Hi All,           I've been reading all the posts about Mil.surplus items & thought I would post my thoughts on diff. pieces of gear _base_d on 13 years of wearing/lugging this stuff. please bear in mind these are my opinions only.  EWCS (Goretex) Parka & Trousers- exp. but worth it, waterproof, breathable& great for _layer_ing over heavier clothes, on the downside they are noisey. web gear- 2 choices the old _style_suspenders or the new tacital vest,this is a personal choice some people think the vests are too hot in summer or too confining,some think the suspender type chafes the neck .(Y-_style_) My favorite is the older still H-_style_, does not chafe, seems to distribute load better & works the best of any of them with a buttpack. buttpack or fannypack- I consider these things a must as does everyone I know, they will hold extra socks, an MRE,or pogey-bait,ammo You name it. canteen,cup & stove, canteens last forever, the canteen cup is prfect for instant coffee, tea, broth or ramen noodles, canteen cup stoves nest with the canteen & cup in the cover, burn light weight heattabs &You won't even notice it's there untill need it. cold weather helmet liner- these things make You look like a real doofus, but they are cheap, tough & warm. Poncho liner- I'm like Linus from the Peanuts comic strip with these things, I always have one in my ruck or buttpack, they are light, compress fairly well, & can be used by themselves, to add more warmth to asleeping bag, They last a long time under tough conditions also. poncho- these can be used as the obvious,as a ground cloth, as a sun shade, a quick shelter etc. green wool shirts, pants & brown wool sweaters- these can usually be found really cheap, but  imho they are worth their weight in pre-64 silver warm & tough.  Alice packs Lg. & med. personally I think these were developed to find out how much torture the average grunt can stand before he snaps waterproofbags- these are good for lining packs, etc. if you buy em used check for pinholes, that's usually why they get d'xed. triggerfinger mittens   w/liners- warm & nice to have. black leather gloves & liners- for mild weather they're fine, for cold weather they suck, there are much better civilian gloves out there. parka & trousers wet weather ( rain suit) these are better than nothing, but if you leave 'em in your pack for a few weeks they smell like road kill in july,Gore-tex is alot better. It's also alot more money Boonie hats- I love 'em, comfortable, crunchable,last forever, and if you need to camo up, the do a better job of breaking up the outline of your head than any type of headgear ( besides a sniper veil) that I know of. sleeping bags, intermediate & extreme cold weather- both do well within their temp. limitations but can be absolute hell to dry out if they get wet. relitivly heavy & bulky. Sleep system with bivy bag- ( sorry can't remember the proper name for 'em) This has got to be the best thing the army ever came up with! it consists of a camo gore-tex outer bivy bag, a light-wt. green inner bag & a heavy black bag. In mild weather you can snap the light bag in the bivy by itself & in colder weather add the black bag, they work great. they come with a compression sack & don't take up much room & are really light compared to the old bags.the only dowside I can think of is they cost about 350-400 bucks  Please remember these are my opinions ( and some of my squad members as well)Ymmv.  so, no death threats from the Alice pack anti-defamation league please If  I've forgotten any type of gear Your curious about, let me know & I'll give You my totally onesided, completely biased opinion on it. ( if I've used it )                                       Allen

Sleep system with bivy bag- ( sorry can't remember the proper name for 'em) This has got to be the best thing the army ever came up with! it consists of a camo gore-tex outer bivy bag, a light-wt. green inner bag & a heavy black bag. In mild weather you can snap the light bag in the bivy by itself & in colder weather add the black bag, they work great. they come with a compression sack & don't take up much room & are really light compared to the old bags.the only dowside I can think of is they cost about 350-400 bucks Yeah, that's what I mentioned above.  Damn sweet to have!!! I'd like to than Allen for making the initial post, I am sure many will find it helpful.

Try some of the British catalogs / web sites.  The Brits have very goog Military items, some much better then USGI.  Spendy, yes, but you get what you pay for.  And a lot of the time you can get Brit stuff brand new, worth the extra cash to me.  Things never get better then new. Tons of US and overseas catalogs, Don't be afraid to order from overseas, shipping is not all that much and you (in the US) don't have to pay Euro-taxes.  UK VAT is 18%, we in the US don't have to pay this, so catalog prices are 18% less then shown.  Get quality gear, It will last and it's will save your life. Bill

sleeping bags, intermediate & extreme cold weather- both do well within their temp. limitations but can be absolute hell to dry out if they get wet. relitivly heavy & bulky. Yeah, I have enjoyed mine for the most part.  Buy a Goretex shell for them to help cope with moisture and you should be all set. Or the Scotchguard on the cotton outer shell.  I've spent many a toasty night in an extreme cold-weather (old-_style_) sleeping bag.
... read more »

Can't argue with anything you said.  Good job.

Try some of the British catalogs / web sites.  The Brits have very goog Military items, some much better then USGI.  Spendy, yes, but you get what you pay for.  And a lot of the time you can get Brit stuff brand new, worth the extra cash to me.  Things never get better then new. Tons of US and overseas catalogs, Don't be afraid to order from overseas, shipping is not all that much and you (in the US) don't have to pay Euro-taxes.  UK VAT is 18%, we in the US don't have to pay this, so catalog prices are 18% less then shown.  Get quality gear, It will last and it's will save your life. Bill Could you perhaps post some British catalog and/or web site pointers that you've found particularly useful? Thanks, adl