Fashion Sense at the Shooting Range

By Kellene Bishop

Ladies, let’s face it.  Given that there are very few female firearm instructors, no one has come right out and provided sound “fashion” advice to women for their trips to the range.  Although my husband is a great instructor and incredibly knowledgeable, there are certain things that even he would not think to share with me.  So I had to learn on my own… not fun.  That said, I thought I’d share with you a few fashion tips for the shooting range that will make your trip a bit more safe and comfortable.

Photo c/o deerflydiaries.typepad.com

Shirt—Be sure that you wear a shirt that sufficiently covers your chest.  I particularly avoid any v-necks, or button-up shirts.  I usually am wearing a t-shirt or a sweatshirt when I go shooting.  The reason being is when you’re shooting, those hot little casings don’t always go where they are “supposed to” and some of them make it down a loose shirt and linger in your bra.  Ouch!  Those buggers are hot.  If a hot casing isn’t enough to make you lose your shooting concentration, then you are one tough mama!  If you’re going to be with all of those guys, do you really want them to see you doing the “get this hot casing out of my bra” dance?  So if you’ve got cleavage, cover it up.  (Don’t worry. You’ll still look sexy with a gun in your hand.)  Also, be sure that you don’t wear any “dry clean only” items.   The gases and debris aren’t completely removed in the dry cleaning process, and in some instances are even found to be set permanently in the fibers of your clothes through that process.  So be sure you wear something that can easily be thrown into the wash.

I don’t mind wearing a short sleeve shirt because the casings just bounce off of my arms. But I’m sure to change clothes shortly after shooting.

Make up—Personally I avoid wearing makeup when I go to the shooting range.  I realize that for some of you women that’s nearly against your religion.  So here’s some food for thought.  If you can wear mineral makeup instead of a cream foundation, it’s a lot better for your skin. The gases and debris from shooting linger much easier on a cream foundation that a mineral one.  Mascara, lipstick, and blush are fine, but I wouldn’t wear a base when attracts the gases and such… until some scientist discovers that they’re actually good for your skin.  :)  I also always have on hand some facial cloths to use immediately after shooting.  (Oil of Olay, Ponds, and the like make a great portable version.)  Just thinking about the gas and debris sitting on the outside of my facial pores gives me the creeps.  (I know.  I know.  Whoda thunk I’d be so girly, right?)  

Shoes—Again, those hot casings are not very obedient when I tell them where to fall.  So I never wear shoes that expose my feet.  I always ensure that they are well covered.  Please don’t wear flip flops or sandals when you go to the range.  You’ll make all of the rest of us women look like mindless sissy-girls when you do the “hot casing” dance.  You’ve never seen a man doing that dance, have you?  

Photo c/o news.xinhuanet.com

Hat—I prefer wearing a hat when I go shooting.  This prevents the gases from going into my hair.  It also keeps any glare from the sun or the lights out of my vision, so it makes for more accurate shooting.  If you’re using electronic ear muffs, or simply those that go over your head instead of inserted in your ears, be sure to wear a hat that your ear muffs can easily go on top of.  That’s right.  Leave the Easter Bonnet at home.

Long Fingernails—For those of you who fashionably indulge in those great looking nails, that’s fine.  But you should carry a toothbrush or a nail brush with you for washing your hands afterwards. Use the brush to scrub thoroughly under your nails and around your cuticles.  The gas and debris is toxic and you don’t want it getting into your food or drink.  Not to mention it dries out your hands like a brittle old stick.  So wash them well, and then apply a nice hand cream to restore a softness that any fashionable woman would require.  Otherwise, reasonably long fingernails don’t affect your shooting skills whatsoever.  

Hopefully these fashion tips for the shooting range help you to have a safer, more comfortable time at the range! 

Copyright 2009 Kellene Bishop. All rights reserved. 
You are welcome to repost this information so long as it is credited to Kellene Bishop

What Not To Wear… when learning how to shoot a firearm

What Not To Wear

Who Not to Take

What Not To Say…when learning how to shoot a firearm.

“But I don’t want my husband to teach me how to shoot a gun.”

Yup. I’ve heard that line a LOT in my years of firearm self-defense training.  And it usually also comes with a “men aren’t patient enough.”  While I wholeheartedly disagree with the overall patience complaint from women toward men, I do wholeheartedly agree that learning how to shoot from your husband, father, son, boyfriend, or even a male instructor is not the wisest choice a woman could make. 

Sorry ladies. This is not going to be a male bashing blog.  In fact, I learned the majority of what I know about self-defense exclusively from men – especially, my expert marksman husband and a couple of patient Marine friends of mine. But I have learned what women really need in order to be properly instructed in the competent handling of a firearm and how they need to learn it from my female students. This bit of information will outline some of the points of difference between a woman and a man in learning how to competently use a firearm.

Because firearms are stereotypically such a “manly” thing, men need to stop trying to introduce them to the women as a means of making the female tougher.  Women don’t want to strip themselves of their kind and gentle virtues. That’s part of what makes them women.  One of the primary reasons a woman has any desire to learn how to use a firearm is a result of her fierce instinct to take care of her children and loved ones.  That’s what an instructor needs to address.  As such, women are more apt to learn how to handle themselves with a firearm in order to ensure that they are able to maintain peace and order in their lives. 

Men need to understand that women are physiologically more sensitive to the deep bass sound than men are. This is why you are more likely to have a car banging the bass sound with the windows rolled down accompanied by a male driver rather than a female. When instructed by males, they are seemingly oblivious to this affect.  And if they are unaware of it, it registers to a female as something freakish, wrong, or inept.  As women we’re used to running an entire household, annual budgets, creative menu planning, power social networking, puke, pooh, blood, emotional breakdown intervention, mental manipulation, calendaring, multi-tasking, etc.  We women definitely have the fortitude to be good at whatever we set our minds to.  Regardless, the new sound of a round exploding in the middle of our hands is not something we’re initially oriented to handle.  We women are simply more sensitive to it, and boy does it rock our world—but not in the way it does for the head banger rock hard males.  The initial, uncommon sounds of a firearm going off, even a small caliber .22, often rattles a woman to the core literally.  It is something that women have to get used to. And trying to do so when they are in the midst of the company of a man that they care about, would like to make proud, and consider themselves a partner to is NOT the ideal scenario. Holding a firearm for the first time is tough enough.  Men, I don’t recommend having the special female in your life try to do it around you.  It’s just plain stressful. The woman is usually trying to push through an instinct that has been fostered all of their lives that a firearm is a big, bad, scary thing.  They don’t need the added pressure of not making you happy, pushing your patience, or doing something that’s not technically correct as well.    

While men are occasionally whacked on the head, arms, or elsewhere with a loose casing, they typically think that’s pretty cool—a sign of competence and “really shooting.”  I doubt they would think this way however, if the hot casing were to make it down a man’s pants and lodge itself in the family jewels.  Unfortunately women rarely get the advice to refrain from wearing low cut, scoop necked or open necked tops when a man takes them shooting so as not to get an unpleasant and uninvited hot visitor in their bra. Only another woman would think to caution them against inappropriate clothing.  Oh, and the make-up and jewelry.  You may want to refrain from wearing them when you go shooting as well.  The gun powder that you get on your face and hands is definitely not something the jewelers or department store manufacturers considered when they make their beauty and warranty claims.

Women don’t need to restrict themselves to a particular caliber either. While there is a great deal of viable evidence that a particular caliber has more stopping power than another, the stopping power is useless if you can’t handle the firearm.  Just work up to a caliber and grip that feels comfortable to you.  Gun ranges usually have guns to rent and test out so that you don’t make an expensive purchasing error.  Use such conveniences for all it’s worth until you’re completely comfortable with a particular grip, caliber, slide, trigger pull, and action. If you are only comfortable with a .22 caliber, it’s sure better than nothing.  A lot better.  Most would be criminals wouldn’t know one caliber from another anyway.  All they see is that you have a gun, or that you’re using a gun.  Period.

Women do not need to sacrifice or hide their femininity and fashion sense in order to appreciate the protection and peace of mind that learning how to use a firearm can give them. No, women do not need to get rid of their long nails for shooting. (Just scrub them really well afterwards to get the gun powder and gases removed.)   Nor do they need to begin wearing fatigues, carry ugly purses, wear hideous concealed carry vests, don macho belts, or look like they gained 50 pounds on their hips just so that they can carry a firearm with them for protection.  Learning the ropes on these kinds of issues merely comes with getting your information from another woman usually…as opposed to Bubba who wears one gun in his oversized belt buckle, one in his military boot, one in his fanny pack, and one under his hat. 

By the way, it’s a firearm—not a weapon.  A 5 inch stiletto heel, hairspray, or a credit card is a weapon. Let’s not get them confused. 

Here’s to learning…

Kellene

Women of Caliber exclusively trains women, by women, the skills of physical and firearm self-defense, including the UT Concealed Firearm Permit.  For more information go to www.womenofcaliber.com

 

Copyright 2009 Kellene Bishop. All rights reserved.

You are welcome to repost this information so long as it is credited to Kellene Bishop.