Military Surplus
When I lived in Berkeley, I was absolutely fascinated by the number of people who shopped in the Army Navy surplus store. I saw all these peaceniks going around dressed in cammos with their dreadlocks held back by olive drab bandannas, and couldn’t for the life of me figure it out. What was it about military surplus that was so fascinating to these folks, and didn’t it seem to contradict their beliefs? I was politically a lot less left wing than they were, but I simply had never worn military clothes and it had not even occurred to me to do.
Then one day, I wandered into the military surplus store and finally found out for myself what the thrill is. It basically comes down to this: military clothing is cheap, well-made, and sort of classic looking. It is the kind of basic clothing that never goes out of style. Because it isn’t made for fads, and because the style doesn’t change that much from one military campaign to another, it tends to be fairly well tailored too. They had decades to get the military clothing just right.
As much as I like military surplus clothing, I like military camping gear even better. I know that there is more sophisticated outdoor gear, but let’s face it – do you want to spend all that money for super breathable, multilayer, fancy fabrics? Military boots, duffel bags, rucksacks and the like have to be able to take the toughest abuse in the world. They are engineered in a simple and efficient way out of plain canvas, leather, and other no-frills material. They work well decade after decade. To me, this is better than spending three times as much for professional mountain climbing gear.
Of course, the one problem with military surplus is that not all of it is the same. There are many different clothing makers who supply the military, and they all use different materials and have slightly different styles of clothes. The different services will wear different cuts of uniforms, and even from one year to another there will be slight differences. That means that it is often a good idea to try the clothes out in person if you can – particularly if you are the kind of person who is tough to fit. Then again, most other military surplus items can be ordered online. A military knife, for example, can probably be judged solely by its description.