Military surplus stores

Hi,

I'm looking for a good military surplus store that sells authentic gear such as the mil spec paracord. Only two surplus stores have survived in Montréal and they don't have what I want. I was checking out armynavydeals.com because they opened a Canadian version at armynavydeals.ca and they seem to have many items I want to try such as the Esbit stove, cheap wool blankets, G.I. Aviation Survival Fire-Starter (I guess it's the Doan version) and other things. Does anybody have experience dealing with them and do you think they sell authentic gear, are they a serious military surplus?

Thank you
Frankie

I'm not sure about them but there is a couple of places I get stuff from. One is Cheaper than Dirt. They have alot of stuff for guns but they also have a few gems like med kits, paracord, and some really great deals on things like machetes and stuff too. I bought a MOLLE pack from them and I love it. Another place to check out is Coleman's Surplus. Not to be confused with Colemans camping gear. Here is a link to their site http://www.colemans.com/ .They seem to have a good deal of surplus but I have never done business with them so I don't know how reputable they are. I know they have had their website up for at least 5 years cause that's how long ago I found them. Good luck with your search and I hope that helps at least a little.

Thank you Boacrow.

Just a quick scan of site and I think way over
Priced {NYC Prices}.

http://www.altama.com/
http://majorsurplusnsurvival.com/
http://www.countycomm.com/
http://www.aakamilitary.com/

I like Cheaperthandirt.com and have had great success with their products. Pay attention to the write up on each product. That is how you know if you're buying army surplus, made to mil-spec's, or a civilian made version of something military.

You can try these...
http://www.armysurpluswarehouse.com/
http://www.armysurplusworld.com/
http://www.imsplus.com/

You need a primer in surplus speak. True surplus is just that; excess stores of obsolescent material or it's worn out. Never buy anything less than 'new, unissued' or 'excellent.' MILSPEC is kit made to, or exceeding it's issue counterpart by the same manufacturers or of the same material. 'Military type' is a optimistic euphemism for copycat junk.

Thank you Chris. Right now my priorities are for a couple of wool blankets. (The Esbit stoves and Doan magnesium bars will either wait or I'll just forget about them) Commercially available wool blankets are hard to come by and are so expensive, such is the Hudson's Bay point blanket and the one from customwoolenmills are too short and also a bit pricey. I visited the store where they issue gear for the Scouts in Montréal and found $20 so called "camp fire blankets" and it was written 50% recycled wool, 50% unknown fibers, dry clean only on the label. I don't know if it's a good choice but it sounds like they would be ideal for smothering flames in an emergency. After browsing several army surplus websites I'm leaning toward the swiss and italian 100% wool but they are "used like new condition". I guess you can't go too wrong with used wool blankets and just wash them to remove the smell. They had wool trousers at the local military surplus stores but they were indeed worn out.

frankie: the days of REAL military surplus is a thing of the past...well at least here in arizona....the good ol' smell of cigar and canvas is gone forever!!!...anymore my friend what you'll find is cheap china, tiawan, japan knockoff's ,cheap copys of hard to find military kit..these items are the main cause of kit failure in the field, and often blamed as "real surplus" by people that do'nt know the differance... .be very wary of the type of military kit you buy from a so called "surplus stores" ...you have been warned......by the way most euro gear is a good deal.... vince g. 11b infantry......

"Style" is another key word for useless junk, as in "GI style whatever".

The other thing to look for is the return policy. Sometimes it's just flat out worn out, sometimes it's missized, and sometimes you REALLY don't want that particular item.

I'll never forget this: in college, I lived with a guy who bough a lot of surplus gear, even more than I have (which is saying a lot). He got in some leather ammo pouches, early 50s or so, and was looking them over, and found a stain he couldn't identify. He asked me if I knew what it was, I told him I couldn't ID the type, but I was positive it looked like someone had a VERY negative experience wearing that. Took him about an hour to realize it was a blood stain.

I don't mind surplus, but I draw the line at something that someone was wearing when they were wounded or killed. That's just begging for bad luck.

Military surplus wool blankets are almost impossible to secure. The many natural and human caused worldwide disasters have stripped military warehouses for humanitarian aid. The two blankets you mentioned are both nice. Still pricy, but more reasonable quality blanket are Whitneys, another English product. www.jas-townsend.com ( click on cold weather) is an american source to see the product. You should do better in price with a canadian dealer as part of the Commonwealth.

In the US I order from:

www.brigadequartermasters.com
www.uscavalry.com
www.sportsmansguide.com

From the UK:
www.flecktarn.co.uk

From Germany:
www.ASMC.de

So far I found nothing, they all start at $200 with the twin size point blanket and I think Whitney's are the same as HBC (Hudson's Bay). It seems you either have to buy fancy collectible blankets or old smelly army surplus, there's no in-between.

I think I'll go hunting for a while and come back to The Bays department stores in downtown Montréal and throw on the counter a couple of beaver pelts and tell them, hey, I want a four point blanket. I can imagine the salesperson telling me, hey take your pelts elsewhere son. You're killin' me here. You're holding a spear on me.

Seriously, I'm thinking ebay.ca could be a potential source. There's also maybe Woolrich, they sell Civil War blankets that are 85% wool and 15% nylon. I'keep on shopping.

Hospital Wool Blanket FullSize 100% Wool Used Good Cond $9.97 buy 2-4, sew them together for size/thickness..
US Style Disaster Blankets Package of Three 30% Wool 91x65" New $14.97 maybe not the % you want, but cheap at ~5.00ea..
You've probably seen all of those at Cheaper Than Dirt, there are also the swiss blanket for $20, and the Italian, and German blankets for $10
There is also the 70% wool/30% acrylic New Zealand blanket for $25, the British Military Wool Blanket for $15, Norwegian Military Wool Blanket for $18, Israeli Wool Blanket 80% wool/20% other for $13, Russian Wool Blanket for $20 (says never issued), New Czech Military Wool-blend Blanket 80% wool/20% other $20, all from Sportsmans Guide. There was a swiss blanket at about the same price as Cheaper then Dirt, and what looked like a 12 buy of the 30% wool/70% other blankets for $60, available from Sportsmans Guide too.
What you get all depends on what you want to use it for.. I've never used eather of the websites myself, but I've been keeping an eye out on the blankets for a while now.. I don't have the room right now but when I do I may get a few of them when I can.

Hey, what do you think of Sierra Trading Post? They seem to have all sort of slightly better quality Merino, Shetland, Alpaca and even Cachmire. Of course it's all US based so I guess I will have to ask relatives to order them for me.

For our purposes, MILSPEC or surplus gear even if unissued is in most respects inferiour to decent quality climbing and outdoor gear. There are exceptions to that statement, like the Cammenga compasses, Doan's magnesium block and some other bit's and bob's.
If your trying to buy cheap, for whatever reason, then fine. Just be aware that the weight penalty adds up very quickly.
I'm not a great fan of 550 cord. I prefer to use the cords sold by reputable climbing outlets.
That is for two reasons: 1) You have a choice of sizes and strenths and 2) Its designed not to kink if it gets tangled. A major consideration if the conditions are, shall we say, less than optimal. (oops, Brit understatment again...... Sorry guys. <img src="/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />)

Frankie, we buy at Sierra Trading all the time. Generally, good stuff but pay attention to brands and descriptions. Like anywhere you hit it great sometimes on brands and prices - others not. If you're an "off" size it works even better. Let me comment on blankets.

You get what you pay for - no surprise! I have a HBC blanket (4 pt.) that is 40 years old - used very heavy - looks and performs like new! Generally, army blankets, of all nations, are made to be tough - not necessarily the best. The result is that they are heavy, hard and cheap. A Bay blanket on the other hand is "fluffy", pure virgin wool and very warm for the weight. It is a pleasure to sleep outdoors under a HBC blanket - now I'm getting all weepy and nostalgic! <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Hi Old Scout, actually most of the blankets at Sierra Trading are "throw blankets" that means they are too short for my taste although it would be nice to have too on the couch. You're probably right, I may buy the HBC. But I found the L.L.Bean washable blanket, less expensive and 100% wool here: L.L. Bean to be interesting for $80 USD for the twin size. I also like the idea of adding some history to my apartment with the 85-15% Woolrich's Fort Sumter and the HBC point blanket of course. At that price you don't feel like throwing them on a fire to smother it but if you have to smother a fire it means you're going to loose many other expensive things anyway. I may try out the Italian surplus blanket. An italian friend told me she saw them in hospitals in Italy. Sportsman's Guide's Czech and Russian military are supposed to be brand new unissued but I don't know...

Frankie

The Sierra Trading Post blankets look good for what they are, the Swiss blanket looks the same as the two I saw in Cheaper Than Dirt and Sportsmans Guide only it costs more.
For me, I want a blanket or two around but I also want to cut one or two up to make a capote which the military style blankets would work well for.

The Brit blankets are very nice. Major surplus used to be the place to go for blankets. CTD, SG have them regularly and Sierra Trading has very good deals periodically.

Dave

If you find them scratchy due to thier fibers, rather than a true allergy to wool, make a simple cover out of a pair of cotton sheets and whip stitch around the edges. No more scratchy. If you want to be very fancy, you can get Thai silk online pretty reasonably.

As for the hard, that usually has to do with being in storage for umpty years in a wooden crate that they had to have someone sit on so they could nail/strap/latch the lid down. Treat it like you would a stiff hide, ie bending and scraping with a wooden edge (and you thought wooden rulers were just for the naughty) and it will soften.

But they aren't very fluffy, that much is true. Mostly because they are are made by the lowest bidder.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=92625

I bought one of these for my vehical and it's decent.

Are they brand new? Do they have mothball smell when you buy them? And will the 20% polyester reduce the fire retardancy we attribute to wool? They are so cheap, is it recycled wool? It looks like a good alternative.

Thank you

They feel like they are new. No, they do not smell like mothballs, they are each in thier own plastic bag. No clue about the fire thing and about the recycled wool. It is a decent size, cheap, light and made of wool so it has many uses in my car kit.

+1 on being NO fan of parachute cord. Give me braided nylon cord any day!

[s][/s]I am a regular customer of redacted they are the premier supplier of USGI and other commercial products.

I've actually been to their store along Beltway 8 in Houston. It's pretty good. Are you affiliated with them, Kenneth?
-Blast

In Canada, check out Princess Auto (better than Harbor Freight). They have plenty of surplus stuff, not necessarily military though. CanadianPrepardness.com and Stephenson's are also two good sites for stuff.

Boreal Mountain Anoraks (BMA) are in your own backyard of Montreal - they make fantastic wool products but their website is in $US. https://borealmountainanoraks.com/product/bmas-100-loden-wool-blanket/

Spam deleted.

Thanks for the reply Roarmeister, 14 years later! i've been away since 2009. Glad to know the forum is still active. I will check out BMA.

François

Even after what we've been through this year, we are still here.

Jeanette Isabelle

The information I got from the 2003 SARS outbreak on this forum has been useful. I was ahead of the game when WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic. I didn't panic buy toilet paper lol

When you're prepared, you don't need to be fighting over toilet paper.

Jeanette Isabelle

Our fixation on stocking up on toilet paper is rather puzzling since all kinds of substitutes are readily available - Sears catalogues for one, although i guess they are becoming collector's items now.

I can personally attest that snowballs work very effectively, in many ways better than TP (and you will be wide awake).

Don't eat any snow that isn't pure white....

&#128514;

Ha! I should have looked first at the dates to know that this was a revived thread! Revived by a spammer, no less. I'm glad my belated response may be helpful.

I get my mil surplus on GovPlanet. The site is a usability disaster area, but in the mess you will find auctions for Useful Stuff.