milsurp_scout_14

That's a nice full rack! I found a few OG107 pieces, including a real nice 4th Army patched top. Most of the rest worth buying has been foreign patterns.

Nice finds! Anytime you can get an M1 helmet for $5, it's a good day! I've only managed to pull about 15 pieces out this year; it's been fairly dry in general.

I appreciate the input. The blue in the ranks did make me think AF, but I didn't note the tape on the wrong side. Oh well, it was cheap.

Despite all the craziness 2020 has brought--at least in my locale, the Halloween stuff has already gone up at thrift stores--which makes for an awesome source of potential militaria finds. Gear is normally scarce, but you can find quite a few gems on the costume racks. Of course, you'll have to wade through lots of UCP and ABU junk... Feel free to post your scores here as you find them! I've found about a dozen pieces worth buying (including some DBDU 'Chocolate Chip', AOR2, Swiss Alpenflage, and a bunch of recent issue M65 jackets), but here's my best find so far:

The one thing I notice immediately on the red crosses is the marks left by another shell being stacked on top of it. The fakers tend to mark up their crosses with 'wear marks', but I don't think anyone has yet mashed another shell down on top to leave those marks. Usually you only see that when the shell has been in military service/ storage.

Got this strap in a box of gear. It is a leather strap with canvas piece sewn onto about a third of it. Large buckle, and split end with 3 holes per split. It is marked 'J.Q.M.D. 1942 J.B.'. Usually when it's an unidentified strap, it turns out to be radio gear, but I'm thinking this could be saddle/ tack related. Anyone know what it's for?

Due to the 36th infantry patch, I'm leaning towards the idea that 'TMI' and the cartouche are from the Texas Military Institute. Likely the name was a student. The 36th was out of Texas, and it's possible this belt was used by a JROTC student, who got the patch and sewed it on (all pure conjecture). The cartouche looks vaguely like the same shield shape with lines running through it, as the school's logo.

Nice finds! The DCU MOLLE stuff is some of the most visually attractive gear to me. Those 6-mag bandoleers are pretty handy too.

Wow! That's a whole lot more than I've ever been able to find out about these sets! As an aside, I've had a few of the woodland MP5 mag pouches, before I sold my whole lot of the woodland gear. Here's a photo.

As I've been told, these were issued to various special forces units (SEALS being one) in the very late 1990s-mid 2000s. Each man could customize his rig to his own preferences, with wide range of pouches. The DCU camo sets seem to be a lot scarcer than the woodland sets. Realistically (disregarding the $250-$500 sets on eBay), a complete woodland set sells for around $100; I'd guess it'd be closer to $150/175 for the DCU. Your set appears complete as far as I can tell.

I'll be there (Secondhand Grunt Military Surplus) with a table of more common field gear items, and the always popular Dollar Box. Not sure of spot yet, but normally I'm in the south room directly in front of the door.

The cover is US issue of roughly 1973-75 manufacture, as that was the only ALICE covers they made with the vertical stitching in the front, and reinforced area around the snaps. Canteen doesn't look US issue; it appears too slender and that's an odd shade of green.

Per the Sportsman's Guide, who currently sells them, that is a Dutch first aid bag.

Recently picked up this belt, and have been unable to identify it. I am leaning towards it being non-military issue, but really don't know. There are a total of 8 pockets; all the rimless snaps have the Mills bullet logo stamped into them (Pat dated 1907). Pockets are puckered at the bottom, and are somewhat smaller and shorter than those on a typical M1907 belt--I'm not confident you could get a 5rd stripper clip in one. There are however rust stains under at least one flap, signalling possible use of clips at one time. The belt doesn't have a buckle to speak of; it seems to just

Here's one I picked up yesterday. Made by Rock Island and dated 1904, with heavily stamped markings. Any ideas on which unit it may have belonged to?