Military Surplus

[paleoman]

#4906

I hope to be in my last decade of work at the moment. Barring one of lifes’ unforeseen events of course. That said I’ m turning into a miserly, though not cheap piece of work! I haven’ t bought ms for years because the Cabelas, etc., marketed so well I forgot about all that good stuff. Am looking for a mid size daypack and ms prices and options look appealing…online that is. Any words of wisdom on buying ms online?

[Col Mike]

#35181

Paleo

there is a lot of it out there now. Be cautious as most of it is high tech very durable very noisy. The old days of quiet wool and canvas are gone. In addition a lot of it has survived 10 years in a war zone in contrast to the vast quantities that were produced for WW 2 that never left the states. If you can find the old stuff go for it.

Most packs are monsters (we haven’t learned about a soldiers burden) there are some small recon stuff–hard to find. Good luck–let us know if you find a good source.

Semper Fi

Mike

[James Harvey]

#35567

Mate, I reckon bang for your buck, it’s hard to go past the old US LC-1 alice frame packs..

http://www.ebay.com/itm/US-GI-MILITARY-LARGE-BACK-PACK-w-AL-ALICE-FRAME-/261158717247?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cce45c73f

They can stow quite a lot of volume and weight but are pretty small all strapped down. The best thing is how light they are. Something like 3 pounds. As a reference, my fancy mystery ranch assault pack (worth about $350) can only carry half the volume and weighs almost 6 pounds.

They’re pretty popular in the Aussie Army because they are so light. The only failure I’ve ever seen in them is the frame breaking on para drops as they’re made of aluminium not steel.

Value for money, best pack in the world in my humble opinion.

[David Petersen]

#36261

I love MS clothing, esp. wool, but not their packs and other “web gear.” I’ll stick with my Badlands, but it too could be quieter in the zipper dept. Lots of ways to skin a cat.

[Author]

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