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#277327 - 10/27/15 05:58 PM Re: Being the gray man [Re: TeacherRO]
barbakane Offline
Enthusiast

Registered: 03/12/09
Posts: 205
Loc: Florida
I find that the way I carry myself helps me in everyday life. I walk confidently..some say I walk too fast. More confident people, meaning more situationally aware people, act differently. I'd think more inexperienced potential perps would find an easier target. Surroundings being as they are, I constantly look around me..quickly scanning first near, then again further out. Perhaps I'm overthinking it, but I've been doing that 40+ yrs. Works for me.
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Audaces fortuna iuvat...fortune favors the bold
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#277334 - 10/28/15 01:41 AM Re: Being the gray man [Re: TeacherRO]
Mark_R Offline
Old Hand

Registered: 05/29/10
Posts: 863
Loc: Southern California
Originally Posted By: TeacherRO
and it changes, walk a few blocks from my campus to downtown and your choices stand out. I like to keep it in mind when buying new gear -- not too tacticool.


The tacticool gear is what caused me to remember one individual. He was a big guy, very casually dressed. That in and of itself wasn't memorable. The MaxP versapack bumping on his hip.... That's what did it. My first thought was he was carrying. Had he been carrying a non-tactical bag, I doubt I would have remembered him.
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Hope for the best and prepare for the worst.

The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane

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#277348 - 10/28/15 04:49 PM Re: Being the gray man [Re: Mark_R]
ireckon Offline
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 04/01/10
Posts: 1629
Loc: Northern California
Originally Posted By: Mark_R
The tacticool gear is what caused me to remember one individual. He was a big guy, very casually dressed. That in and of itself wasn't memorable. The MaxP versapack bumping on his hip.... That's what did it. My first thought was he was carrying. Had he been carrying a non-tactical bag, I doubt I would have remembered him.


That's also a reflection of you and/or environement. I carry various types of bags. One is a MaxP. Another is a small leather bag that looks as non-tactical as possible without looking like a woman's purse.

In California, I am not unusual looking. I have been carrying a man bag for years, and I have asked various people. Everybody assumes I just have a lot of stuff to carry. However, when my family visits from Lousiana or Texas, they immediately ask if I'm packing. It doesn't matter what bag it is.

Anyway, going without a man bag is just super inconvenient for me at this point. I don't know how other guys do it, unless they enjoy wearing baggy, frumpy clothing with lots of pockets. I personally prefer my clothes to fit well on my body.
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#277358 - 10/28/15 08:50 PM Re: Being the gray man [Re: ireckon]
Mark_R Offline
Old Hand

Registered: 05/29/10
Posts: 863
Loc: Southern California
Originally Posted By: ireckon

That's also a reflection of you and/or environement. I carry various types of bags. One is a MaxP. Another is a small leather bag that looks as non-tactical as possible without looking like a woman's purse.

In California, I am not unusual looking. I have been carrying a man bag for years, and I have asked various people. Everybody assumes I just have a lot of stuff to carry. However, when my family visits from Lousiana or Texas, they immediately ask if I'm packing. It doesn't matter what bag it is.

Anyway, going without a man bag is just super inconvenient for me at this point. I don't know how other guys do it, unless they enjoy wearing baggy, frumpy clothing with lots of pockets. I personally prefer my clothes to fit well on my body.


That's kind of the point of greyman. Don't stick out in a particular environment. Certain patterns and styles of clothing and gear only blend if they're part of a limited demographic. I.e. Tactical stands out unless you're a teenager or active or ex-military. A leather messenger bag/satchel is a non-entity unless it's distinctive (i.e. Ferrari red) in some other way.
_________________________
Hope for the best and prepare for the worst.

The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane

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#278622 - 01/07/16 08:33 PM Re: Being the gray man [Re: TeacherRO]
TeacherRO Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 03/11/05
Posts: 2574
Also gray & black clothing travels well and shows less dirt. ( But its hot in Summer)

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#278632 - 01/07/16 10:43 PM Re: Being the gray man [Re: TeacherRO]
Leigh_Ratcliffe Offline
Veteran

Registered: 03/31/06
Posts: 1355
Loc: United Kingdom.
Depends. I usually wear cargo pants and jacket with lots of pockets. usually black, earth, green and navy blue. Colours that can "camoflage" me without being obvious about it.

Bright colours equals (in my view) easy target.
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I don't do dumb & helpless.

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#278634 - 01/07/16 11:24 PM Re: Being the gray man [Re: Leigh_Ratcliffe]
hikermor Offline
Geezer in Chief
Geezer

Registered: 08/26/06
Posts: 7705
Loc: southern Cal
Originally Posted By: Leigh_Ratcliffe
Depends. I usually wear cargo pants and jacket with lots of pockets. usually black, earth, green and navy blue. Colours that can "camoflage" me without being obvious about it.

Bright colours equals (in my view) easy target.


The utility of various hues depends entirely upon the situation. I have spent countless hours searching for lost/departed souls dressed in dull, earth tone colors. While bright colors do make you an easy target, that is a good thing, especially if you are in any kind of distress.

I was packing for a field trip the other day, throwing in mostly normal, fairly dull colors, and then I added a bright orange shirt, thinking "you never know, this just might be handy...."

I think this "gray (or is it grey?)man stuff is pretty conjectural. I doubt that the bad guys pay much attention to the color, or even the colour, of your garb.



Edited by hikermor (01/09/16 06:25 PM)
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#278635 - 01/07/16 11:40 PM Re: Being the gray man [Re: hikermor]
Russ Offline
Geezer

Registered: 06/02/06
Posts: 5357
Loc: SOCAL
Back in the 80's in Spain (and maybe now too) if you dressed in black you'd disappear in a crowd because there were lots of folks in black. Go to Mardi Gras or one of many other festivals (i say Rio de Janeiro) and if you dress outlandishly you'll fit right in.

Being gray is not about wearing a specific color, but about wearing attire and carrying yourself such that you blend and aren't noticed. Gray is also attitude. Look like you belong.

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#278685 - 01/09/16 03:52 PM Re: Being the gray man [Re: Leigh_Ratcliffe]
M_a_x Online   happy
Veteran

Registered: 08/16/02
Posts: 1203
Loc: Germany
Originally Posted By: Leigh_Ratcliffe
Bright colours equals (in my view) easy target.


Experience in urban geocaching tells me differently. Bright neon yellow vests seem to make you virtually invisible. Nobody stops to look what you are inspecting. Plain clothes draw attention in this situation.
Itīs really about blending in.
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If it isnīt broken, it doesnīt have enough features yet.

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#278690 - 01/09/16 07:36 PM Re: Being the gray man [Re: TeacherRO]
CANOEDOGS Offline
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 02/03/07
Posts: 1853
Loc: MINNESOTA
the yellow vest thing is like the "man with a clip board"
back in the 70's we did that at college and got a nice chair
out of the lounge.one guy wore a white shirt, dress pants and had the clip board and the other jeans and a work shirt.
we flipped chairs over to look at the numbers on the bottom even making people get up so we could check them out and took a nice one back to our room.

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