Other than your weapon, what was your most prized possession?

[Michaelp]

Still carry a bringback TL 29.

Lost the pouch and pinchers eons ago.

[mike24d20]

They sure do come in handy. Have one army an navy also a few bosens knifes. Now if only could find where I placed them so I would not lose them.

[Dan In Indiana]

Still have on my key ring, a John Wayne from the 1st ever C-Rat box at ITR I opened while at MCB Camp Pendleton, 1966.

[Nick Riviezzo]

Michael Thompkins, what's the problem with the wife? Buy her one too. My wife and I both sleep under poncho liners year 'round. They are a little on the pricey side[$40.00 +] but man, there is no more comfortable sleeping gear on the planet. Need help getting one? PM me I'll see what I can do.BTW; they are now available in the new digital camo. Nick

[Michael Tompkins]

Michael Thompkins, what's the problem with the wife? Buy her one too. My wife and I both sleep under poncho liners year 'round. They are a little on the pricey side[$40.00 +] but man, there is no more comfortable sleeping gear on the planet. Need help getting one? PM me I'll see what I can do.BTW; they are now available in the new digital camo. Nick

Ha! Nick, I see them occasionally at the gun shows, but thanks for the offer! It's just that camo is not her colour! Mike

[Nick Riviezzo]

Mike, you are welcome ,seriously. I can sometimes buy them new in the AAFES clothing sales store on Ft. Rucker[depends on availabilty]. I have often wondered why the manufacturers don't make them in a civilian version in colors. I believe the would sell like hot cakes!. Nick

[TomSudz]

Nick, ebay has people selling them for under $20! Now, you can occasionally find them at http://www.unclesamsretailoutlet.com/home.php and right now they have the woodland camo gore-tex bivy covers for $37.99. Most of the places I've seen selling the bivy covers want around $100 for them. They also have the newer modular sleep systems ranging between $89.99 and $199.99 depending on number of pieces and condition. $99.99 gets you a 4 piece used system and $199.99 get you a 4 piece new system. I liked that "sleeping bag" because the whole thing compressed down enough that it didn't take up too much space and depending on time of year and weather, you could take only the parts you would need. Still, there's just something I love about the poncho liner.

[Nick Riviezzo]

Thanks Tom, I don't know about the places you mentioned but I bought 3[ for the grandkids] at the clothing sales a Ft. Rucker right before Christmas. They were $39.00 plus.I'm guessing that the E-pay ones are used?Is the stuff at unclesamsretailoutlet new and first quality gear? My grandkids go through poncho liners like poop through a goose! I have one old style sleeping bag with the cover, bag, inside bag[artic liner] that I bought at FT. Carson . Co.[ I could use the long "shoestring" to lace the bivy to the bag]They had the cold weather TA-50 that a lot of posts weren't authorized. Anyway I was just trying to be helpful. If someone wants me to get them one the cash register tape will be included. I did not offer to make a profit. Nick

[Bill D]

Careful, Nick. I don't think it is legal to buy Clothing Sales for others. Here at Fort Carson now, as retired military, I can't even go into clothing sales and buy. I wanted a set of GI goggles and had to go down to Glenn's Surplus to get them.

[TomSudz]

Nick, the retail outlet is an offshoot of the government site that auctions off pallet loads of surplus stuff. They finally got smart and realized that some people don't want a pallet of anything, but would buy single items. Some of the stuff is new and some is used and they tell you what condition it's in. Items change depending on what's available in the system. They have once fired brass, also (5.56, 7.62, .50). They sell the brass in lots of X number of rounds or lots of X pounds. As an example, 35 pounds of 5.56 (approximately 2500 casings) unpolished=$124.95 and polished=$144.95.

The ebay stuff is hit or miss. You can get new ones cheap, but you could end up with one of the crappy copies. I wouldn't for a moment think you'd be trying to make a profit, I was pointing out that there could be less expensive alternatives. What are your grandkids doing to them? They're harder on them than grunts? Oh, wait, they're kids, I've spent many an hour trying to figure out, "How the hell did they break that?"