MILITARIA

Call it a MASK unit. This faux-military “Minor Surgery” kit from Voodoo Tactical® comes in a 7" x 5" x 2-1/2" OD 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. And remember: reenacting actual combat surgery without a license is still not allowed.

This never-used 100% cotton French CCE F1 Field Camo hat is perfect for a small head, size 57. Marked “Tissage Mouline Thillot 1995” inside, which makes it new old stock, in great condition. Soft, crushable and lined, with a nice short bill. Sort of reminds us of those little hats cyclists wear, like in the Tour de France.

It's a mosquito hat for you, not a hat for a mosquito. Those are too small to stock. This is a Vietnam-era design olive-drab floppy hat with an integrated nylon mosquito net and a pair of lightweight spring-steel hoops to keep the net off your face. Measures 12" dia at the widest and is 15" long with a cord to tighten it below your chin. Unused surplus. It's never seen a mosquito.

You will survive, too, just like Gloria Gaynor, and in the woods, even. But only if you have this U.S. Army manual, cleverly titled: SURVIVAL, Department of the Army Field Manual FM21-76. It's 287 heavily illustrated pages of techniques for staying alive (add your own BeeGee jokes here) including orientation, food & cooking, fire- and shelter-making, rafts, animal, insect and plant recognition, and much more. This is the 1970 edition, but staying alive in the woods hasn't changed a whole lot since then. In soft-cover.

With this MIL-SPEC olive drab pistol belt set, you'll feel like you're taking a hike in basic training. Includes a standard pistol belt, adjustable up to 42” with a molle buckle; US army-style plastic canteen and aluminum canteen cup in a canteen cover with belt clips; and an adjustable nylon canvas suspender. March, soldier.

Blank dog tags, ready to punch. Each set measures 2" x 1-1/8" x 1/32" thick in matte stainless steel with (2) ball chains, one 24" long and one 4-1/2" long. You get (2) sets of (2) tags, with (4) chains altogether. Made in the USA.

These surplus M75 gas masks from the Hungarian military are used but in good shape. They're rubberized textile with some aluminum and leather parts, and come in a (4)-compartment bag with an adjustable shoulder strap, belt loops/clips on the back, and a slot for a nametag. Not for actual gaseous use or any type of survival—these are for collectors and costume purposes only. (And, btw, if you leave the TE 40mm filter off, you'll look like you're from the Planet of the Ants.) Not marked for size, but they're definitely made for your smaller Hungarian noggins.

Wrap this digital camo cloth tape around your camera, rifle stock, spotting scope, lunch box, selfie stick or brother-in-law and make them all disappear in the woods. Our each is a roll of 2” wide x 33 feet of “Easy-Peel” tape.

Survival bracelets, actually. These are braided paracord, and quite attractive, but unbraid them and you’ve got (7) feet of military-grade (per the mfr) paracord with a safe working load of 100 lbs and a max working load of 550 lbs. Bracelet closes with black snap closures. Mildew and abrasion-resistant. In black, royal blue, red, purple-ish gray with black edges, and camo. We’ll pick, but order two or more and we’ll try to send different colors.

In nylon digital camo, this military radio bag measures 11" x 12" x 6" with adjustable straps on the side panels to pull them in, another to close the top, and a pair of female molle buckles to attach it to something else. Sew it all together, add a strap and you’ve got a great carry-all. Note openings at bottom corners. For you collectors, it’s marked  "APB03 RADIO POUCH SPM1C1-09-F-C002 8465015158636 F190686393 TAMCN NO. C54402F"

Couldn’t tell you, but it’s what soldiers put in this bandolier from the Chinese military. Measures 27” long x approx 5” high with (10) ammunition pockets at 1” x 4-1/2” (think Snickers bar size) with flaps closed by frog-like catches with wooden pegs. Includes adjustable 38” shoulder straps, too.

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?

That’s where these military overseas caps started out, on Deutsch köpfe. Slightly shorter than the U.S. garrison cap, and with a jaunty curve, front to back, they’re in dark blue-gray with orange piping and a German army insignia on the front. We’ll pick a pair in (2) different sizes 58-63, which is approx 7-1/4 to 7-7/8 on American heads, but the envelope design gives them some size leeway.

One thing we know for sure about this olive drab belt with a gunmetal gray molle buckle: it was made in China. We think it might be genuine military surplus, and where better for the Chinese military to make their stuff than in China? But we can’t be 100-percent positive it was made for soldiers. It sure looks and feels “military” to us. Has a nice commie star on the buckle, along with a symbol that looks Chinese enough to be Chinese. Expands to fit a 48” waist, and is 2” wide. We’ve seen them called “Chinese Pistol Belts,” but whatever they are, they’re awfully attractive. Ours have a little wear, as if they’ve been sitting in a wet Chinese warehouse, and you may see some corrosion on the eyelets, but we promise, they’re new.

Our used, green aluminum Czech military canteen includes a leather strap “bra” and a cloth holder/sheeth to keep it cool. Measures 9” x 5” x 2-1/2” and will probably have a plastic screw-on cap but might have a cork stopper instead. Like war, it’s unpredictable, and like your fourth-grade teacher used to say, you get what you get without throwing a fit. Now, go outside and play army.

But no tent. Or shelter half, as they say in the army, although we don't know whose army these are from.  You get a 3-section, 44" tent pole plus (3) steel stakes, all well used and all in an OD camo pouch. Your bivouac partner is supposed to have the other pole and pegs, so maybe he has your half of the pup tent, too.

When you need to keep your powder dry, you'll wish you had this army-green rubberized bag from the Dutch military. Measures 12" tall x 14" wide x 5" deep, with tri-fold top flaps for extra waterproofing and heavy-duty embedded feet on the bottom corners. No carrying straps, but it has plastic buckles on the back and sides to add them. Easy conversion to a messenger bag or a pair of panniers.

From the U.S. Navy stock of unused Gob hats (no, we don’t know where that name comes from) or more familiarly “dixie cups,” in white cotton twill. We’ll pick from sizes 7 through 8-1/2 if you’re going for the Cracker Jack look, but if you turn the sides down like Gilligan, one size fits every noggin. Upright, it should be squared up for authenticity. Group discount available for drama teachers staging South Pacific.