I’ve been seeing this brought up more and more in comments so figured why not give it it’s own thread.
What do you do to stay “grey”
Products that help instead of a bunch of molle webbing
And just a general conversation about it that maybe people haven’t heard of the Grey Man strategy.
Anything that let’s you blend in and become a hole in the air. You don’t want to be a fly on the wall, you want to be the wall. That being said, I like athletic bags, something that looks like a gym bag, not like I’ve been dropped in Fallujah. I carry my spare mags in my back pocket and wallet in left front, what could print under a shirt looks like a wallet. I like a little larger clothing, something that blends to what I’m doing. If I’m at the store, it’s jeans, cargo shorts and a size up t-shirt. I don’t like bright colors or dark colors. Of course this depends on the season, football time around here and any college or NFL apparel is rampant. So you better be wearing something similar. No white or black cars, we break that rule, looks like law enforcement. Watch people, see who stands out. Then look at the ones you didn’t notice, take notes. Don’t be overly observant, you can see what’s behind you by looking at reflections in storefront windows and other makeshift mirrors. Be comfortable in crowds, they’re your camouflage. I’ve rambled some, and I have to go pick up my wife. Her black car is in the body shop. LOL One good quote to leave with for now, and to make you think :
“Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt.”
Sun Tzu, The Art of War
Larger shirts. T-shirt’s with an unbuttoned shirt over them. Wolverine work boots. Carpenter jeans. Basic style sunglasses. I look like the blue collar guy I am.
Love that quote.
Been meaning to read that book
ok, so I guess the hot pink and crimson stripe in my hair isn’t really helping me on this one… 
for me it’s the old truck. not so beat up that I look like a meth-head, but just a working farm truck. Fits right in where I live, and pretty well when I’m on the road for work. Some places I keep it washed, some places I leave the dirt right where it is.
It’s pretty good, you can find it cheap pretty much everywhere.
I think it’s easier to state what someone should NOT do if they are looking to blend in. I mean, it’s so obvious when you see the tacticool guy in his 5.11 Khakis, webbed belt, sporting camo hiking boots, 2nd Amendment Tshirt, and trucker hat with the tactical “patch”. He might as well be screaming I’M CARRYING Y’ALL WANNA SEE MY GUN!!! I’m all about being comfortable. Jeans or Duluth work pants, a t-shirt or polo… I just look like your average normal blue collar guy. Nothing sticks out except maybe my long beard, and my belly LOL… All that “tactical” stuff is great for the range when you want to play GI Joe, or if you’re out hunting. But it’s unnecessary and silly on an everyday basis. “Grey” is just that… It’s inconspicuous. You look like everyone else. The best way to determine if you’re “grey” is to look in the mirror. If you can honestly look at what you’re wearing and come to the opinion that you won’t attract undue attention, you’re good to go…
Meaning? The only silver I was exposed to was in the buckle that held my jeans up.
The crimson stripe definitely helps. It screams counter culture, not gun owner.
I’m usually in my work uniform so I just look like a truck driver in a uniform shirt with the company logo on it and my blue jeans with steel toe boots.
You couldn’t pick me out of a crowd of one. Like 45IPAC, untucked tshirt, larger unbuttoned untucked cover shirt. Jeans or shorts. White sneakers. Ballcap, sometimes on backwards.
There is a point where my redneck blood starts to shine through my yankee heritage: during the summer, its a straw hat, and the unbuttoned cover shirt may not have sleeves. Then its Go Dawgs time in western massachusetts. But I don’t look scary, just very out of place.
I always see posts of don’t wear this or don’t wear that, stay away from these. Remember, it’s far more important to look like everyone else than it is to avoid certain types or colors of clothing. In Northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula, that means jeans or cargo pants, camo ANYTHING, ball cap, boots or flip flops. You can even put a knife on your belt if you want.
The point is to blend in with the people, so dress like the people in the area you are in.
That’s true in Missouri too… except its muck boots instead of flip flops.
Case in point, I’m in St Louis with my wife for a dr appointment today. Tennis shoes, grey cargo shorts, grey Carhartt T, unbuttoned blue checkered “fisherman” shirt. My whole ensemble came from Rural King, and Hood’s Guns and More, except the tennis shoes.
I guess the biggest thing is making yourself boring, not intimidating. If you’re around a bunch of people wearing grunt style or whatever and someone compliments your shirt, you failed.
My wife and I went to the mall yesterday and I was blended in wearing my cowboy boots, jeans, and a pink/ peach color dress shirt and no one had a clue I was carrying. I seen a guy wearing a 2A shirt and made a conversation with him and he said he was carrying and I stated by not blending in and wearing what he had on could potentially make him a target and the mall we was in basically had a “no weapons” policy. We stood there talking for about an hour till our wives made us leave, but I recommended him check out USCCA and hopefully he will join as he didn’t have much knowledge about CCW and how to be more aware of his surrounding, blending in, how to keep from printing, just a few of the basics.
Yep, Missouri Ozarks, paint faded pickup truck with air evac lifeteam member sticker in window , jeans/bibs, t-shirt, boots of some kind, farm service camo ballcap, long white beard optional (but I have one).
Y’all aren’t the only ones talking gray man…
The Gray Man is a concept you should seriously consider for many reasons, some of which you’ll read in an upcoming issue of Concealed Carry Magazine.
It’s briefly mentioned in this blog article:
https://www.usconcealedcarry.com/blog/which-concealed-carry-position-should-i-use/
You sound like me. Southern Il. Rusty Z71, Camo cargo shorts, Carhartt shirt, and tennis shoes. For church, jeans, button up Carhartt, and either Justin’s black cowboy boots, or Wolverines.