KSTG VS "iT'S a GAME, FOLKS!"

Gamer, Timmy, Neither or Both? – Gun Nuts Media:

When, oh when, do you wear the IDPA vest out in public? Who’s the gamer????

Okay, I admit it.  This article is comparing IDPA vs USPSA (IPSC), and thanks a whole lot to Gun Nuts for opening the subject for discussion.  Because IDPA is like the Spinach Rules of Pistol Competition; I've never tried it, but it smells yucky, so I've decided I don't like it and probably never WILL try it.

Back in a previous millenia, when IDPA first entered the competitive shooting scene, I thought:
"Wow!  Another pistol shooting venue!  What a gas .. I can DO this!!!"

Then I got a link to the rules, and I saw restrictions which, frankly, turned me off.
(International Defensive Pistol Association rules here)

"Failure To Do Right" was the first thing that attracted my attention.  WTF does that mean?
I don't know yet, but apparently if you 'game' a stage, and engage a stage in a manner which doesn't violate the published stage procedures but still provides you a significant competitive advantage over other competitors who didn't perceive the flaw in the stage design ... you might just be a Gamer.

And that's A Bad Thing.



Then you gotta empty the magazine before you can reload; and tactical reloads (not sure even now what that means, but apparently you can't just drop a magazine an expended magazine?  I don't know);  and a bunch of other stuff that I can't remember.  Okay, I may be wrong about this.   We're still operating under the Spinach Rules.

This Gun Nuts Media article performs a public service by pointing out that I'm not the only stupid shooter who has never understood the reasons for some of the more arcane rules of IDPA competition.

KSTG:
The acronym stands for "Kinda-Sorta Tactical Game".

(Read the comments, you'll find a KSTG definition from people who probably know more about IDPA than I do; they could hardly know less!)

CLOTHING:  IPSC rules ask you to not be totally, like, GROSS in your T-shirt mottos. (Local values seem to apply).

IDPA: I don't know.  Sounds like the rules are emphasizing concealed carry, which is fine with me, but you need a vest .. is this like a Photographer's Vest?   (I'd really like a better explanation here.)   In a cursory search, I haven't found rules which restrict clothing other than carry gear, so this sub-set may only be significant in that it emphasizes wearing clothing which conveniently covers IDPA-legal carry profiles.  And yes, as the article suggests ... wearing a photographer's vest pretty much prints a CHL person as someone who is trying to conceal a handgun.

CLASSIFIER STAGES:
There are only a very limited (3?) number of "Classifier Stages" in IDPA?

IDPA Classifier Stage #1

IDPA Classifier Stage #2

IDPA Classifier Stage #3

Well, the IDPA Rule Book doesn't lend itself easily to referencing specific rules (or rules sets) as hyperlinks, so it's difficult to reference issues without quoting large quantities of text.  So I won't do that.

But I'm still curious about why people want to shoot IDPA matches, when it's seems biased against "free style" stage engagement, and the "classifiers" are so limited that there seems to be only one way to engage them ... but the entire concept was (presumably) to address "defensive" situations.

Surely there are more than three "defensive" situations?

Sorry.  I just don't get it.