Hey Westie, I will weigh in here...since you asked. First of all I don't begrudge anyone their gear, training or type of gun no matter how pimped. (I still cannot bring myself to call it a weapons system with a straight face). I was a total gear whore, while I had been a fairly competent shooter for many years, around 2004 the whole Wasatch 30 mags and Blackwater contractor look came into being. It was insidious and came out of nowhere. I went from using a iron sighted CAR-15 to an M4 with every wiz bang tool on it. This would have been cool had I done anything remotely similar for a living but I was a gun monkey who ate at McDonalds and Wendys, had not exercised in years drank coke by the 2L bottle and went from racing mountain bikes to weighing in at 230lbs. RANGE/TACTICAL POSER ALERT!. What made me a poser was not all my kit, it was a mindset that I was training for something, to be ready for anything but the only thing I was doing was buying gear. There are a lot of people who have tons of cool s**t, if all you are doing is playing then it is all cool. But if you have it in your head that you want to actually train, then spend more time on fitness and firearms hard skills than you did on the Eagle Ciras, 6 different knives, 20 mags, hard knuckeld gloves, morale tags and the latest boots. Especially if you are afraid of face to face human confrontation. One of the most competent shooters I know, and one with the most street cred within LE circles is MK. The guy trains hard and uses what he may reasonably be expected to access in an emergency...he leaves the SWAT gear to the SWATIES...
Cut to now, I actually do a job where; if you want to run in certain circles you have to put in the time...no one gives a crap about your gear...guess what? the only way to cuff a guy is to control him, he's gonna breath on you, sweat on you and bleed on you...tubbies with a duty belt, 3 mags, baton, oc, cew, radio, two sets of cuffs, sba and a firearm who get knocked on their asses usually stay down until the fit guys arrive. I can say at 166lbs and an enviable BF content the poser has been exorcised. I don't sweat gel walking up a flight of stairs either and there have been a lot of elbows and knees thrown. My gear now consists of what I use at work, when rifle work is required I add some rifle mag pouches to my belt...my M4 has a rail and a KAC 300M sight. I don't debate the merits of one piece of equipment or another...I don't give a shiet, your choice of molle gear bores me as does your LaRue vapor ware ...I spend most of my training dollars on ammo and fitness along with spares to keep my "weapons system" running. (There I said it)
Here is a pic of me as a Range Commando in 2005. It was near the end of a Tac Response course. I need a fricking holiday to recover from days of running and gunning during a heat wave. 5'8" 230lbs "Tubby Gun Nerd" as a TAC guy referred to me during a course last month.
No longer a Range Commando, but far more useful.
...and my rather pedestrian "Weapons system"
ETA: I actually went in to Dave's yesterday and came out with some boot polish and a Kiwi Cloth...no molle...
