Ah yes. What I termed the neon gray man several years back.

A walking contradiction, they claim they're "blending in", but are actually standing out, which subconsciously was their intent all along. Furthering the contradiction by simultaneously being obsessed with concealed firearms, while also wanting to make it obvious to everyone that they're uber-tacticool and therefore are carrying a gun.

This is just a more modern evolution/offshoot of the "GWOT contractor" look that all these kinda guys were rocking in the mid/late 2000s. A little less coyote tan and desert boots and a little more gray/OD and hiking boots, but the same kinda ballcaps, sunglasses, beards, cargo pants, untucked shirts, and backpacks/sling bags.

(Though the hyper gray men in the video are seriously lacking in patches... I mean, not one american flag, sheepdog, or 3% velcroed to their hat or stuck on the backpack?!)

The YT comments are gold.

Stuff like:

"Hyper Gray Man Syndrome has been theorized by some researchers to be a developmental disorder caused by extreme cognitive dissonance. What typically happens is that a juvenile male comes across Sun Tzu's direction to appear weak when you are strong and appear strong when you are weak, and this creates a contradiction. The ego understands the advantages of misrepresenting capability but can't allow for a presentation of weakness, so the dysfunctional compromise manifests as a Hyper Gray Man."

and

"So, SHOT Show is really just a Grey Pride event?"

Crap. I don't do Paypal anymore and thats all they take for donations. They're doing good work.

I swear it seems that aside of hippies, this valley attracts a ton of these douche canoes. The ballcap, beard and sunglasses… lol. The “sheepdog” patches and bumper/window stickers are out of control around here. So are the ridiculous number of AR15 stickers too. Not picking on my southern neighbors, but a strong majority of the AR stickers are accompanied by a red, white, and green flag. Flexing that bravado!

G.R.I.N.D.R.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
The YT comments are gold.
and

"So, SHOT Show is really just a Grey Pride event?"

well,


went to shot 2 yrs ago, and can't really fault the logic

quote:

Originally posted by Beancooker:
I swear it seems that aside of hippies, this valley attracts a ton of these douche canoes. The ballcap, beard and sunglasses… lol. The “sheepdog” patches and bumper/window stickers are out of control around here. So are the ridiculous number of AR15 stickers too. Not picking on my southern neighbors, but a strong majority of the AR stickers are accompanied by a red, white, and green flag. Flexing that bravado!

speaking as someone that works the gun show circuit, I can't tell you the number of this grey folks I see,

sorta a drift, but I was chatting with the State cop that runs security at the local (to me, kinda my home show) and during the conversation I asked how many off duty/ undercover guys he and the ATF had at the show,

surprisingly, no ATF he knew off, and he said 5 or 6,

I smiled and said I think I have seen 4 of them,

and honestly, one younger guy, who was local PD, looked like the stereotypical fed boi meme,
as in khaki pants, tight plaid short sleeve shirt, and gay ,,

There is one time dressing like the ‘neon grey man’ may be a thing. That would be when the average bloke can’t carry a gun but dresses like the type.

I don’t necessarily mean all the way to the NRA had and gun labeled shirt, but maybe halfway there.

"magic paracord"