Most of our gear is junk, I agree, the only gear that I like is the canteen cup, and poncho, and the etool, 550 cord. You mentioned you liked the sleeping bag, it is much, much, too heavy for the warmth. It is supposed to be good to something like -30, I froze my rear off in the high desert at about +15, with the bag fully assembled. I am willing to carry the exta weight of the etool it is handy and indestructable. The main problem with military gear is the military has to get the cheapest, and most durable, and functional gear that can be found and that is a tall order. The new Marine boots are great, I have been told, I am in the Army. I have been deployed for 10 months and have destroyed three pairs of army desert boots.
Gear that I bought with my own money that I carry in my ruck, an msr pot with lid, homemade soda can stove, listerine bottle of fuel, fleece sleeping bag liner, I like it better than the issue poncho liner. Black hawk holster, the issue one is junk, along with the berreta in it, first aid kit, and surefire z2 with spare lamp and battery carrier, I get batteries through supply, last but not least benchmade AFCK.

Things that I hate that I haven't mentioned, the alice pack, army desert boots, military plugger/GPS, canteens, I like camelbacks. And biggest hate of all no decent issue knife. I am sure I will think of other things, but thats all for now. Chris