Purpose of the tactical_clothes tag?

What are "tactical_clothes"?
It's a very vague term by itself. With a blank wiki, it has almost no definition at all.

How does it differ from already established tags that it frequently appears with? Tags such as load_bearing_vest, military_uniform, operator etc. mindful that the wiki page for operator includes "wearing tactical equipment". What does it refer to exactly?

Does it just refer to straps, pouches and other similar accoutrements? As in post #2488576 and post #2453803 (unless that's a tactical bikini).

If it differs, could we come up with a more descriptive name for it? If it refers to just straps/pouches perhaps a generic webbing tag could be used instead.

Thanks for any input.

petiatil said:

Does it just refer to straps, pouches and other similar accoutrements? As in post #2488576 and post #2453803 (unless that's a tactical bikini).

Maybe those are better suited for the utility_belt tag?

I do say that tag works when certain accessories/clothing use by the military are present.

Hey, I had limited knowledge about this stuffs so I know barely anything.

petiatil said:

If it differs, could we come up with a more descriptive name for it? If it refers to just straps/pouches perhaps a generic webbing tag could be used instead.

This would just be replacing one ambiguous tag with another. It would make more sense to tag the different accessories individually.

T34/38 said:

I do say that tag works when certain accessories/clothing use by the military are present.

The problem is, the tag is so vague that images tagged with it could have any number of different things -- combat uniforms, holsters, utility belts, miscellaneous camouflage with extra pockets, etc. A tag that only gives you a rough idea of what you'll find in your search results is less than ideal.

I've used it as it appears to be a shorthand for a combination of load bearing vest, black clothing that isn't distinctively a military uniform (if police can wear it and not look like army personnel, it's not military), and boots and other "operator" gear.

I dislike the operator tag as I think "telephone operator" when I hear that, and it's more popular around the armchair warrior wannabes than people who actually are those AFAIK. SWAT/tactical response units and airsoft players wear the same combination of gear and general clothing type (overalls/tight black or blue clothes, helmet, chest armor often, load bearing vest and belt, boots).

Can we get a better term? Certainly. What should it be, though?

Jarlath said:

I dislike the operator tag as I think "telephone operator" when I hear that, and it's more popular around the armchair warrior wannabes than people who actually are those AFAIK.

I knew a couple of guys, and they and the units that support them do use that term. However, for the purposes of this image board, operator is way too ambiguous. I'm guessing that if I asked the population what operator meant, at least 95% would reply back with telephone operator and have no clue whatsoever its connection with tactical units.

I'd be more in favor of using more specific tags instead of tactical clothes, so we should come up with a really good listing of tags to use that are specific enough, but not TOO specific.

BrokenEagle98 said:

I knew a couple of guys, and they and the units that support them do use that term. However, for the purposes of this image board, operator is way too ambiguous. I'm guessing that if I asked the population what operator meant, at least 95% would reply back with telephone operator and have no clue whatsoever its connection with tactical units.

I'd be more in favor of using more specific tags instead of tactical clothes, so we should come up with a really good listing of tags to use that are specific enough, but not TOO specific.

Maybe paramilitary uniform? That fits the "not standard army/line troops" thing, and covers SWAT abs other rapid reaction forces who do hope out looking like that.

Jarlath said:

Maybe paramilitary uniform? That fits the "not standard army/line troops" thing, and covers SWAT abs other rapid reaction forces who do hope out looking like that.

No. Something "tactical" need not be paramilitary.
The "molle" tag could be created, which refers to s type of load bearing weave which appears on many sorts of clothing. This would however not cover all "tactical" clothing.

"Tactical" clothing means clothing that was normal, but "tactical-ified" to look cool and militaristic. I see a lot of Japanese artists do this. They'll add molle weave/camouflage/Kevlar inserts to a school uniform, for example.

It also refers to clothing that is not meant to look "tactical"/militaristic but is; most commonly this means polo shirts, khakis, soft and hard shell jackets ext that have been modified to pass as normal but contain things like built in holsters, ballistic plate inserts, whatever.

It is also a placeholder term for things that are clearly military equipment, or something similar to such, but are too specific to require an independent tag, or unidentifiable because the artist has combined something with another to create a generic equivalent; IE an artist who's not military aqainted combining Alice gear with smersh.

BrokenEagle98 said:

I knew a couple of guys, and they and the units that support them do use that term. However, for the purposes of this image board, operator is way too ambiguous. I'm guessing that if I asked the population what operator meant, at least 95% would reply back with telephone operator and have no clue whatsoever its connection with tactical units.

I'd be more in favor of using more specific tags instead of tactical clothes, so we should come up with a really good listing of tags to use that are specific enough, but not TOO specific.

Just change the tag to military_operator.