Well... I believe in the Go Big or Go Home theory (ask the guy me and my boy pissed off at the gym today when two fat kids warm up with his work-set) so I'm gonna expand on that a little bit...
And I'm down South so it rains... a lot. It's humid... very humid, very often. And it's hotter than hell sometimes come summer.
In short... The weather can always be counted on to suck.... Can you be counted on to deliver the goods when the weather's description contains a phrase about a lady of the night's price?
Let's start with the simple...
Hot.
Let's look at attire. First... Shorts are a no-go for me anytime because I prefer my long britches... A lot of that comes from riding dirtbikes, go-karts, four-wheelers, and pretty much anything else with a motor through the swamps and sticks out here as a kid... and shorts equal a wicked muffler-burn (BTDT) and/or getting all cut up on briars. Next, they're not very good on the range... Brass burns and all that. What about force-on-force? Again, they offer no protection and the cuff offers a good handhold for grappling... and leglocks aren't allowed at the white belt, and sometimes the blue belt, level of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu tournaments for a reason... because they REALLY work well! So we see, those probably ain't a good idea for training... What if you carry a knife or gun in your boot or on your ankle (like I and many many others do)??? Shorts don't hide that and totally eliminate the need to clear the garment from an ankle draw... That said... Wearing them to train when you DON'T wear them on the street is a very bad idea. I love my grappling shorts... matter of fact, my PT shorts are all either Sprawl Fusion or RevGear grappling shorts... and there are no better ones available (that I've worn at least). But they aren't the only thing I train in... I like my 5.11 TacLite pro pants. Yes... I wear them on the street. Throw a nice button down shirt on with a tail long enough to cover that gay "holster stabilization strap" up and no one knows the better. I roll in them occasionally too... Why? I wear black ones when I'm bouncing and khaki ones when I'm not wearing jeans or Carhartt dungarees. Train how you fight. One more thing... DO NOT EVER fall into the trap of not running your concealment garment! While the pockets are useful, I don't like the CCW vests (5.11 or otherwise) for everyday wear... They look dumb to me. My concealment garment is always a short sleeve button-down, either open with an additional bigger undershirt or closed front, or a polo type shirt (Propper ICE is VERY hard to beat!). Also, don't train in heat gear like UnderArmor (base-layer is fine) if you don't wear it on the road... Making yourself cooler kinda nullifies the use of training in the heat if it's hot in your AOR doesn't it?
Wet stuff falling.
Get used to training in your rain coat. Number one, cut them drawstrings off the bottom! They can tangle your weapon up on the draw or during holstering and cause an ND ("negligent" because it could have EASILY been prevented with a pair of scissors and 30 seconds). Understand, a rain coat (ONLY rain) isn't insulated and is very thin so this isn't the attire you'd want if you wear a shoulder rig! This is a pretty simple one... Just make sure the garment's good to go (clip any and all strings at waist-level) and run it how you wear it.
Humid as hell.
Same applies for hot weather. No sweat bands (unless you wear them) and nothing to make it more tolerable.
Cold as all get out.
Use your regular coat. That Arc'teryx LEAF kit is awesome but if you usually wear a Carhartt Arctic coat you might want to know how that coat behaves when it comes to clearing the holster and ancillary equipment. Use your regular rig. If you usually carry inside-the-waistband and go to an outside-the-waistband rig to make it easier on the range... You're cheating yourself...
And y'all might want to do some of this before the weather causes you to need those garments... Just saying. I honestly wish I'd have played more with my cold-weather gear and carry setups before this damn snow started!
Folks, I'm not saying you need to intentionally NOT protect yourself from the elements... I'm just saying that protect yourself as needed but keep it real... Keep the hardware as close as possible (safely and within reason) and remember... You may need to do this stuff when milliseconds separate the winner from the first loser. And when the range becomes multi-way and multi-dimensional... and it's 105 with 90% humidity and you're in jeans and normal clothes... or it's 22 and snowing... or a driving dowpour... You might wish you didn't make yourself a bit more comfortable last time you rolled or that you waited for it to be sunny and 75 again before hitting the range...
Stay Safe
Stay Frosty
1*
-Kenny Smith
President, TFTG