Last night at a Halloween party with my kid, I ran into a good buddy who had just returned from a carbine training course with his brother. He has had a career in Special Operations that is measured in decades, and has seen more than his fair share of gunfire, on the range and in the field. We got on the subject of a couple of fellow participants who fit what I like to call the “tactical tuxedo” mold. The Tac Tux is not an endearing term, and came from my old job where the guy that spent more time on gear than skills usually couldn’t exploit it to it’s full advantage. All show, no go. Anyways, the topic at hand ran around a couple of fellows who showed up in full ninja kit, the best of everything as professed by internet forums. They had seen all the most ninja youtube videos, had all the BTDT stickers, and bought the finest hardware money could buy. Everything possible to make a gun cycle faster, make a trigger lighter and shorter, to negate the negligible recoil as much as possible. They only forgot one thing: the skills required to use it and the effort to gain them. This is not at all uncommon, unfortunately. While they were at a class, getting good training, it always strikes me as odd that they put the tens of thousands of dollars into equipment before seeking their first instruction on it’s usage. What if it sucked?

There is nothing at all wrong with buying nice gear, don’t mistake what I’m going for. I don’t use cheap shit. I don’t go without to prove I’m hard, or that I don’t need all the help I can get. Not taking advantage of something that allows you to perform better isn’t a badge of honor, it’s cheating yourself. The problem comes when folks buy into a mindset that this equipment will solve a deficiency in skill or knowledge. Frankly, getting trained before getting outfitted is the only way to make this happen. I had a guy in class last week shooting a bone stock Glock 19. Good choice. I asked him why he didn’t put some decent sights on it and ditch the plastic ones. He said he was going to, but he wanted to take some classes first, look at some different stuff, evaluate his needs, and then buy some. As opposed to wasting money on the latest fad and find it wanting or not applicable to his needs. Eureka! That young man was on to something.

The shame of it is, the ability to improve is free. Dry fire, weapons manipulations, exercise, etc. Buying $500 in 9mm ammo is likely to pay a much better dividend than buying another gun “that’s easier for you to shoot.” Being able to grip and drive a gun better is cheaper than a new upper that shoots softer. The equipment costs money. Once you have serviceable gear, learn proper fundamentals and employment to get better instead of spending another $150 on the newest compensator, $400 on the newest plate carrier you don’t wear outside of class, or $100 on that new scope that will only let you see how much you’re actually jerking that $250 trigger job. While it might embarrass you to be the hobo at the range, it can’t be as bad as being the guy who shows up looking like a storm trooper and failing to make hits at 7 yards. With almost boring regularity, the guy who dresses like he stepped out of Call of Duty is the guy who performs like all he does is play video games.

Run what you got, guys. Make your gear chase your skills, not the other way around. Don’t rebuild your gun today, build your trigger control. Don’t buy running shoes to help you run faster, go run to run faster. Perfect practice makes for perfect execution. That saying has been around forever for a reason.