appleburger17 t1_itlpk8e wrote on October 24, 2022 at 3:58 PM

Reply to comment by 99available in Just realized old friend and I have been together for about 30 years... No brand just remember getting it in a military surplus store when I was still a kid. by wrong_kiddo

I don't think anyone cares but ok.

99available t1_itofbyy wrote on October 25, 2022 at 3:13 AM

Ok I really don't understand. I worked 35 years with the military, I know mil spec and that is not. Gee I wasn't wishing eternal damnation on the guy. A comment is a comment and I commented, is that ok?

I know people who think anything you buy in a "military surplus" store is really military surplus or buy "genuine" USAF A-2s made in China.

appleburger17 t1_itog04b wrote on October 25, 2022 at 3:18 AM

Cool story. Nobody is talking about mil spec but you.

Faeglantina t1_itotby1 wrote on October 25, 2022 at 5:30 AM

They just said they got it at a military surplus store and that it’s lasted a really long time. You don’t even seem to dispute that. It doesn’t look military, but OP’s not claiming it is.

99available t1_itssui3 wrote on October 26, 2022 at 1:09 AM

You are being polite. My point was lots of people, yes lots of people, believe they are getting real military surplus when they get something from MilTec or Rothco in a "military surplus" store.

As I said if he's happy I am happy for him. I just know the extra work and expense that goes into real milspec grade equipment. Never cheap out when your life is at risk. If not, pay for pretty colors and reward workers in China.

And I know some countries like GB and France do get stuff from China, it's a free world for some.

Faeglantina t1_iu27vkm wrote on October 28, 2022 at 12:30 AM

Buy it for life is about items that have proven or will likely prove their usability for an unusually long time relative to others of their type.

I have had my tea kettle for a very, very long time. Get a lot of use out of it. However, contrary to how I may feel some mornings, my life does not actually depend on its continued functioning. It is not a military spec tea kettle. It’s just far outlasted cuter tea kettles or ones with more novel electronic features. There’s a vast middle ground between having your life depend on something functioning in a very high stress/stakes environment and throwing $20 at a novelty Hello Kitty tea kettle that may slowly poison me with lead.

My tea kettle is French though. For all I know, their military may consider morning tea or coffee a matter of life or death.

99available t1_iu2a8d4 wrote on October 28, 2022 at 12:48 AM

Ok so? The thing about the French is they are not wound too tight.

I have an Opinel knife I have carried for over fifty years. Bought it in a small town in the Massif Central so I could feed chunks of apple to a friendly French mule.

The French soldiers I know usually start their day with a swig of Calvados.