To stay a little more covert , you can pack a set of civi clothing in your ALICE , or CFP 90 and wear that in town , along with that nifty banrney the dinosour purple waterproof backpack cover that you will be sportin on your ruck. When you hit the woodline back to tactical mode I agree with you here. . .on all but the Barney-The-Anti-Christ-Dinosaur cover. But a neutrally colored pack cover (say grey, tan, brown or OD) does take a bit of the edge off the military camo pack.  Ditto your clothing. Grey, OD and khaki are colors that tend to blend into foliage almost as well as camo (unless up real close).  And they don't scream Shoot Me! in an urban environment. Please send a copy of any replies to my email address as well as posting them to the newsgroup. Geoffrey L. Hardin, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

The best one is the one you have when you need it! If you put off purchasing something until it`s too late, it`s too late! My advice: get something ~ ANYTHING ~ then upgrade it as time goes on. Jeff

something ~ ANYTHING ~ then upgrade it as time goes on. Jeff        I agree wholeheartedly!!! Once the momentum gets going, it quickly becomes a life_style_ or at least a practical way of thinking in everyday situations. ( a bean can  becomes a portable stove )  My neighbors tree that he cut down last week ( OAK ) would have been curb trash to anyone else. ( except members of this group )     I saw almost 2 cords of firewood. I dont even have a fireplace now, ( Army Woodstove/heater though) and its warm outside. I will still invest the $25.00 for the hydraulic splitter this weekend for storage purposes.                       One foot in front of the other brother .  Life's essentials.....get 'em while you can.      Best regards,  Carl A. Stiles

What I have done, is kinda figure out how much I want to be wearing gear wise, and what situation I would be wearing it in. I have a full milspec setup, which I keep at my retreat. What I have that goes with me is kinda a fanny pack, puoch system, complete with water botles.  It looks more hikey, not quite as military as anything else, and can be thrown on from the trunk. I use it camping, hunting.  I like the company EAGLE CREEK, because they make quality stuff, decently priced, and all their pouches, fanny packs, are real versatile, and can go together. Check them out! This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

: Military gear is by far superior to that of civilian gear , and it is time : tested ....over  and over and over , where civi gear is made to apeal to the : yuppie camper , and the truth is , if it lasts the first trip into the : wilderness , it will probably never be used again. :     To stay a little more covert , you can pack a set of civi clothing in your : ALICE , or CFP 90 and wear that in town , along with that nifty banrney the : dinosour purple waterproof backpack cover that you will be sportin on your : ruck. When you hit the woodline back to tactical mode Unless it's the brand new LC-2 large pack I was issued that the stitches immediately started unraveling from.  Or the ALICE pack _frame_s that routinely break rivets and bend in normal use.  Or the PASGT helmet that got called back in 'cause it had been assembled with second-rate materials and scrap kevlar to save money.  Or the BDU trousers with the zig-zag seams.  Or the GM-Hydromatic M16A1s with the butter-soft receivers that wore out faster than I could keep them fixed.  Or the Cooper Industries M16 magazines that would tear the crap out of the magazine well on any rifle, not only failing to function, but actually taking the rifle out of service as well... GI gear is made to one-size-fits-all specifications by the lowest bidder (or the bidder who's in the right congressman's district, or is of the right gender or ethnicity).  If you can find GI gear that meets your needs, of quality that meets your expectations, then go with it.  But for a lot of purposes it's the second, third or even worse choice.   I'd rate some of the foreign military gear much better.  German gear in particular, and Austrian, Swiss and Scandinavian gear...  It seems both that they're more willing to pay for quality, and they're _expecting_ quality equipment.  Soviet and eastern-bloc gear, on the other hand, is quite likely to be crap. And the cheap Asian knock-offs of US gear are unspeakably bad.