound like a a boys club. For the record, so that no one speculates that I'm a so-called "range ranger", I'm pretty "conservative" in my dress. Also, I will admit that some of the descriptions do make for good comedy.

About 20 years ago I commented to the guy that I was working for, how stupid someone looked. He promptly asked me, "who are you to judge?".

I am embarrassed for people who wear military clothing who have never served. It doesn't seem right to me. I am also embarrassed for people who have orange, purple or some other non natural hair color.

BUT, it's a free country and as long as you don't infringe on the rights of others, you are free to do as you wish, pretty much.

I actually laugh when I see "non comforming" citizens. It makes it really easy for me to be successful and stand out as a "normal" person. You don't see many top executives with tri colored hair and a nose ring, but if that's what someone wants to look like, have at it.

I do see the OP's point, and yes, it is rediculous. We do have to continually strive to take the high road. It isn't easy. Humans almost always want to take the path of least resistance, but it's worth fighting the urge.

Just my opinion.

People wear a "uniform" (be it Cowboy, Biker, Emo, etc...) to tell people "who they are" and what their value-system consists of. I take it at face value.

It only makes me nervous if they're wearing the uniform of a skinhead, ghetto thug, etc... ('cause to me, that announces: "I'm uncooperative")... then I simply steer clear, and yes, I'll leave a public-range over it, only because I don't feel comfortable about their safety skills. ...but that's just my own prejudice, which I feel I'm entitled to.

Ragnar, I agree... sorry... I think I may have jumped in for the sake of arguing. Sorry again.

mcdonl said:

GAF, I agree with the we were all beginners once... heck, we are all still beginners in one way or another.

It is just hard to bring yourself to help a beginner when they go out of their way to look and act like they are seasoned operators. I think that is the point of this thread... If a guy shows up looking like someone straight out of the service, and he shoots and operates with the same level of professionalism as he/her dresses than it is no big deal.

The problem is when they THINK they are something they are not.... makes it harder to step up and help them.

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There are days I am the beginner and days I am the master. No telling what the day is going to be like when I get up . I have meet a few who dress and talk like they have been to war, but I want them shooting nowhere near me. They were unsafe.

As I said before Unsafe and stupid can only be proven by action.

Mcdonl, no need to say sorry to me, I wasn't attacking you, I meant the general you meaning anyone who offers an unsolicited opinion at the range. Compulsory lessons on anything are for children. Adults can seek their own advice. To offer someone advice unasked for is to assume your advice is needed. And to assume your advice its needed is to look at someone as if they are inferior.

They tell me I dress funny every weekend.

Red Cent said:

They tell me I dress funny every weekend.

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Red, that aint funny, that's cool


Can't wait to get some overtime at work and pick up a Super Blackhawk and a gunbelt of my own!

I have been known to wear hunting clothes at the range in order to determine if my nice new Cabela's jacket will let me quickly shoulder my rifle, won't let the buttpad slip, etc. Yessir, I have seen my share of Condo Commandos, at consider them to be comic relief, until/unless they do something dumb and unsafe.

I laugh when I think people are dressed funny but I keep it to myself.

In the interests of full disclosure, I openly admit to wearing my SASS gear while trail riding. My Wah-Maker pants, Boss of the Plains hat and Frontier Classics or Texas Jack's shirts and jinglebob spurs actually get horse sweat on em' from time to time.

Eons ago, when working at Wells Fargo Armored, I would on occasion take the external vest we wore and an empty coal bag to the range, load the coal bag with rocks or boxes, and practice drawing and firing my issued Smith Model 64 while dumping the bag from various angles. I never got laughed at.

Thankfully "people watching" is not a crime.

I am embarrassed for people who wear military clothing who have never served.

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^I am not MIL, but I have worn a BDU jacket (off/on) for nearly a decade. I wear it to honor my friends that have joined the service, many of them are still actively deployed. I will wear it until the last one of them comes home.

I try not to judge people based on outward appearances. I've spent a lifetime being kicked around by straight-laced 'christians' and being helped out of my misery by "bad people".

I might even look like one of the "bad people". "Who are you to judge?"

Charles Caleb Colton said it best.... "imitation is the finest form of flattery"

I don't believe in dressing tacticool or commando, but I do wear a out-of-date camo fatigue shirt gifted to me from a friend in the military, as a jacket mostly for the four pockets with button down flaps and the fact it is tough and durable material (all my 1960s fatigues have been worn out in yard work over the years). I think of recycling military surplus as practical, not tactical. From the 1950s I have bought camping, fishing or hunting supplies from the army/navy surplus stores, but wearing a full battle dress uniform with sidearm is a bit too much.

In any sporting/leisure endeavor, a person entering has, at some point, a decision to make regarding proper gear and attire.

I suggest that the best plan is to "grow into" your equipment rather than "outgrow" it. If a person is interested in pursuing an endeavor he or she should do the research needed to acquire the best gear he or she can afford, even though at first he or she will clearly have gear that's better then he or she needs for the skill level he or she has.

To illustrate what I mean, here's a cycling analogy. When a rider is just getting started, with lots to learn, should he purchase a high-end bicycle, dress like he's a seasoned pro, and risk being ridiculed as a poseur? He's done the research and paid the money. He knows that both the bike and the clingy synthetic garb will help him become a better rider, so why ridicule him?

But people do. Many of the guys who point the poseur finger are themselves envious of the perceived novice's ability to afford better gear than they can afford.

So, should the novice dress in normal street clothes and ride a beat-up Schwinn Heavy Duty until he's ready for the Tour de France? No. If he does that, he never will be ready.

Interesting thread.

I'm sure some of y'all have seen my type. I try scrimp/recycle what I can.

At my range, I find used targets in the dumpster. I see unused space on all of these targets.

So that's me: balding, middle aged dude shooting at targets in silly attire w/ bullet holes all over the place. A big meh.

At my range, I find used targets in the dumpster. I see unused space on all of these targets.

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Glad Im not the only person who does this. I love the "elitest" people who buy a B27 and put 7 holes dead center then throw it out. A sharpie on the back and I have 8 more targets.

Yep, sharpie in pocket and I'll bring some tape cause there's loose clays and shotgun shells all over. I tape it to the used targets.

I'm sure folks have seen my targets and have thought ill of my shooting abilities. ;-)

Oh, and those BDU's and silly clothes that I wear: left over from my military days and scores from Goodwill and Salvation Army thrift stores.

When I go golfing, my plaid knickers and fophat help me blend in.

I have been a guest at a really nice range in the Dallas area that prohibits the wearing of any camo clothing, and prohibits using targets with any depiction of a human on them, even a silhouette or B27-type target.

I could understand (but not agree with) the target rules, but seeing how many shooters are hunters, the camo prohibition is a head scratcher.

Bob