Face Armor

Every once and a while a fad will hit the shooting community, the one I am talking about today has many names such as, tactical beard, face armor, combat beard, as well as a few other new names popping up every day. The ancient Greeks viewed beards as a sign of virility; Spartans even punished cowards by shaving off portions of their beard. Have you ever seen a picture of clean shaven Viking? I didn’t think so.

While some would argue that the origins of the modern tactical beard can be traced back to a Chris Costa, I believe it was a picture of a Green Beret, call sign “Cowboy” operating in Afghanistan in 2002. Many Special Forces operators would grow beards until their ban in 2010 to help build the trust of local elders in Afghanistan, in the civilian world the only tactical advantage that a beard offers is for dropping panties according to Matt Devito.

The disadvantage to those wearing a full set of face armor is that it may interfere with equipment such as gas masks, respirators as well as other medical equipment hence the military’s policy against facial hair. This is important to remember for those people that have gas masks as part of their preps. They will ultimately not be able to get a good seal on the mask.

Everyone wants the latest and greatest gear that SF is running. All you have to do is visit any forum or social media page and watch the pissing matches commence over gear. There is always the one guy that states “It’s what the SEALs use.” Face armor is just one thing closer to getting them to feel like they are real life SEALs. Just add thumb over bore shooting technique, rock tape, and they will be shooting better in no time.  

Who do you think has the best tactical beard?