Last Sunday Mrs Jarhead and I made the pilgrimage to Augusta to do a little shopping. She likes to visit the Goodwill and I like to stop at the Army/Navy store. Luckily they’re just a couple of streets apart, so what I normally do is drop her off and then drive on over to my happy place. (I’d walk, but the traffic is ridiculous and I don’t feel like getting killed by some inattentive texter.)
Anyway, I wanted to pick up another canteen cup to put in a second BOB and while I was there I found a couple of other really cool items. First, I found a one quart arctic canteen with a matching canteen cup, which is really important with the time of year we’re heading into – at least here in Maine. More about the canteen later.
Military Sleeping Bag
The next item I found was a military grade sleeping bag liner for just $39.95! This is a sleeping bag unto itself and it’s good down to about ten degrees. This is part of a sleep system that can be used in different configurations. The whole thing is about $150 and if it’s as warm as the older style bags I used when I was on active duty I can assure you from first-hand experience that you will stay warm in temperatures down to –40 degrees. I spent a couple of weeks in Minnesota and then a month sleeping outside in Norway (the country) and never got cold while I was in that bag. The reviews indicate that it’s a very warm bag and it comes with a bivy. I’ve got about five sleeping bags, but I’m sorely tempted to dish out the cash for this sytem.
The Arctic Canteen
Military Arctic Canteen
I’ve never used one of these canteens and I’m looking forward to giving it a try. If I remember correctly in my early days of cold weather training we used the standard plastic canteens, which froze up like rocks no matter what we did.
A couple of quick notes about this canteen… instead of a screw cap it’s got a cap that plugs in instead. The cap is plastic and where it plugs in is made from rubber, which will ensure that your lips don’t stick to the canteen (I hate it when that happens) and that the cap won’t freeze to the metal of the canteen itself.
The only downside I can see so far is that it’s heavy, but winter gear tends to be that way. Suck it up!
I won’t go into much detail now because I haven’t had a chance to test these items in field conditions yet, but as soon as I do I’ll let you know how they worked out.
If you have experience with this canteen please leave a comment below. I’ve got a cold weather case for a Nalgene bottle, but when the temp drops below ten degrees or so it starts to freeze up if you let it sit for awhile.
Thoughts About Gear
Military grade gear tends to run heavier than the ultra-light high tech expensive gear you can buy at the trendy outdoor stores, which is important if your bug-out plan involves a long hike, but there are several advantages to using it:
First, it’s been tested under some of the harshest climates in the world and it’s proven to work. If it doesn’t pass muster it doesn’t get used.
Second, it’s usually a lot cheaper than the trendy gear. Don’t get me wrong, I have no problem with the trendy stores and high-tech gear. With some of my winter hobbies I need the lightest stuff I can get, but I pay the price for it!
And third, you can buy most of what you need for a bug-out bag in one place. No traveling from store to store as long as your local Army/Navy is fairly well stocked.
Did I mention it’s cheaper?
Have you ever shopped at an Army/Navy store?
-Jarhead Survivor
I bought one several years ago from Sportsmans Guide , but never got around to using it. I have the opposite problem of you Northeners and was hoping to keep cold liquids cold in our hot / humid climate. I always forget to take it out, so no opinion there. I even have the specific canteen cup that goes with it, looks like a trapezoid (has bottom corners, if that makes sense). Holds a few ounces less than a quart, iirc.
I totally agree with your opinion of military surplus (especially Swiss military – they are well made!), they are heavier but are far more stronger than commercial manufacture, and still less expensive to purchase. Less cost – better built – I can deal with that. :^)
I love A/N and Army Surplus stores. I bought a new duffle bag at one and I only buy my boonie hats at these stores.
when i was a kid, it seemed like every town in Pennsylvania (except mine) had an Army-Navy store. there are fewer of them now, and they have more foreign made junk than real MILSURP. that said, we still have a fair number remaining. here in the suburbs, many of them cater to the paintball crowd, still there’s lots of good prepper gear available here.
You and Leon both make excellent points about checking the gear before you buy it. A lot of time they have crap in there, but if you look there’s always some good stuff to find.
absolutely.
i’m making my better MILSURP finds at farmers markets/flea markets, right now as opposed to the Army-Navy. (can’t afford to overpay, right now) i try to give a few of these guys my business. (as long as they’re willing to stay in business)
i’m not trying to aquire that much more stuff anyway. it would take me a week to “bugout” with all of the baggage i have now.
(it took me that long the last time)
(as Leon mentioned, we could use several good pair of wool pants and socks though… )
Our local surplus store is generally my first stop when I want gear. (I haven’t NEEDED gear in years!) You are right on target about the quality and value of the real military surplus stuff. I highly recommend the wool pants and socks we get here in Central Oregon.
For the best value for your money, you can’t beat a good surplus store. Unfortunately, there is sometimes a lot of junk in some outlets, so read the labels!
Leon
When I was a kid my Boy Scout troop was fully outfitted with surplus A/N equipment thanks to the WWII and Korean vets that were our Scout Masters. It seems to be ingrained in me to find one no matter where we have lived since. The one closest now is in the County Seat about 15 miles away. I stop there at least once a month to stock up on MRE’s and Other “stuff”. I love the place…
Seems like they’re getting harder to find doesn’t it? Maybe with the economy being what it is they’ll make a come back.
My husband manages a military surplus store! I like shopping in them because they have incredibly practical gardening/herbalist items for really cheap, as well as the typical prepper stuff.
Nice! How lucky is that??
Bought my first Gen III long sleeve shirt at an Army Surplus a few weeks ago and it rocks my socks.
~Primal
But don’t you guys remember that shopping at Army Navy stores for gear is a marker of possible terrorist behavior? According to the FBI at least. I’m being sarcastic ya’ll, I refuse to live in fear of my servants for doing nothing wrong.
We used these canteens while I was stationed up here in AK. Stainless steen inner with an aluminum outer shell, there is an insulating air chamber seperating the shells. We never had one freeze up on us in the field at -20. Any colder than that and they made us put them inside our goretex “just in case.”
That’s good to hear. I’ll be testing this out later in the winter and I’ll make sure to write a post about it. Thanks for your feed back.
I generally prefer outdoors stuff from backpacking companies to mil surp stuff, but I always have at lest one pair of wool pants and a wool shirt from the surplus store. You just can’t beat $15 for a pair of good quality wool pants.
Just got in from a 3 mile walk around the neighborhood, those army surplus pants were just the thing for a walk in damp (75% humidity) 38 degree weather.
Alas….there isn’t a surplus store within 200 miles of my location in the boonies. I swear by Sportsmans Guide, they have everything I could ever want or need. I’ve been a member of their buyers club for years and right now club members get one order postage free until Christmas. So being the unprincipled scoundrel that I am I ordered a bunch of ammo and some stove kits to make stoves out of 55 gallon drums (I make mine out of 100# propane cylinders but that’s a whole ‘nuther story).
So….long story short…I’ve got 182 pounds of stuff coming to me postage paid. I’m sure there is a special place in hell reserved for me.
Ain’t nothing wrong with working the system!
Jarhead, if that sleeping bag liner is part od the modular gortex system I’m familiar with it. My old Minnesota Guard unit was winter ops. We were issued the Army Extreme Cold sleeping bag for the firsy few years I was in. Those things are warm! We’d do a 3 day winter camp out (vehicle mobile) every winter, usually in January.
When we transitioned to the modular bags we were told that they were just as warm as our old bags. That January we discovered that the was wrong. Just about all of us woke up freezing out butts off that night. We did a winter AT (2 week annual training) that year and all of us had to add liners etc to make it warm enough to sleep well. This was up at Camp ripley.
Phone browser messed up…..
As a result of all that I bought myself a surplus Extreme Cold bag before I got out. Last Xmas I gave my brother one (he’s back in MN but ates the cold…) as well as got myself a spare. I should be good for may years this way, lol.
My area is another without a military surplus store. There used to be a great one but he closed up shop when Cabelas came into the area. He as afraid they’d run him out of business. I still miss that place.
Steelheart
I think it’s part of the same bag. I know the older and much heavier bags used to keep me super warm even at very low temps. I like the new military bag system because of it’s versatility.
They are nice for their versatility. As a three season bag the modular system will rock. I just don’t trust them as a true cold weather bag. Now if I lived somewhere a bit farther south it would probably be a great 4 season bag!
I just re-read my previous posts, I’ve got to start posting shorter comments with more Replies. There’s way too many typos there, lol.
Steelheart
I did buy a military grade folding shovel (looked like it was never used) at a garage sale for $5! That thing works really well & now keep it in my trunk.
I couldn’t agree more about the quality. Our government will spend the money researching & purchasing high quality products for our troops – it’s one thing I can support that they do.
My dad was a civilian contractor who did much with the military starting in Vietnam & the cold war era, then with NASA. He would tell me how much our government “wasted” money but turned out the best products in the world.
He held the highest secrecy clearance available – I remember as a kid some suits coming to our house & “interviewing” us & going into much family background. He was considered one of the leading experts in America & never told us anything about what he did. It took about 6 months to complete their investigation.
Just make sure you shop around at these places , especially these days . With so many wannabes out there , the real places can be inexpensive , while the ones that have been contaminated by yuppies , will jack up the price . True military surplus is used , production overruns or things the military has phased out , and should not be expensive . Foreign surplus , especially eastern european stuff should be dirt cheap as most of it is new liquidated storage from the Soviet collapse . A person should be able to get a Russian GP5 gas mask complete with cartridges and case for about $7 -14 . Soviet made , but its full head coverage which means you will be pepper spray immune , the cartridges provided are very adequate to handling tear gas , and folds up very small . Thats what your most likely to run into in an urban environment . Shop around , if you think you are paying too much for something ……. you probably are .
Maybe I’ll get one of the Russian made GP 5′s for my bathroom. Other than that, I can see no other use …
Yip, yip, yip. :-)
LOL in that case , you will like the anti fog lenses that come with it .
Excellent retort! Hahahahaha!!
LOL no problem , mine are banned by the Geneva Convention ;)