Some that come to mind are:

Benchmade - knives Darn Tough - socks Carhartt - good work gear Doc martens - footwear

What are some good reputable brands that you have had for 5 years + with little to no issues or with a lifetime warranty.

  • fortniteplayaOP
    3·
    11 months ago

    I didn’t think about military surplus stores. There seems to be some items that people really enjoy, like the army poncho liners or old ammo canisters for containers.

    I’ve been looking for a genuine army poncho liner but can only find knock offs online and cant find a reputable surplus store online if it exists

    • Sterile_Technique@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      11 months ago

      I was Air Force, so no idea if our rain gear was comparable to the Army poncho. Ours didn’t strike me as anything special, but then again the one I was issued was several sizes too large, so I kinda hated that thing by default.

      The best military surplus stores are going to be the ones near military bases - they have constant stream of new inventory coming in from folks who separate and want to make a quick buck pawning off their issued shit.

      And while there are definitely a few gems among military inventory, don’t make the mistake of thinking military = high quality or even high durability. To the contrary, most of it’s the result of bidding wars for a government contract, resulting in the absolute cheapest shit available.

      Idr the brand, but sticking with the boots example, the ones I was issued in basic training barely made it to the end of basic training. Those things were absolute trash.

      • ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com
        1·
        11 months ago

        The poncho liner is often referred to as a woobie if you know that name. Afaik the “on brand” ones are made by the blind kids. Something something school for the blind or whatever it is.

        • Sterile_Technique@lemmy.worldEnglish
          1·
          11 months ago

          I’m actually having a hard time finding a shot the ABU rain gear liner that I was issued… closest I’m seeing is the pic below, but that thing actually looks decent.

          Ours was a material that looked similar to that, but shaped more like a vest - nothing went over our arms. It was completely nonfunctional outside of the actual raincoat shell though - you couldn’t just wear like a vest or put it under the ABU top for a little extra warmth. It was cut in a way that it’d just fall off without being buttoned into the shell.

          …I wonder if there was some supply issue, and the ones we were issued were a shitty backup. /shrug.