Well, I've been of two minds about writing this blog. Mainly because it seems to be a hotly contested topic - I've already seen flame wars kick off because of it.

Firstly, I'd like to address a point. I like gear. I own a fair chunk of it. I own more than one 'loadout' and at least five separate types of camo BDU.

However, I would not class myself as geardo.

During an IRC discussion with Marlowe, he says "Yes, yes you are a geardo, and so am I. We both create themed loadouts, just like SNAFU."

This is what's got me thinking. Yes, I create a themed loadout. I have several of them, ranging from Blackhawk Down and Tears of the Sun to Bad Boys 2 and the Punisher. I do it because I'm a movie geek and I want to emulate what I see on screen.

However, I also try and do these 'impressions' as cheaply as possible, and there certainly seems to be an element of cost seems to almost be required to be a 'geardo'.

Just to cut this off now, as I can see what will happen soon enough, I want to state on bahalf of the team that simply finding the cheapest real-steel kitlist you can and then spending a tenner to do it won't class you as a geardo.

 

You're not a geardo if you simply buy the sh*t to get in the team, you have to actually care about the gear, and care about getting it right.

By that definiton, I'm absolutely not a Geardo - I don't give a *beep* wether the holster on my hip is viper or HSGI. But apparently, it must not only look right it must BE right. I can't wear a VIPER assault vest for my Stargate loadout, even though it looks identical in photo's to the Blackhawk medic vest it clones.

Now obviously, there will be the claim levelled that the blackhawk vest is better quality, and so it goes. At the end of the day, it's there to hold my magazines - the viper does the same job for a third of the cost.

If I'm truly honest with myself, I don't want to be called a geardo. Because, in my mind, that word has something of a negative connotation. It brings up an image in my mind of people picking holes in loadouts people have worked for hours on, of snobbishness at skirmish sites because someone showed up in mismatched camo, of an almost anally rententive attention to detail when it comes to kit that I'm simply not capable of reaching a level of caring about.

I know that's a little unfair, too, but it IS something I see on the forums on occasion. I also see it fired the other way too, as if being a geardo is something bad, as if deciding to spend £300 on a pair of goggles or a vest means that a geardo is somehow compensating for something. I very often see people posting stuff like

"Well, why do you want to waste your money on a $400 scope when a $10 one will do..."

The usual answer, of course, is that the person ENJOYS it.When a Geardo buys some bit of kit that he's seen Delta using then he's spending his money on what makes him happy.

I, personally, that is to say me, in my humble opinion, cannot see the need to spend £300 for a pair of oakley shooting glasses when I can get a £20 sensei mask that does the same job. I would rather spend the money, if I had it, on another rifle or pistol. However, that is MY personal choice, as it is theirs to spend their money how they want.

On the other hand, there definately IS snobbishness from the Geardos. When I read people saying "If you want to settle for viper and I choose to buy better kit..." it's clear that there's a suggestion of superiority about the person wearing it, not just the quality of the kit. When somebody starts announcing that they're wearing a £200 vest, £300 boots, and have a £500 kimber kit on their pistol, then they're making two implications - that they're richer that you, and that they have 'better taste' in gear.

Now I, and most of the other members of this team, have spent a large fortune on their gear and we're proud to own and use the real deal gear because it's fantastic and we know it will last us forever.

 

If you only own replica gear that are, in reality, just shoddy copies of the real thing then this team (Snafu) is not for you.

 

If you cannot afford the real gear, then sorry but again, not for you.

The above kinda illustrates the point, and that's an attitude I just don't wanna see anywhere, or be associated with.

At the end of the day, it's probably a stupid thing to care about, or even bother writing a blog about. But hey, I figure I had nothing better to do with my Sunday afternoon.

Breaking it down - Spend you money how you want. Buy an eotech, wessatch, mortgage your house to buy that new Systema PTW, run around in flectarn with an M4 and an m79 strapped to your back, I don't bloody care so long as you don't look down on me for what I wear or the guns I carry.

But don't bloody call me a geardo.