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“The defense of anything personal, such as gear, is all about ego. Many find it difficult to admit their mistake and admit their deficit of knowledge”

“The defense of anything personal, such as gear, is all about ego. Many find it difficult to admit their mistake and admit their deficit of knowledge”

Thomas, MVT Forum Member & Alumni.

Sisyphus-MVT

Sisyphus is the greek guy with the rock, who had to push it to the top of the mountain every day, to have it roll back down, repeat every day.

As we here at MVT struggle every day with people who simply will not heed advice over appropriate and reliable gear, the insistance on using ‘hobby rifles’ that will simply stop working and waste everyones time at class. A Sisyphean task.

Good training, good weapons, good gear. Buy once, cry once. What is so hard about that?

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‘Banning Chinese Made Web Gear.‘

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5 responses to ““The defense of anything personal, such as gear, is all about ego. Many find it difficult to admit their mistake and admit their deficit of knowledge””

  1. You don’t know what you don’t know.

    I think there are many cases where a significant segment of people simply do not know what “quality” means. I was once one of those people. Beyond that, one must buy “quality” but not overbuy.

    Hand and power tools are a great example. A world class cabinet/furniture maker should own and use the best tools available, whereas the home wrecker/shade tree do-it-yourselfer would be better off with lesser quality tools. But that does not mean they should buy Harbor Freight tools either. Yet Harbor Freight does a booming business because people do not know what they do not know and buy that junk anyway.

    The same thing can be said about furniture. I do not know how many crummy couches I have bought since my first one nearly 3 decades ago. It wasn’t until I saw the inner construction differences and outer material types and construction differences that I realized that a couch that cost twice what Rooms-To-Go charges for a fancy looking Chicom piece and a custom leather piece from a US manufacturer that the 30-40 year lifespan vs. 5-10 year life span was actually a big money savings.

    So it is the same with battle rattle. People simply do not know that a $150 red dot optic will not take the same abuse as a $600 US made version. But, but, but….I can buy 4 cheap red dots and just replace them as they go bad. Sure you can. But in the field, under real circumstances, do you really think you will be changing out your optic, even if you miraculously were carrying a spare in your kit (which unto itself would be saying a lot about your trust in your gear choices.) But there is also no need to drop a $4000 Night Force scope on a 16″ AR battle rifle when an $800-1200 ACOG will do.

    It is also difficult to convince those who don’t know what they don’t know, when they believe the reviews of inferior stuff. Most reviewers don’t know anything either. Most reviewer’s depth of experience is tiny, and people still base their decisions on this false data.

    Now, before I purchase new tools for my shop I ask a pro what they recommend. Once I get over the initial sticker shock, I start looking on the used market. Sometimes I get lucky. If not, I start saving and buy ONCE. I do the same thing with tactical gear, and nearly everything else for that matter.

    The one thing that I will add that I do not see mentioned much is the ability to reconfigure your gear for different missions. After a while, the gear starts to pile up, most of it with little use. If you can buy one item that can be reconfigured for something else (the MVT Versa Rig comes to mind, or the Faxon ARAK-21) it can make life easier and probably save more money in the long run.

    Whatever you do, stick to quality as it pertains to your intended purpose. You are not a Navy Seal, so there is no need for a KAC SR-25, or a rebreather, or a GPNVG, just good quality battle tested clothing, gear, and arms that have the least likely chance of failing in the field when you need them most. If you don’t know, ask someone who does.

  2. Reminds my early days of motorcycle riding, getting the right gear. Looking at the helmet selection, some exorbitant or so it seemed at the time, and many cheaper, i.e. only double digit price. Comment from the sales clerk, got a $10 head, get a $10 helmet. Same rules apply here as well, its just your life after all.

    Max, you are right about the HSGI Battle Belt, I handled one yesterday while having sights replaced on my ccw piece, it will replace the condor belt. Much better quality throughout.

  3. Assuming you’re at the top or completely at a deficit for fault puts ones mind in a position where there’s no where else to go but back into it own realm for a cycle of incompetence and certain failure.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect

    Sadly this infects both the professional and novice/ Nobles and peasants alike. Keeping an open mind will take a person farther then an ego ever will.

    Survival is measured with math, not emotions or egos. Putting the math in ones favor at every level, no matter how minute, with good kit, good training and a plan will be what wins battles.

    Bergmann