Sick of TACTICAL

K

Kodiac

New member
I dont see the need to take a rifle, put on a heavy barrel and call it "Tactical".

I am getting sick of that word! Worse than the word "CYBER" for anything related to computers or the net.

And come to think of it "Custom" is much too over used as well. It aint CUSTOM if it wasnt built JUST FOR YOU to YOUR specs. It may be Limited or something... or REALLY EXPENSIVE... but it aint CUSTOM.


How about a "Custom Tactical"? Sheesh. One of the attributes of a tactical piece is that it is EXPENDABLE. Disposable even. If it cost more than your son's car you need to wonder about it. It may be black - but is it really Tactical? Maybe thats the difining quality... it simply being black.

Kinda like "sports cars". If your not willing to slide it 4 wheel drifting around a curve... or if it has AC and a V8 and power windows... Cost as much as a house... it aint a sports car either. If you think it is - you dont know or forgot what one is.


There I said it - Flame me all you want.

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Kodiac
Kenetic Defense Institute
"Sir Heckler"
 
R

Rob Pincus

New member
Brother Kodiac,

There was a similar line of thought brought up at BF recently. Seemslike the knife word is even more irreverent about the word "custom."

I was with you all the way...

Custom should mean unique and tailor made.

Tactical should mean practical, perhaps with an aggressive edge.

But.. What is this business about power windows and sports cars?
There are some fine sports cars with PW, no?
 
R

Rosco Benson

New member
I, too, get tired of the term "tactical". I think there is a tendency to try to use inoffensive or obfuscatory euphemisms to avoid spooking the rabbit people. Calling a weapon "defensive" conjures up images of it being used in self-defense...this is unsettling to those who have neither the means or the will to defend themselves. Using the term "combat" as a modifier is probably more upsetting as many timid souls hold that "combat" is exclusively the prerogative of the state. We hold "practical" shooting contests because to call it "gunfighting" would cause the grass-eaters to swoon.

One term that amuses me is the "police rifle" (as in Remington 700 "police" or Ruger "police" carbines). I'm often tempted to remark that I have a "deer rifle" and I have a "varmint rifle", but that I haven't yet thought it necessary to acquire a "police rifle".

The language will continue to be twisted and garbled; one may as well decide to be amused by it rather than annoyed.

Rosco
 
D

DC

Moderator Emeritus
Kodiac...

I agree all the way. Tactical has been crossed with and now means the same as "utility", only it sounds cooler and thus sells more. And don't even get me started on "Custom" :)

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"Quis custodiet ipsos custodes"
 
D

Dennis

Staff Emeritus
Hey, guys, remember Kodiac?
"6' tall, 240 lbs, runs 2 miles in 10:30?"
If he says the Shelby AC Cobra, Corvette, Ferrari, Lamborghini (sp?), etc. are NOT sports cars, I (as a short fat guy who can't run at all) am not arguing.
And if he buys the beer, I'll even agree!
(I'm easy...)
 
4

4V50 Gary

Staff
Besides being a practical marketing term, "Tactical" is synonymous with "tax deductible." C'mon guys, it makes it easier to convince an administrator who would otherwise not approve the purchase.

BTW, in my younger days, we'd muse, "Put a price tag on it and some cop will buy it."
 
B

Bushwhacker

New member
I don't think anyone can have as bad a day as Rob had read his post, hope everything works out for you Rob and by the way want to get rid of some those holsters?
 
E

Ed Brunner

New member
I agree that the word is often misused.Like a lot of other things it doesnt really upset me much.
Did the Shelby AC Cobra have power windows??

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Better days to be,

Ed
 
M

Mike in VA

New member
. . . and second prize - a full body massage with Prepareation H - goes to the grumpy stout guy, for his astute marketing insight! (sorry, couldn't resist the gybe-)

As a practitioner - I have a BS in Marketing (but I repeat myself) - I can only say that if the hype didn't work, they wouldn't do it (& that tells you something about the median level of knowledge/sophistication in the market place). But take heart, you're an experienced/expert (mature) consumer in this segment, you know the 'Difference', and you should find the fluff annoying.

BTW, I agree with you about sports cars, from a pure view they should be the equivalent of a 4 wheeled motorcycle, e.g. Lotus Super 7, but as with guns, practical concerns limit my collection, so some compromise is necessary in the area of creature comfort in principle use. (Would you commute an hour each way in HEAVY suburban rush hour traffic on a sportsbike with clip-ons?)

Oh, well, only 74 days until Spring M2
 
R

Rob Pincus

New member
IMHO, Much like a good gun does not require aftermarket gadgets, a good sportsbike does not require aftermarket clip-ons.

While I used to be a V-8 rear wheel drive junky, I learned the refined sweetness of all wheel drive, 4 wheels steering twin turbo pleasure and will never again naively praise low end torque and a deep rumble as requisite attributes of a great sports car.

(bikes still need to have both)

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-Essayons
 
K

Kurt

New member
Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!

Three cheers for Kodiac!

Returning to this sport 6 years ago after a 10 year hiatus was like waking up in the twighlight zone! We used to talk about fine wood, bluing, actions, accuracy, etc...

Now, the only thing anyone talks about is police and military equipment! "What's better a plastic police pistol or a plastic police pistol?"

"Tactical" (from the Latin "tact" - to touch) -- means ordering, maneuvering, or arranging military forces in the action of battle. Anything "tactical" concerns itself with 'matters at hand' that are brought about by developing circumstances -- like picking up a stick or a rock and hitting your opponent with it. "Tactical" always rides with his brother "strategic" (from the latin "strata", a broad covering) which deals with the science of planning to acheive an end.

So what? Well, it seems to me that if one installs a black plastic handle on a gun to make it more useful before a conflict starts -- that is a strategic activity! A sniper rifle is a strategic weapon NOT a tactical one!

Tactical certainly does not mean utilitarian; but the way it is being used would lead one to think so! Marketers continue to water down our english language and eventually we won't know what we're saying!

Anyway, hurrah for Kodiac, and I'll take a "custom strategic weapon with cyber sights"

Good Shooting

Kurt

[This message has been edited by Kurt (edited 01-06-99).]
 
C

chink

New member
Ok but what about the sports utility vechiles? its just a station wagon thats been raised and some may have 4x4. I live in the Bay area, Sports Ute heaven. the most utility those things see is a trip to tahoe in the snow and maybe a really big pothole on the way to work.
Thoses things are neither sport not utility. What good is a 2 wheel-drive lowered suburban with a big stereo system in it. There no speed there, and you've got less ground clearance, and no cargo space.

When I get out of college, I'm gonna get me a Hummer a true utility vehicle, none of that sport crap. first thing I do it put the inverted V on in, cuz without the Gulf war, those bad boys would never have made the civilian market, next I take it to Fort Hunter LIggett and see if they'll let me off-road it there, then I go hit the rubicon trail. THen I can driving knoing that my car has experience more utility that 90% of all the other sport utes will ever see. ok I'm done venting

garrick
 
G

gunguy

New member
79' Jeep Cherokee 2 door full time 4WD..... a real sport-utility.......

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"Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist."
-Thoreau
 
S

ShadedDude

New member
Tactical Smactical.

It has come to the point where a bullet manifactuer is offering a "tactical" bullet.

Can someone tell me what makes a bullet "tactical"?
Maby the fact that its expendable or something...

I agree with Kodiac, Tactical does have a place, but the word itself is WAY over and miss used.

Remember when Tactical was about rapelling harnesses and combat was dangerous?

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Mouse Assassins inc.
 
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