Frankly, the military stuff weighs too much. My ALICE pack, large, weighs about 5+lbs empty. My comparable civilian Kelty weighs 2+. A canteen w/cover v. a water bottle.

The clothing is designed to be useful in many situations, making it perform poorly in specific situations. Would I rather be wearing shorts and a t shirt in the summer instead of the new combat uniforms - no-brainer there.

A military poncho is great, at least the nylon ones. The rain suits are about useless. Forget the mess kit, it's designed to eat from, not cook in.

Personally, I like some military gear - the poncho liner is the greatest military invention ever. But other stuff, not so great.

I'm not really worried about the military shooting me for being an imposter - my ID card says I'm not, really.