Yet another grey man failure

[Magus]

This is NOT how to grey man UNLESS you're at Walmart! then its camouflage.

 

[hashbrown]

Shaved head, blue eyes, big white beard, I look like the white devil himself. I figure I'd be the first to be shot in the face! If you can't shadow might as well look like you just escaped death row.

 

[Dani]

I don't pay attention to customers for the most part unless they know me and get my attention while I am out on the floor or people who approach, than ask questions. Yesterday, I was told by a co-worker that she noticed a customer taking a second glance while walking by when I was out straightening. . . You just can not always be the greyman in the room as much as you would like to be.

 

[LadyLocust]

@Biggkidd Most of me says stay true to you. If you're comfortable, go with it. If it makes them uncomfortable, let them deal with it. I'm a runt in jeans, t-shirt & flannel in a polyester & high-heel town. I could give a rats hooey. They are not folks I want to "blend in" with. On the other hand there are things that used to be common for us. In HS most of us had gun racks with guns in them - yep even at school. Out on the ranch, we left the keys on the visor in the rigs, all unlocked, in case someone had a flat and needed to borrow a rig (woulda been a long walk). Always used to leave our doors unlocked in case a neighbor needed something. None of those things happen now. Between drugs and new & improved idiocy, it's not wise. So I guess that's the long version of I don't have an answer but feel for ya.

 

[Magus]

Shaved head, blue eyes, big white beard, I look like the white devil himself. I figure I'd be the first to be shot in the face! If you can't shadow might as well look like you just escaped death row.

You mean like this?

 

[billyjack]

Open carry is common here as are beards and long hair. I live in a county that's 432 sq mi with less than 13,000 people. Most of the county is timber land with a few farms along the larger roads.

My county is more than twice that large but with far fewer people. Open carry is rather uncommon -- I've rarely seen anyone do it. There is one guy who sometimes does it and he can be something of a drama queen.

 

[billyjack]

@Biggkidd Most of me says stay true to you. If you're comfortable, go with it. If it makes them uncomfortable, let them deal with it. I'm a runt in jeans, t-shirt & flannel in a polyester & high-heel town. I could give a rats hooey. They are not folks I want to "blend in" with. On the other hand there are things that used to be common for us. In HS most of us had gun racks with guns in them - yep even at school. Out on the ranch, we left the keys on the visor in the rigs, all unlocked, in case someone had a flat and needed to borrow a rig (woulda been a long walk). Always used to leave our doors unlocked in case a neighbor needed something. None of those things happen now. Between drugs and new & improved idiocy, it's not wise. So I guess that's the long version of I don't have an answer but feel for ya.

When I was in high school, you could assume that just about any high school boy's car or pickup had a handgun, rifle, or a shotgun. Once in FFA, we had a bit of a contest raising money and the winner got a .22 revolver as a prize.

On the farm, we don't take the keys out of the vehicles at all. In town, I often set the key in the cup holder when parked. In the winter when it is cold, it is common to leave the car running when you go into a store.

At my office, there are a front door, side door, and back door into the building. The back door is rarely locked and I can't remember when the side door was last locked. As for my house, I suppose I could lock the doors when I leave, but since I don't have a key, I wouldn't be able to get back in.

 

[The Lazy L]

I will never understand "open carry". To me, you are just advertising to the bad guy who they should take out first.

Sometimes there are situations you need to advertise that it's better for all if you are left alone.

John Wayne in "Big Jake". They are riding into town with a chest full of a million dollars strapped on a mule. They got their rifles and shotguns on display for all the town folks to see. JW's son asked if they weren't drawing attention to themselves by "Open carry". JW answered that word of what the mule was carrying had spread and by showing their firearms they are telling everyone that if anyone tried for the money it was going to cost them dearly for trying.

 

[Biggkidd]

Sometimes there are situations you need to advertise that it's better for all if you are left alone.

John Wayne in "Big Jake". They are riding into town with a chest full of a million dollars strapped on a mule. They got their rifles and shotguns on display for all the town folks to see. JW's son asked if they weren't drawing attention to themselves by "Open carry". JW answered that word of what the mule was carrying had spread and by showing their firearms they are telling everyone that if anyone tried for the money it was going to cost them dearly for trying.

Yep this Sometimes there are situations you need to advertise that it's better for all if you are left alone. Last year at night I had a guy jump off the top of an Ice freezer outside a gas station and come running up behind me. When I heard someone approaching at a run from behind I flipped my overshirt out of the way and turned as I drew. As I was turning he slid to a stop and appeared to have seen a ghost. I asked what he was doing and he replied the was fixin to take my money and stuff till he seen that gat! His words not mine.
BTW he had a brick in hand.

But most of us who carry in this area carry primarily carry to run off or dispatch predators.

 

[Haertig]

Sometimes there are situations you need to advertise that it's better for all if you are left alone.

This is true. But it is not the "gray man" concept that this thread started about. The gray man concept is not to advertise or be noticed ... at all. The "visual deterrence" concept is to show what you got and be noticed, in hopes of scaring others away. You can't implement both concepts at the same time.

 

[Magus]

Add a black trench coat and flat brim cowboy hat to your wardrobe, you either look like a psycho street preacher or a hit man, in either case, people hug the wall when you walk through!

 

[Biggkidd]

No reason one can't stay grey carrying in a county full of people who do the same!

I likely had my outback hat on as I wear it most in cool weather and I do have the matching duster to go with it! You could hide a M14 under that. lmao

 

[Magus]

I hid an AK under mine a couple of times.

 

[txcatlady]

The only open carry in this area outside LEO, are outsiders or newbies. Most of us concealed carry don’t want to be noticed. I dress commonly for work, home or church. No makeup, jewelry or hairstyle that draws eye. I want to be gray man/ woman that is totally unnoticed or able to be seen as a threat. I am happy that way. Judge in building had no clue I carried and had carried in building for 2 years. I asked him why he thought I only stood in door instead of coming in his office to talk.

 

[SoJer]

You mean like this?

...just need to add the Giant blood-stained Halberd and/or Mace, then yer 100% GTG..

jd

 

[Mountain trapper]

A lot of people open carry around here, big deal. Its their business to carry however they see fit. If someone has a problem with it, then eff them. A side arm is just a tool, get over it. There's virtually zero crime around here.

 

[Magus]

You mean this? covered.

 

[Spikedriver]

It's hard to be the Grey man in a town of 2000 people. Few here know my name, but they know I'm the guy who's never home because i travel so much for work. When introducing myself, I've actually had people say, Oh, you're the guy who's gone all the time.

But I don't stand out in a crowd here. Country boys who carry concealed are a dime a dozen here. And I suspect around half the population here has more guns in their home than I do. I'm just another guy here.

That said, I don't generally do anything to draw attention. I don't host parties, I don't play my music loud, I don't drink at the bar, I don't talk about what I have at home with anyone outside of a small circle of like minded people. I live as quiet as I can.

 

[Peanut]

OPSEC and greyman are two entirely different things. I can practice opsec in the community I live in to any degree I wish. But be a greyman at my church, the bowling alley, my favorite restaurant? No! That's not what Greyman is about.

Greyman is... (as taught to me is part of SERE training. Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape). You are in a place that's predominately hostile to you. Greyman techniques allow one to pass through such an area without drawing attention to yourself. No one notices you, period.

It's not sitting in a public place surrounded by people, some of whom might have known you for years. Others you may not know personally but know of you, by reputation. Would sitting in such a place help you pass through an area unnoticed? Nope, I wouldn't go anywhere near such a public gathering unless it was absolutely necessary. Then I'd be there only long enough to walk through the room, unnoticed.

This wasn't a greyman failure, a public auction is a failure to use greyman techniques completely. And at an auction of all places!!! Where everyone gets eyeballed by everyone else. You'd have a better chance of going unnoticed at church, wearing Daisy Dukes, 6-inch heels, a greasy white T-shirt while smoking a cigar! (a greyman hint, if you were trying to sneak out of SanFrancisco that outfit just might work! No one would give you a second look)