was plodding around the blogosphere and got into a little thread about catalog shopping.
Where do we get most of our cool toys from? If you think about it, many of the things we need in our quest for preparedness have a certain military quality to them. Not necessarily because we’re militaristic or gun-centric, but simply because most military gear is built to be rugged, reliable, mass produced, durable and tough enough to withstand the abuses of a buncha tired and careless troops.
First off, eBay. Yes, it’s run by anti-gun, panty-wearing, Obama-loving, Volvo-driving, green-weenies outta California. And they’re in bed with equally liberal anti-gun PayPal. But, sometimes you gotta bite the bullet and deal with the devil. eBay has been my go-to source for things like TM & FM series of military manuals (the ones that arent available as .pdf’s, anyway), commo wire, field phones, Hardigg & Pelican cases, seismic intrusion systems, medical gear, camping gear, fastex stuff, surplus field gear, oddball surplus, etc, etc. There are several surplus vendors on there who have some amazing selections of goodies. The trick is to have excellent search engine skills. Searching for a TA-312 will bring them up, but not everyone knows what a TA-312 is..they might have listed their auction as ‘field phones’, ‘army phones’ or even ‘handcrank phone’….so be broad in your search terms and refine them in each subsequent search. When you find a vendor with cool stuff, bookmark that vendors auction list so you can check back and scroll through their offerings every so often..I find the coolest stuff that I didnt even know I was looking for that way.
Sportsmans Guide HQ catalog (the website has stuff from all of their catalogs, there is no specific site for the HQ stuff) – this is the surplus side of Sportsmans Guide. They get some great stuff through there from time to time. Many times it is of limited quantity so if you want to jump on it, you gotta jump fast. They have pretty good customer service and on the few times I’ve been unhappy with something, they’ve squared it up nicely. Be sure to note that ‘mil spec’, ‘mil style’ and ‘mil type’ are not the same as ‘mil surp’. When they say mil -spec, -style, or -type it means a made in China knock off of the genuine article. They only call the real things surplus. Be aware of that. SG also has a Shooters catalog which is, naturally, more gun oriented. Of the three catalogs, I find the HQ Surplus catalog to be the one I drool over most. Always read it, cover to cover, there are some great deals hidden in there.
Cheaper Than Dirt – I dont normally order from them too much since they seldom have anything I want, but as of late they are my #1 source for G3/HK91/PTR-91 stuff. I purchased over 500 magazines from them, a dozen stock sets, cleaning kits and slings. Things arent always in as good a condition as advertised, but thats made up for by the low prices. For example, out of 500 magazines, 6% were rejects. Thats 30 mags out of 500…since the mags were only ninety seven cents each, that bumped my final cost to $1.03 each. I can live with that. I always order at least 20%-50% more than I need, just in case theres a lemon in there.
Old Grouch – This is a new one I found on arfcom a while back. What was important about this one was that they have a fairly active Facebook page that lists new items and specials. This is important because sometimes they get something that is amazingly cool but also amazingly limited in terms of quantity. The Hardigg 12-rifle case I got a few months back for $75 was an example of that. They sold out of those in about a day, I think. Theyve got some nice stuff, customer service is good, and theyre online presence is entertaining.
Coleman’s Surplus – These guys I found through eBay. They have a presence there as well as a website. Another place with a better-than-average selection of military surplus stuff.
Then there’s the specialty stuff. If there’s an accessory or part I need for the HKlones, RTG is my first choice (once Im sure CTD doesn’t have it cheaper). For our Glocks, the guys over at Lone Wolf are usually our first stop. It’s expensive stuff, but its really good quality stuff..when I’m needing a bombproof pack or bag I usually head for Kifaru.
Everything else is usually sourced out locally or purchased as the opportunity arises. For example, I get my hard-to-find steel wire shelving accessories from Global but I get the actual shelving itself from local sources, garage sales, and office supply surplus stores.
Who do I not do business with any more? Major Surplus used to have great stuff but it seems 90% of their stuff is made in China/Taiwan knockoffs with marginal utility. But they used to be a great source. Century Arms is okay for the infrequent piece of surplus gear (like fuel and water cans) but stay the heck away from any gun they put together.
Sometimes the vendor is less important than the product. For example, I like Hardigg/Pelican cases so, really, the only question there is finding a vendor who is efficient and cheap.
Do this sort of thing long enough and you start learning which vendors and sources are good and which ones arent. Which is good, because gearing up for TEOTWAWKI can get pretty gear-intensive sometimes.
