Thanks for the vid! Good thread
Surplus gear is tops in many respects. You can get it for literally pennies on the dollar of what it cost to make, and in most instances milsurp is
higher material quality than you can get from commercial channels.
With that said, I'm a through hiker and a gear whore, so a lot of the milsurp I started with so many years ago is back in the closet gathering dust.
The reason is WEIGHT, not quality. If you depend on your legs to get you from A to B, and you carry provisions on your back, WEIGHT is the number one
factor you have to consider if you actually want to make it to point B.
Hiking/camping gear has been totally revolutionized the last few years... the revolution was/is ULTRALIGHT gear. I have found that a lot of military
stuff is simply not weight efficient when you are traveling hundreds or thousands of miles with it on your back.
If anyone is interested in my setup, I'm 6'4 and use a medium alice pack for long distance hikes, frame off. If I was carrying more weight, I'd
probably use the frame just to shift support to my hips. Been mulling over getting a Kifiru or Mystery Ranch pack because so many of my buds rave
about them.
*= milsurp
Clothing:
*ECWS pants
Wool socks
Polartek undies and under-shell pants
sweatshirt
Arcteryx jacket
Filson wool hat
Asolo backpacking boots
*flektarn poncho
Gear:
*Medium Alice
Big Agnes seedhouse sl2 tent
Wiggy's sleeping bag (winter)
Sierra designs sleeping bag (summer)
exped sleeping pad (winter)
thermarest pad (summer)
Katadyn pocket micro (for the nasties)
Steri pen (for the virus')
*Camelbak chemical bladder (significantly more rugged)
MSR stove
etrex vista
*tritium lensatic compass
gerber knife,leatherman multitool
headlight/survival knickknacks paracord food maps etc...
If anyone is interested in Pics, just ask. As you can see it's a mix of milsurp and civie gear. This setup is what works for me and I would recommend
a similar setup for comfortable long distance trekking. Small and light and effective is the name of the game. Be prepared to shell out the dough,
however. Of course If there was a mass casualty event I would certainly carry an LBV and more weight, but not a whole lot more this.
I hope I didn't take this thread off topic, I just wanted to make the point that for my particular brand of hiking/bug-out-bag, I have found that
PURELY milsupr may not always be the best way to go for everyone. I totally agree with OP's premise that milsurp is a very important avenue to explore
when procuring gear.
edit on 6-3-2011 by METACOMET because: (no reason given)
edit on 6-3-2011 by METACOMET because: (no
reason given)