Slip on, zip up. No excuse.

We’ve all seen it. Someone rocks up to the ground, hops out of the car and wanders toward the clubhouse with their trusty bang-bang tucked under their arm like they’re carrying a baguette home from the shops. No slip. Just pure shooting stupidity.

But, whilst we all love seeing the blued steel barrels and a grade-5 walnut stock, please can we collectively agree: when not on the stand, guns belong in a slip.

It’s about more than just looking like you know what you’re doing (even though your scorecard might suggest otherwise) it’s about safety for the gun and more importantly, for everyone around you.

Using a slip isn’t just good etiquette – although we’d argue that a gun out of the slip and not on the stand does fall foul – it’s a safety signal to everyone around you.

When you see a zipped-up slip, you know that gun is put away and the business end of the shotgun is temporarily asleep. It’s instant peace of mind for those of us sitting back with a coffee or tucking into a bacon roll. It shows the gun is safe and poses no risk.

It also sends a clear message to every other shooter: “I’m a safe shot, I respect this ground”. An un-slipped gun off-range, or even between stands, is a question mark that puts people on edge.

A slipped gun is definitive when it’s in good hands. It keeps the atmosphere at the ground chilled and worries at bay between stands.

At times we can all be a bit clumsy, it’s not just the reserve of a few.

We’ve all dinked barrels on stand poles, caught a sliding gun slip as it wriggles down the side of the car on a wet day and so on. It’s just the way of the world.

But imagine leaning your beautiful over-and-under against a wooden bench only for it to do a slow-mo face-plant into the gravel because someone accidentally bumped the table. Heartbreaking.

That hollow clack of walnut hitting stone is a sound that’ll haunt your dreams. A good quality, padded slip is your first line of insurance against clumsiness and the general chaos of a busy shooting ground. We’re here to smash clays, not our expensive stocks.

Only this week a squad member who rarely uses a slip on the ground (!) had an expensive wake up call. His beautiful bespoke Perazzi was struck near the palm swell by a large stone launched from under a car tyre whilst a driver was leaving the ground.

Suffice to say, he’s staring at a large bill to repair his stock and has now learned the hard way why a gun slip is more than a carry case.

Had that gun been slipped in a good leather slip, he’d be grumbling about a nasty graze on the leather only…

Then there’s the sky to consider. Wherever you are in the world you’re probably not immune to the heavens opening when you’re on the ground.

A decent gun slip helps your pride and joy stay as dry as possible when you’re not on the stand. A soaked and pitted shotgun is no fun at all, so let the slip take the beating and the wood and metalwork won’t have to. There’s nothing worse than getting home and realising your action is starting to brown-up and rust because it sat out in the drizzle for hours.

At the end of the day, we’re a community here and we look out for each other. That starts the moment we pull into the car park.

Keeping things under wraps until we’re actually on the stand keeps the safety and social side of the sport front and centre at all times. It keeps the “non-shooting” areas safe and secure for everyone.

So, let’s keep the standards high and the accidents at zero. Slip on, zip up.

We don’t need to give the non-shooting world any reason to call shooting’s safety into question when a simple action makes a big difference.

From a personal point of view, it also saves you from the dreaded “What on earth are you doing?” side-eye from fellow shooters who’ve been zipping up forever because they know it’s the right thing to do.

In summary, it keeps us, our gear and everyone else safe and sound. Which is one thing we can all agree on.