Why is the quality military surplus so fucking bad? Bought an authentic miliatry Parka and it doesn't keep you warm.
>>18657639We think of milsurp as quality tested, for difficult conditions, to high standards, if you ask anybody in the military they'll tell you it's trash. The military and their contractors try to make things as cheap as possible, the people in the military buy their own stuff whenever possible to replace the crappy standard issue stuff they get. Never been in the military but that is what I hear and it makes sense.
Contrary to popular belief, "military grade" doesn't mean "so tough, the army uses it without worrying" .Instead it means "cheap enough that it fits in the yearly budget but not so low quality that you'll need to replace it after two uses"
>>18657643>>18657689Makes totally sense. Any mid-class fashion store has better jackets and trousers. My military parka feels like it could be from Temu. Kinda macabre when you think about soldiers being sent to their deaths in China clothes.
>>18657639>doesn't keep you warmAren't you supposed to wear it over everything else not just on its own? Does it have liner?
>>18657689Military grade means the department/ministry of defense creates a list of requirements, then solicits bids from manufacturers to see if they can meet those requirements, and whoever can meet the requirements for the cheapest price gets the contract to make it for the military It's commonly believed military stuff is shit, but the department of defense has pretty specific and strict requirements. But it's true that whoever can meet the requirements the cheapest is who gets the contract
>>18657643>>18657689The truth is really somewhere in the middle. Military people like to complain/joke about stuff being built by the lowest bidder, but it's really the lowest bidder that meets or exceeds certain standards and requirements, and sometimes those standards are higher than typical civilian stuff. Sometimes stuff is junk but other times you end up with really nice stuff like Arcteryx backpacks and so on. Also, a lot of people buying their own stuff isn't so much because the issue gear is low quality, it's often just that it's designed around different needs and priorities (durability instead of comfort for example, you see that a lot with boots in particular) or it's just kind of outdated since it takes ages for new stuff to be approved, procured, and issued.
>>18657639I'm not sure exactly what you mean by parka. Whether it keeps you warm or not also depends on it's use. For example, some of the "Cold Weather Gear" tops are primarily outer shells for layering, not supposed to be worn by themselves as what keeps you from being cold by itself. A lot of the stuff is supposed to be worn in a specific way.>>18657643This is somewhat true. Everything I've been issued has been for the most part good enough. The only things I've purchased to replaced what I have been issued was socks, underwear, sleep map, gloves, and hygiene bag. I also purchased boots specifically for rucking, but the issued boots are good enough for day to day stuff. A lot of people have their feet messed up by the issued boots because the people at BCT a lot of the times just look at your feet and guess your boot size. If you try to say they don't fit, they just say "they will fit" and move you along lol>>18657754It really depends on which layer the guy is talking about, but a lot of the time you're first supposed to have silkies or waffles under your OCP top, then a jacket of some kind. I don't know the full cold weather gear layering method since I've never been to JPMRC or any super cold place, so I never take out my cold weather gear.
Why is this board obsessed with military parkas? You fags look like H&M from 2012.
>>18657639Military surplus is a rather general term covering gear from different countries and time periods, which can be of various qualities. Specific gear can also be a hit or miss design when it comes to popularity nf standing the test of time.Usually we think of cold war era gear which was made for much larger armies (soldiers in the hundreds of thousands or millions) and low tech material. Surplus from the 2000s GWOT and onwards are generally of better quality and designed with more consideration for the user, with the trend being smaller, but better trained and equipped armies.
>>18657639If it's relatively modern US gear it's only a single layer of a set. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extended_Cold_Weather_Clothing_SystemYou probably want to use some layers anyways.
