Hello everyone.
After many, many years, I've just started to watch MacGyver again. What I keep wondering is: just how practical is his choice of clothes and shoes for every day life. Or let's narrow it down: how good is it for your normal vacation trip?
First of all, I always wish that I could pack as light as the people on TV. In "Hellfire", Mac arrives at his friend's oil camp with nothing but a small holdall.
In the first season (as far as I have seen it), his preferred colour for trousers is khaki. And once he gets going, the clothes look dirty pretty soon. But okay, he's on a mission, not on vacation.
But if you want to imitate his style, is it really such a great idea?
Even if you don't have to run from the bad guys, sitting down on a dirty bench might leave some ugly stains, or you might meet a kid with an ice-cream cone that doesn't pay attention to you. So on vacation, for the likes of us, a second pair of trousers is mandatory. In the evening, the dirty pair can be washed by hand at the hotel and hung out to dry. The same might apply to the shirts. Maybe you really only need to take two. But I wonder: did Mac iron his clothes?
There is no problem with a leather jacket. That can take quite a beating and it would still look great, maybe even better.
The boots might be a problem: we see MacGyver wading through water in his suede Iron Rangers quite a bit. He might really be wearing Red Wings, although the new models have a captoe and Mac's didn't. If anyone here has those Iron Rangers, I'd be happy to see some pictures of them after you've put them through an outdoor trip or two. Even if you don't cross rivers in them, a heavy shower might drench you to the bones. You might also end up ankle-deep in the mud of some forest path. Granted, Mac is wearing his boots in warm climates, but in the temperate zone, drying them over night might prove a little bit complicated, even in summer. The better choice in this case might be an Iron Ranger that is not made out of suede, but leather that can be oiled or waxed. These might really be waterproof and you would not need a second pair of shoes to take along on the trip.

What do you guys think? How did Mac do it?

First of all Mac's man. We have diffirent ways of packing than women. I think whatever he takes with him is what he needs the most. A couple of T-shirts, another pair of pants, shorts, socks, doesn't take so much space in a suitcase.

I think whatever he decides to wear looks practical enough. Many episodes, it's just pants with a T-shirt. In most Phoenix related episodes, he usually wears button shirts. I'm not so sure if there's a certain dresscode for Phoenix but I think a buttoned shirt is for the more formal stuff.

Whats the problem with wearing wet boots? It's a well know trick for breaking in a new pear of leather shoes or boots, to wear them soaking wet so the leather becomes flexible and drys to the shape of your feet.

I've warn leather boots when hiking through streams (up to my waist in water) and never had any issues. - MacGyver's choice of clothing seems pretty reasonable to me with exception to the light color pants, although I too have warn light colored pants a lot in my life and it's quite surprising how much it can take to make them look dirty.

I think we can assume that his boots were broken in. It is not all too comfortable to walk around in wet boots in mild temperatures. So soaking wet boots is something I have always tried to avoid by treating my footwear with wax.
Well, I think I might try khaki clothes and really light packing for my next vacation, just for the fun of it.
I'm still not 100% convinced on the boot-issue and would still like to see some pictures of suede boots that have seen a lot of mud and water.

why would suede boots be different from other kinds of leather?

And which episodes did he wear actually wear suede boots?

Well, the simple answer is that it was just a tv show, and such things tend to work out very conveniently in tv shows. I mean, we've seen Mac go for long stretches of time without shaving, and he never even gets a 5 o'clock shadow. And when he jumps in the water, a few scene later, his hair will be perfectly styled again. It won't work out that nicely in real life. Nor will trying to imitate his style of packing. Characters on tv shows never really have to worry about dirty underpants and stuff. In fact, unless it's a plot point, characters don't even have to worry about using the toilet. The bottom line is that on a tv show, the image is more important than the reality. Mac's supposed to be a guy who travels light, so he does. Whether or not it would be practical is irrelevant, and I really doubt the writers put much thought into it.

Well, the simple answer is that it was just a tv show, and such things tend to work out very conveniently in tv shows. I mean, we've seen Mac go for long stretches of time without shaving, and he never even gets a 5 o'clock shadow. And when he jumps in the water, a few scene later, his hair will be perfectly styled again. It won't work out that nicely in real life. Nor will trying to imitate his style of packing. Characters on tv shows never really have to worry about dirty underpants and stuff. In fact, unless it's a plot point, characters don't even have to worry about using the toilet. The bottom line is that on a tv show, the image is more important than the reality. Mac's supposed to be a guy who travels light, so he does. Whether or not it would be practical is irrelevant, and I really doubt the writers put much thought into it.

I think we can do without the reality checks. That's not what this site is about. We're here to indulge the MacGyver fantasy, not be pulled down to reality.

I was thinking about this earlier today and it occurred to me that the Khaki pants are no different to blue jeans. Most people can wear a pair of jeans for a a few days without any real wear or tear showing on them and from my experience the light pants seem to be similar.

Well, this seems to be suede to me:



And there are other scenes where you can see that it is definitely not grain or nubuck leather.

Those are Iron Ranger boots.

I think they are meant to be old scuffed leather boots which have seen a lot of action, rather rather than suede leather, in the same way that his jacket is old and experianced.

But in any case, as I understand it, all leather is water proof anyway with the only point of weakness being the stitching points , which is what the extra waxing, polish etc covers, so the type of leather wouldn't mater anyway would it?

According to details listed on Amazon Iron Rangers are water proof. Of coarse that means that if you fill them up with water they stay filled until you empty them.

Well, the simple answer is that it was just a tv show, and such things tend to work out very conveniently in tv shows. I mean, we've seen Mac go for long stretches of time without shaving, and he never even gets a 5 o'clock shadow. And when he jumps in the water, a few scene later, his hair will be perfectly styled again. It won't work out that nicely in real life. Nor will trying to imitate his style of packing. Characters on tv shows never really have to worry about dirty underpants and stuff. In fact, unless it's a plot point, characters don't even have to worry about using the toilet. The bottom line is that on a tv show, the image is more important than the reality. Mac's supposed to be a guy who travels light, so he does. Whether or not it would be practical is irrelevant, and I really doubt the writers put much thought into it.

I think we can do without the reality checks. That's not what this site is about. We're here to indulge the MacGyver fantasy, not be pulled down to reality.

I was thinking about this earlier today and it occurred to me that the Khaki pants are no different to blue jeans. Most people can wear a pair of jeans for a a few days without any real wear or tear showing on them and from my experience the light pants seem to be similar.

Speaking of characters useing the bathroom. I was always liked the fact the Mac uses the bathroom when he comes home from a mission (Friends). Granted, it allowed Jack to sneak in to his place but I still think it was a very smart, realistic way to use the time. Now if we can have TV people say "Goodbye" before they hang up.

Haha... yes, I've always noticed that too. Even characters who are supposed to be nice, well-mannered people (like Mac) tend not to say "Good bye" when ending a phone call.
They also don't say "Thank you" enough. There are several scenes where somebody gives Mac something, and doesn't really acknowledge it. The one that always sticks in my mind is during the Black Rhino episode, when the woman brings Mac some lemonade (or whatever drink it was)-- it always irks me that he doesn't say "Thanks."

What? The thread's topic is "How practical is Mac's gear IN EVERYDAY LIFE?" In other words, it's a reality-check thread, asking how well Mac's gear would work in real life. So basically my response is, "Not very practical. It works because it's just a tv show." Totally on-topic.

What? The thread's topic is "How practical is Mac's gear IN EVERYDAY LIFE?" In other words, it's a reality-check thread, asking how well Mac's gear would work in real life. So basically my response is, "Not very practical. It works because it's just a tv show." Totally on-topic.

Well you said more than just "Not very practical. It works because it's just a tv show." and the other comments came across with a condescending tone to me, but if it wasn't intentional, no harm done.

Perhaps by way of moving this conversation forward you can tell us why you think his clothing is not practical.