Ah, the people you meet at gun shows. Headed over to the local gun show today with the intention of Not Buying A Damn Thing. Didn’t quite go as planned.
Found a gentleman, probably in his fifties, sitting at a table full of misc. gear….lotsa webbing, pouches, some Surefire stuff, ACOG, older gen. GPS, etc, etc. He had a military look to him…you know, short hair, large and stout but not really fat. We got to chatting as I was examining his stuff. Turns out he was a contractor who was getting out of the biz after spending eight years in Iraq. Yeah, whatever….anyone can say they were an ‘operator’ in Iraq. And then he pulled up his iPad and showed me pictures of him in some sandy environ shooting full-auto stuff….and the footlockers he had all his gear in were marked Unity Resource Group, a ‘private military company’. So, I guess he walked it as he talked it.
Anyway, he had some very cool pieces of gear and I couldnt help but get some goodies. Picked up a bunch of Blackhawk and Paraclete magazine pouches in desert and OD for $5 ea. Picked up a SureFire Millennium Weapon Light for $150, which was an ok deal. But the deal that really had me scratching for a way to make it happen was one of these (Vertical Foregrip LED WeaponLight ) for $300 and , man, I wanted that. But, alas, no way to make it happen without some amazingly bad consequences. So I consoled myself with what I had gotten already and moved on.
Not much else at the show jumped out at me, but it was nice to see the usual familiar faces. Main topic of conversation, other than the election, was how just a week ago it had been 80 degrees and where the heck is the heat in this building?
Go over to Modernsurvivalonline blog and watch the video from Afghanistan…..
Great story. I’m glad the guy made it out alive.
I was at a gun show today in the Valley Forge PA area. We got to spend a little time at the Valley Forge National Historical Park- it’s really inspiring.
Bought a few items at the gun show- nothing too exciting.
What was interesting is the recent increase in the number of dealers offering long term food storage items (not just the Wise brand) and related non-gun survival items, including things like solar generators and “mayday” bars. Despite the increase in these type of items, my dear wife is still reluctant to call me a trend setter.
BTW, did you ever run into a surplus dealer / character named Hayes in your local Missoula travels? Hayes (that’s his first name) has some interesting items, to say the least.
I suspect youre thinking of Hayes Ottoupalik…our local military history expert and tank collector. I’ve known Hayes for years and years. He’s interesting, to say the elast. Pretty abrasive too.
Isn’t that part of his charm? LOL
I’ve got one of those Surefire M900′s with blue nav lights I’ve been thinking of selling for 2 years now. I just never get around to listing the dumb thing.