"Tactical gear"

I just think $100 is a "little steep" for a flashlight, or anything over $50 for a watch to tell time "luxury", or $25 for a pen, that requires "special" cartridges a bit "strange".
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Well, for most people, $50 for a pocket knife is a "little steep". Heck, for most people, a $20 pocket knife is a little steep.

Applying that same argument to cars - does anyone really need a Porsche 911 GT2? How many people actually fully utilize a Range Rover? How many Silverado owners really push their trucks to their towing capacities on a daily basis?

Really, most of us only "need" a Kia Rio. The Rio will get you to work, the grocery store, and back home. It has 4 doors, decent gas milage, and a good warranty. With a little sqeezing, it could probably fit most Americans and their families.

But, who wants to drive a Kia Rio every day?

If you have the money, why not get something different? Something exotic, stylish and comfortable?

Having money in the bank is nice. But, you can't take it with you.

Compared to truly expensive things (fine art, houses, cars, women :) ) a Rolex seems cheap. If it makes you happy, why not get it?

Why not have the potential to take that Pilots watch to the depths of the Ocean? Why not be able to take your pen with you to Mars? Why not be able to survive 10 years on a desert island using only your trusty Custom knife? Sure, it probably will never happen, but for those who appreciate the difference - there's nothing wrong with paying for the luxury.

Just my $0.02.

-- Rob
 
Why not be able to survive 10 years on a desert island using only your trusty Custom knife? Sure, it probably will never happen, but for those who appreciate the difference - there's nothing wrong with paying for the luxury.
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We have a slightly different opionion of "luxury," you and I.
 
Rrrrrrrrrring

What'd ya' know? It's the bladeforums.com phone.

Rrrrrrrrrring

Oh, don't bother getting up. I'll answer it.

Rrrrrrrrrring

"Hello, Blade Forums Dot Com. This is Chuck. Can I help you?

Yes, I think he's here. Whom shall I say is calling?"

Wow! Really!?!

And what can WE do for YOU?

Yes.

Well, that can happen. I've made that mistake myself.

Yes.

Yes, he does.

WOW! I don't know. I'll ask him."



It's for you. It's NASA, Mission Control. It seems that John Glen forgot that he has a dentist appointment tomorrow morning and they're wondering if you can take over and pilot this afternoon's Shuttle Mission? After all, you've got the right pen.
 
Theres a lot of "you can't take it with you" and "if you have the money why not" thrown into this thread,and thats fine for some.My take is this,I like saving a large part of our income(at least 20% a year)not to take it with me,but too retire early,have the cash to send the kids to a good college and to keep on living the same life style if one of use should stop working.:)

A lot of us carry gear to protect and save ourselves and our loved ones from harm.Well I also want to provide them with a safe and comfortable home and a quility education,no matter what the economy may bring.Want to feel safe?have several years worth of income set a side,you might not be able to "take it with you" but its a great feeling knowing if YOU go your family will be taken care of.
 
Nothing turns me off faster than to hear of a piece of equipment being referred to as "tactical". I see a number of problems with the overuse of this word, which seems to be applied to everything as long as it is black and overpriced. Tactical pants? Tactical cell phones? A "tactical" model Strider knife? I thought they all were "tactical". Amateurs are recognized for their concern over equipment versus application. The term has become nothing more than a marketing device. Unfortunately, all too often people begin begin to feel that without a "tactical" (insert toy here) they are somehow at a disadvantage.

Tactics refer to the steps towards the application of a strategy. A person is self-actualized as a LEO/soldier/warrior when they realize that the true issue is skill, knowledge and attitude, not equipment.

Having said that, if you truly want something, go for it. I have a weakness for knives, flashlights, and fountain pens. However, possession of these items has not turned me into a surgeon, great carver, bat, or Shakespeare. I enjoy using them, and that is all the justification I need. I may eventually have to use some of these tools in extremis (probably not the pen) and if I do the successful outcome, or lack thereof, is my responsibility, not the tool's.

And do not get me started on advertisements posing as magazines.....

Thank you,

Bill
 
I think me & you are probably the
"Last of the Mohicans" when it comes to "practicality", don't you think?

*DING* round 3!

AET ;)
 
my stuff:
pen is a mont blanc
knife/knives for EDC- carson,bm 940,and cuda maxx 5.5
watch-titanium seiko (indestructable)
light-surefire m2 or streamlight scorpion
money clip is sterling
lighter is a brunton helios or a black coated zippo
my winter coat is an old abused OD green army jacket and my boots are gore tex


tactical? sure some of it is...am i? no. i just know what i like (Which is quality) and run with it.
 
DeWeese:D , "Amateurs are recognized for their concern over equipment versus application" .

AMEN!


Tactical=Marketing
 
Hey, What's wrong with having the best stuff?

Tactical or not, I'm gonna drive my HummVee, wear my Seamaster, and go camping in my NorthFace and Wiggy's cause it's the best... And Gollnick, I've got better things to do with my time that to go joyriding in outer space, but it's nice to be able to put my pad up against a wall and write on it with a pen that has some sort of inkflow. However, you are right that if someone does buy it simply because it's a spacepen, then they are a little "out there".

Jeez, some guy slaps a label on something and we get all squeamish.

Perhaps we need to get all the cops, feds and soldiers to start buying bright pink and aqua stuff so that we don't feel like posers when we use stuff colored black, green or blue.
 
If you like high-quality gadgetry there's nothing wrong with that as long as you can afford it.

What really gets me is the people who get into the "tactical" thing. They have a SEAL watch and a black knife and wear combat boots and fatigues to the mall.

Most people liked to dress up and play soldier when they were children. I guess some people never outgrow it.
 
Perhaps "gear" is what we're looking at more than "tactical"; the example
Our esteemed forumite fishbulb pointed out is what my "outcry" is "against". Good stuff, people!

Keep it coming!

AET ;)
 
Some of us could blade James Bond for some of this lust. Imagine if "Q" had a website and sold some of his custom designed gear?
 
Fishbulb, Don't you enjoy playing "couch potatoe commando"? :)

I don't consider my tools TACTICAL because I don't use them that way. If I was in a real pinch, would my car keys become tactical car keys in a parking lot scuffle?

In the end, sometime things marked tactical are simply higher quality.

While I only need watch that is water proof to the bottom of the bathtub (or possibly the pool for those high risk missions ;) ), I have yet to find a 200m rated watch that will fog up. Wheter is is tactical, diver or, pilot marketed, you get better clarity so you can read the watch easily and it won't die if you knock it around a bit.

A 10cent disposable BIC will write legibly most of the time. Sure it skips, tears some paper (love those triple carbons made from tissue paper :mad: ) but, it gets the job done. I would much rather carry around a clipboard, notebook, etc. so that I have a flat level surface to write on. Scotch tape shouldn't be written on anyway. Yes, I think I wasted a few dollar's by splurging on my Rotring pen.

Royal Robbins pants? Gee, I don't really need pockets for stuff do I. I'll just hang it all on my belt and periodically check to make sure I haven't brushed up against something and had a clip lift causing me to lose a cell phone, pocket knife, pager, etc.

99% of time, any product would do but, for the other 1% of the time, its nice to know I have a product with me that will work, wheter it's a ballpoint pen, a lighter, or a flashlight.
 
Man…
You guys went long on this…
I didn’t read em all…just my quick notes….
I think that if you are going to mount a light on a weapon, or use the light as a weapon, you NEED a surefire. PERIOD.

The space pen I have and like, but the Russians just used a pencil.
 
There is a distinctive difference between "the finer things," between "quality" and between this genre we popularly refer to as "tactical" which generally seems to mean "military style."

Consider, for example, a Rado watch: very high quality, very black, but I don't think many people would consider it "tactical."

I also don't think you're gonna see many soldiers in battle adding ink to their fountain pens.

The issue is not spending a lot of money. The issue is not seeking quality.
 
I agree with most people here -- if you've got the money, why not spend it on the gear you want.

As far as tactical goes -- it's just a word. I was in the Marines for 6 years, and all the action my "tactical" knives saw was cutting sandbags and MREs. But; it doesn't matter to me -- I still like carrying good "tactical" gear because I like it, and I can afford it (no wife and kids). I wear my Luminox because I like knowing that it is tough and the lights will be lighting my coffin long after I'm dead. For the same reason I use my Centurion and Expedition 19 lights because they're the best.

To each their own -- I'm like a kid in a candy store when it comes to "tactical" gear, and I will continue to buy the stuff. I can't explain it, it's just the way I am, and probably the way most of you are.
 
I stand corrected. Looks like I got hoodwinked by the fiction meme. I always wondered why pencils weren't used and I suspected as much about the particulate issue in zero gravity. I guess clicker pencils would still pose a problem and the ink globules off of any pen tip is negligible. If there is, the ink is probably non toxic and non invasive while pencil lead is not something one should get in one's lungs or on equipment. If they would use pencils in space, it is probably because they are downright cheap. :p

Originally posted by mwelch8404


Also: http://truthorfiction.net/rumors/spacepen.htm

NASA Spent $12 Million For a Space Pen While the Russians Just Use Pencils-Fiction!


Summary of the eRumor
The message says that the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration spent ten years and $12 million developing a pen that writes in zero gravity for use by astronauts. The pen will write upside down, underwater, on almost any surface and is functional at extremely hot and cold temperatures. The Russians, however, filled the need for a space writing instrument by simply using pencils.


The Truth
For some people, it's sport to point out government waste and bureaucratic stupidity, but this story about the space pen won't provide ammunition for it. The government did not fund the development of the pen, it did not cost $12 million to perfect, and neither the Americans nor the Russians consider it desirable to use pencils in space. In fact, both Americans and Russians use the space pen for their flights.

The famous space pen, which is still a popular product today, was developed by Paul Fisher the founder of the Fisher pen company. An engineer who improved ball point technology, he created his "bullet pen" in the 1940's, which became one of the best-selling pens of the Twentieth Century. Later, he perfected a pen that was sealed with pressure inside of the cartridge that made the ink to flow regardless of gravity. It also worked in high and low temperature extremes, underwater, and wrote on many kinds of surfaces. According to the Fisher Pen company, after extensive testing, NASA chose the pen in 1967 for use by Apollo astronauts and it's been a part of space travel ever since. The company says it took Fisher about 2 years and $2 million to develop the space pen. Prior to 1967, there were no pens that worked in space so there were pencils used, but there were concerns about pencil dust floating around the space capsules as well as fears that if the tip of a pencil broke off and drifted into the electronics, there would be problems.

A real example of the eRumor as it has appeared on the Internet:

When NASA first started sending up astronauts, they discovered that ball-point pens would not work in zero gravity. To combat this problem, NASA scientists spent a decade and $12 million developing a pen that writes in zero gravity, upside down, underwater, on almost any surface including glass and at temperatures ranging from below freezing to over 300C.

When confronted with the same problem, the Russians used a pencil.
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Originally posted by Gollnick
It's for you. It's NASA, Mission Control. It seems that John Glen forgot that he has a dentist appointment tomorrow morning and they're wondering if you can take over and pilot this afternoon's Shuttle Mission? After all, you've got the right pen. [/B]
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Whats-his-name the Backstreet boy (or is it N'Sync?) almost made it to the Intl. Space Station. Just a few $$$ short. And that other old guy, Dennis something-or-another, did make it. (lucky $%$@#!)

You never know where you'll end up. What kind of pen do you think he took? Would his $.69 bic pen have worked?

And yes, we do have differences in our definition of luxury. I mostly see it as "having added capabilities".

For example, a luxury car has a leather interior to add the capability to drive further without causing discomfort, more airbags to add the capability to survive a nastier accident, a stronger engine to add the imaginary ability to outrun the police, and added style to add the capability to look good.

In the world of handheld gadgets, I see "tactical" as "luxury". Just more "added capabilities".

But, each to his own, I guess. :)

-- Rob
 
Originally posted by Gollnick

The issue is not spending a lot of money. The issue is not seeking quality.
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Well, normally, if I were a prudent man, I would agree with you, but if I didn't spend it on this stuff, it would only go to hookers, strippers, porn and beer.
 
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