milsurp_scout_14

I've recently stumbled into some ordnance and begun going down that collecting rabbit trail. Saved a couple mortar rounds--one is a 60mm M49A2 round marked 'Inert Loaded w/o fuze', dated December 1967. The other was turned into a fantastic lamp at some point; it is marked M52 on the fuze...I'm going to hazard a guess this one is an 81mm.

Nice finds Ray42; those look like some awesome older pieces! I didn't pull a single thing out in the last 2-3 weeks of October. Till next year I suppose...

Here's one of the most interesting MRE articles I've ever read! As quoted from the article, "Since then, the original simple brown MRE bag has undergone two major and several minor updates. The first major update occurred in 1996 and changed the color of the bag from dark brown to a tan color and introduced new bag graphics.". Entire article here https://www.507arw.afrc.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/169252/things-you-didnt-know-about-meals-ready-to-eat/#:~:text=MREs (Meals%2C Ready-to,and introduced new bag graphics.

I'll be there! Always a great show; if you're anywhere close, I'd recommend it!

Ohhh that P44 is awesome! Never found any of those in my area!

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.