In the native tongue, that’s “Do you sew?” and anyone with this nifty German Army field sewing repair kit would have rightly answered “ja.” The olive drab fold-over pouch came straight from some German military warehouse to ours, and contains metal scissors, several kinds/colors of thread, assorted buttons, (5) sewing needles of various sizes, a metal thimble and safety pins. Pouch measures 4-1/2" x 3" x 2-3/4" when closed and 6” when flapped open and flat. Canvas tie keeps it snugly closed.

Call it a MASK unit. This faux-military “Minor Surgery” kit from Voodoo Tactical® comes in a 7" x 5" x 2-1/2" canvas pouch containing: 6” wound probe; 3-1/2” stitch scissors; 3-1/2” tweezers; 5-1/2” bandage scissors; 5” straight and curved forceps; a #3 scalpel handle with disposable blade; pupil flashlight with mm gauge; alcohol pads; antiseptic towelettes; some 5/0 monofilament; and a gram of antibiotic ointment. Pouch will be OD, Black or Coyote; we'll spin the wheel of fate to decide. And remember: reenacting actual combat surgery without a license is still not allowed.

Why did the Italian soldier bring a standard-issue sewing kit into battle? In case he needed to sew something! This military sewing kit is like new, in a neat khaki pouch, 6” x 5” when open and 2” x 5” rolled up. Inside are spools of white and dark green thread, coat buttons (classic plastic and ornate gold/metal), scissors, an assortment of sewing needles, and safety pins. You know the Italians, they’re all about style. This is a very nice collectible piece.

These wraparound Chinese military goggles have a camo pattern and come with one-piece, long, swappable clear and gray lenses. Also comes with both an elastic headband and standard temples that can be, yes, swapped out. Includes a cleaning cloth and an olive drab quarter-moon-shaped solid plastic case with a pair of clips that are probably meant to attach the case to a pistol belt. Includes instructions in Chinese because the guy who wrote them had no idea the goggles would end up in a warehouse in suburban Chicago.

Or do you say Seemannsmesser? Either way, this solid piece of engineering is a German-style sailor’s knife, or deck knife, which you can use as a regular pocket knife. Has a 4-1/4" handle, a 3” blade and a 3-1/2" marlin spike, a tool used in marine ropework. Shaped in the form of a polished metal cone tapered to a point, it’s used to unlay rope for splicing, untie knots, and as a toggle to join ropes under tension in a belaying-pin splice. Argggh, matey. Has a sturdy black plastic handle, and a little ring handle on one end. This is a solid tool with a nice blade.

Get in touch with your inner Schweizer with an aluminum Swiss military canteen cup. Surplus, and yours might even have a genuine Swiss dent or two. In a perfect oblong, unlike the U.S. kidney shape, they hold 14 oz and measure 4" x 2-3/4” x approx 4” tall with a pair of 2-1/2” folding handles that work better than the U.S. cup handle. All in all, the Swiss seem to have been way ahead of us, canteen-cup-wise.

Or peg o’ our tent, or something. Our each is a set of (6) aluminum pegs, 10" long x 1/2" OD x 3/8" ID cut at 30 degrees at the bottom for driving-into-the-ground efficiency, and drilled at the top to take 50 feet of 1/16” dia white nylon polyester rope (included). We’re pretty sure this was all used to stake something down, we just don’t know what. Whaddya got?

The kind that you hammer into the ground for to hold up your tent. Make that shelter-half, because these are from Uncle. Measure 12" long x 1-3/4" wide in a V-shape, in olive drab steel with a 1/4” bore for your rope, and shoulders to wrap the rope around. Condition/appearance varies based on which warehouse they've been stored in, but all are useable. Marked 97403-132227 E0136 MFR 92398, which is a lotta numbers for a tent stake, but that’s the gummint for you.

From the mid-20th-century German military, this is a fully functional field phone. Weighs in at 8.2 lbs, and comes self-contained in a 10-1/4" x 6-3/4" x 4-1/4" dark brown Bakelite case with a handset on a 4-foot cord, a 52” 2-pin jumper, 25” TT plug cord, ringer crank and a battery holder for the battery you’ll need to add. Should work with standard stereo speaker wire, and we’d get a pair of these phones if we were you. Small quantity available. These are surplus and have wear and tear on them. We will pick the nicest of the lot. 

No, don’t really go climb a glacier—at least not with these crampons from the French Alpine Legion. They worked great back in the day, when French soldiers used them to scale steep mountains during snow and ice storms in the French Alps. But anymore they’re just for show, or maybe some light-duty walking. You’ll get a pair of them, adjustable from size 7 to 12, made of molded metal—in France, of course.