I've bought a few things from CTD and have been pleased with the items and service. Generally the descriptions are fair as long as you carefully read the descriptions and remember that many items are genuine surplus, often with some wear, and often repaired to maintain serviceability, but not always a pristine appearance.

Other issues come from people misunderstanding the difference between military issue, military style and new copies of GI items that may be more or less the same.

As with any company I usually start off with a small order to see how it goes. I use a credit card to gain some legal rights and controls. After a few small orders I'm more comfortable making larger purchases. The only down side to this strategy is that I just don't buy that much gear because once I find what works I keep it. Other than the stuff that expires, food and medicine, I typically don't spend $100 a year on gear.