KIT & GEAR OUTRIDER TACTICAL
RANGE READY
“YOUR EQUIPMENT IS OUR PASSION!” THAT’S WHAT THE TEAM BEHIND THE NEW CLOTHING BRAND, OUTRIDER TACTICAL, TELL US AND AFTER TAKING A LOOK AT SOME OF THEIR CLOTHING, BILL THINKS THAT THIS IS A CLAIM WELL-FOUNDED, SO LET’S GET THIS (RANGE) PARTY STARTED!
T
acticool is a thing, right? For me it certainly is as the kind of clothing that you might describe as “tacticool” is the clothing that I wear pretty much every day, but as an old git I’m not buying into the “cool” factor as I left that way behind me many moons ago… although I am old enough that clothes I own are coming back into fashion… AGAIN!!! “Tactical” clothing has taken on a bit of a life of its own in recent years as more and more of us buy from the brands that create an aspirational feel to the way we’d like to think we live our lives, but in reality very rarely do. How many of us spend all of our time on a range, in a gear locker or armoury, or every day on an airsoft site? In reality, very few, but we still like the kit and caboodle that gives the impression that we do, and what’s wrong with that? In truth, some of us DO live our lives that way, and I’m on my own range in the woods a couple of days a week, every week test shooting and zeroing. If I’m not on the woods range testing AEGs and GBBs I may well be in another set of woods or on a site somewhere doing or directing photoshoots, and indeed a couple of mornings each week I’m on my “short range” at home working on my own “skills n’ drills”. And then of course there’s time in the workshop, and time in the “gear locker”, so in reality quite a large part of my time is centred around “guns n’ gear” each week, and that’s before I head to a
live-fire range or lawd-forbid I actually get out to an airsoft game! Then there’s range days at shows… Bottom line is that the “tactical lifestyle look” for many of us involved in the airsoft industry is more than just a “look”, it’s the most sensible way to dress… in clothing that was purpose-designed for what we do. Now to me that doesn’t mean wandering around in full “battle rattle” as walking the dog in a plate carrier is best left to the extreme sports crowd who for some reason have adopted this as a “cool training tool”; I kind of get it as you can carry a lot of weight in a well-dispersed and balanced way for endurance training, but I still find it a bit odd when I see someone out with their pooch wearing a 5:11 Tactec, but perhaps that’s just me! What it DOES mean to me is that I want clothing that’s been designed for dynamic movement and shooting sports without me looking like a Team Six wannabe or the tweed-encrusted lord of the manor. How many times have you seen the guy at the airport or the train station carrying his MOLLE pack, with a patched-up (and not in a “I’ve worn this darn thing to death” way) softshell jacket, coyote tan boots, and an “insert name of favourite firearms accessory manufacturer here” ballcap and thought “oh my, now THAT’S lo-profile”… I’m not trying to be snippy, but there is such a thing as a time and a place, and when I buy my own
“I WANT CLOTHING (AND BY EXTENSION FOOTWEAR) THAT’S GOING TO BE WELL MADE FROM DECENT FABRICS, THAT HAS BEEN DESIGNED FOR THE USE TO WHICH I INTEND TO SUBJECT IT, PERFORMS WELL AND IS COMFORTABLE IN ALL WAYS, AND DOESN’T IMMEDIATELY SCREAM “LOOKY, LOOKY! SHOOTER WANNABE HERE!””
32
MAY 2022
