is it worth heading out of Dublin to buy kit ?

masculinist

I am looking for a nice backpack and a few other items which caught my eye. I may be passing through those towns by car at some point anyway.

http://armyshop.ie Kildare

http://www.armysurplusireland.com Offaly


Does anyone have experience of these stores and the quality of their merchandise ? Is there anywhere in Dublin [or elsewhere] which would be recommended by readers ?

aaakev

Defo worth visiting other places! A lot of them usually have the same old ****e but every now and then ya find a jem of a shop! That one in Kildare is a new shop owned by a foreign guy and has some really cool gear, all the usual surplus gear for hunting and fishing but he had a big choice of knives and a lot of back packs, one of my mates spent a small fortune in there the week he opened stocking up!

masculinist

There are so many things on my wishlist I could literally start a new thread on each one

This looks very interesting for example

http://www.amazon.com/LifeStraw-Lifestraw-Personal-Water-Filter/dp/B00N9GFMR8/ref=pd_sim_468_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=1KMNRD9YXYEZ2SB6GARK

ShadowFox

masculinist wrote: »

There are so many things on my wishlist I could literally start a new thread on each one

This looks very interesting for example

http://www.amazon.com/LifeStraw-Lifestraw-Personal-Water-Filter/dp/B00N9GFMR8/ref=pd_sim_468_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=1KMNRD9YXYEZ2SB6GARK

Going by the YouTube reviews of the life straw a lot say it's like sucking a brick through a straw . I've no experience with it personally I'm still using the katadine hiker I bought on eBay years ago and a couple of frontier pro ones as backup

ShadowFox

masculinist wrote: »

I am looking for a nice backpack and a few other items which caught my eye. I may be passing through those towns by car at some point anyway.

http://armyshop.ie Kildare

http://www.armysurplusireland.com Offaly


Does anyone have experience of these stores and the quality of their merchandise ? Is there anywhere in Dublin [or elsewhere] which would be recommended by readers ?

I buy 80% of my kit on line even with added postage it works out cheaper. I used to get a lot from a guy in carlow but the website isn't active anymore

my3cents

I'd go with buying online, there's too small a market here so anyone selling from a bricks and mortar shop wants top dollar.

If your heading anywhere, head out, use what gear you've got then sit down and work out what you absolutely need, what you should have and then think what luxury items would make it that much easier. Buy some new gear then repeat.

Must have would be water purification tablets a fiver or less which puts the life straw in the luxury category - or does it. Just trying to make the point that you only really know if you've tried the cheaper option first. Don't think I need a life straw instead think I need a method of water purification and then solve the problem. Nothing against life straws but how are you going to use one to make a brew?

masculinist

ShadowFox wrote: »

Going by the YouTube reviews of the life straw a lot say it's like sucking a brick through a straw . I've no experience with it personally I'm still using the katadine hiker I bought on eBay years ago and a couple of frontier pro ones as backup

ShadowFox wrote: »

I buy 80% of my kit on line even with added postage it works out cheaper. I used to get a lot from a guy in carlow but the website isn't active anymore

my3cents wrote: »

I'd go with buying online, there's too small a market here so anyone selling from a bricks and mortar shop wants top dollar.

If your heading anywhere, head out, use what gear you've got then sit down and work out what you absolutely need, what you should have and then think what luxury items would make it that much easier. Buy some new gear then repeat.

Must have would be water purification tablets a fiver or less which puts the life straw in the luxury category - or does it. Just trying to make the point that you only really know if you've tried the cheaper option first. Don't think I need a life straw instead think I need a method of water purification and then solve the problem. Nothing against life straws but how are you going to use one to make a brew?

Cheers. Where do you guys buy online ?

The life straw is something which fascinates me in the context of surviving a shtf scenario. I'd be the guy they call crazy for having this stuff but nobody expected a tsunami and earthquake to hit Japan either , did they ? And people stuck on the roof of their houses would have been dying of thirst for quite some time. And nobody expected that sort of thing to happen in the very first world and rich country of Japan.

my3cents

Its easy to buy gear if you can afford it. There will always be one more must have gadget. But when the SHTF you can't carry all of it so you need to have planned your response. I have comprehensive BOB's that are lugable plus car kits and stores and equipment for bugging in. Then of course there is the EDC.

People will shout its false economy but I often buy cheap gear so a particular need is covered and then upgrade when I can find better quality stuff second hand or in sales. Having some cheap gear also allows me to duplicate. BOB's, car kits and bug in gear all have duplicates so gear gets moved around as better stuff is acquired. The cheaper stuff then goes away and can be used by visitors or neighbors in a situation.

ShadowFox

I buy a lot on eBay lately I've bought a couple of knockoff spydercos off aliexpress and they are fine for 15 dollars shipped they will do for me and if I loose it it's not a big deal. I highly recommend the Ganzo 720 for a big heavy folder. The frountier pro water filter is great nice small compact screws on to most plastic bottles or used as a straw . The Sawyer filter seems to be the new hot item it's cheap too. As my 3 cents said buy cheaper items first for 2 reasons 1 you get your kit sorted quicker 2 you find out if you really needed the item in the first place . I've traded a ton of kit over the last few months that I bought but never used . Lately I've been using bank line instead of paracord a hell of a lot cheaper and will do for basic needs plus it's lighter and smaller sized so you can carry more of it

lostboy75

I don't agree at all on the buying knock offs i.e. spydercos, benchmake, etc. especially when there are Chinese companies making very good original designs. or in some cases homages to a know knife or in the case of the Ganzo 720, known knives.
once they put another companies maker mark on it though i would not touch it.
SanRenMu, also make some very good knives. but they have a few that a direct copies of spydercos, but with no stamp. and in some cases a piece of plastic that looks like a cheap thumb stud, but to me looks like they were just trying to hide the spydie hole.
they are plenty of unique quality Chinese knives that are cheap, but good. spend money on those to encourage them to stop directly copying, and go the route of unique, or at least a homage.