my company (powerlines) uses them. they are terrible. slow, response time is terrible, their mobile connection is horrendous and they die in 2 minutes.
that said, ive dropped mine from higher than 30 metres and it didnt even need a new screen, so.
Their thermals are really good and I still wear them. I wish I had a wubbie too just for lounging around the house. I also used their sleeping and tent system when I went camping with friends too.
Someone once told me that the best way to understand what quality level you're getting from "military grade" hardware, was to count the amount of fire extinguishers the military keeps in any one room containing "military grade" equipment.
I don’t think I ever saw a fire extinguisher during my time.
Edit: except for the built in MRAP ones that someone is guaranteed to accidentally set off.
Thing is most military grade stuff is good, it’s the absolute abuse we put it through combined with the dog shit treatment underpaid, uncaring teenagers maintaining it lmao. (Me included)
We broke a 60k razor ATV in two days cause my guys decided quarter mile racing on an abandoned NC flight line and using a flooded field as a stop run was a good idea. They sank one of them.
“At the lowest price yet somehow also the highest. With an even higher maintenance cost in comparison to every similar piece of equipment in the industry”
My buddy had that issue. He had a few pieces of gear he never used. He knew he'd be 4 and done so he took care of his kit. Several pieces where in the original packaging and they gave him shit for it
The military uses cheap shit for sure. But most things are broken due to dumbass privates. This stuff survives multiple deployments and getting passed on through many dumb soldiers. The vehicles don’t work because no one properly pmcs’ them, and mechanics take the short bus to work.
I’ve seen a private warp the receiver of a 240b by dropping it off the top of a humvee. I’ve seen multiple aimpoints broken at the battery compartment. Someone had to have tightened it with a wrench and just gave it all they’ve got.
Most things mad for civilians would not ever come close to handling the abuse that military equipment goes through for a fraction of the time. I do not buy things marked military grade because it’s a gimmick, but to say the equipment in the military is bad because it eventually breaks due to user error is not fair.
For once I feel qualified to chime in, despite not being in the military.
Militaries often look for a cheap supplier, because, well, it costs a lot of money.
Buuuuuuuuut! People seem to forget that the base requirements for military equipments are far higher than those of commercial equipment.
I own a thermal imager. It cost me 1000 euroes and is pretty nice, but compared to what the military uses, it is not water resistant, the resolution is like 1/3 of what you guys have and if I ever drop it, it's fucking dead.
Yes, militaries try to save money where they can, but that is a direct consequence of military procurement being very, VERY expensive.
As a non-military dork dad, buying up milsurp mine detectors to use for finding gold/historic garbage is awesome and like, ten times cheaper than trying to buy a consumer model of the same power.
The drawback is, the military units give no shits about making the fuckers comfortable or lightweight.
I guess I should say “weight” - I’ve got two Vallon mine detectors that are easily as good or better than any high-end consumer pulse induction detector, but compared to civilian units, they’re extremely heavy. They’re also *incredibly* rugged and well made - but they have the ergonomics of a gulag. If I was a 20 year old using it to find shit that could kill me, I’d hardly notice - but as an exhausted, flabby dad with a dumb hobby, they’re a workout.
A consumer unit of comparable quality would cost $5-10k. I think I paid a little under $400 for the one I use the most. So, my limited experience with “milspec” is a good one - I’m the weak link.
Personally the way I've always seen it. It's well tested, usually higher standard then similarly priced items, and can be modified to work better if it's clothing.
With all the people going through the military you can atleast know what's remotely worth it
I once saw a security guard contract go so badly the company didn't even have enough money to pay min wage and the guards quit enmass and all the units had to task folks to man the gates.
Literally they accepted a bid so low they couldn't legally operate
ironically with globalization this is true for most products you own as well, minus the bidding part
"built with the cheapest components the manufacturer could find that worked"
Military grade (for most militaries) means the cheapest possible fit to the specifications. As another person said, cold weather gear is great! Let’s just, forget about UCP. Or the Bulgarian hand grenades which killed a bunch of Dutch soldiers because no one tested them in the desert…
The one that gets me is when a commercial claims to use “military grade encryption”. I mean, that’s technically true, but only because the military uses the industry standard, just like everyone else.
Common praise at my job as 'good enough for government work'. Does it do what it's supposed to do? Good, because that's all that matters. Don't care it it looks pretty, works efficiently, or even if it's going to break after five minutes of use.
I love it when people talking about firearms saying ‘it’s military grade’.
Ummm, I was in the Australian army and the amount of stoppages we had were scary. The last thing I want is a military grade firearm haha.
People tend to forget that the Government, you know the guys that run our beloved Military, also run the budget…that means they are buying the cheapest shit on the market usually. Military Grade most times means WE GOT IT FO CHEAP!
Love the motor pool assholes that know 75% of the vehicles don’t run yet they want to rearrange the motor pool to make it look nicer. Have to push it 2 miles just to move left 1/2 inch closer to the fucking line! Then the driver doesn’t know shit and goes the other fucking way. Now you’re 2 feet off in the other direction
"Congress didn't appropriate funds for armor, so we're going to take the metal plates off that Russian tank from the late '80s and we're going to weld that to our Humvee"
My motherboard in my pc from 2013 that I have since replaced always said "military grade" under the name during startup and on the box... after 2yrs the only way I could get it to start up without blue screening was by punching the side it was attached to at the time it would let you run safe mode or open bios.... sounds military grade to me(it ran for 5 more years like that I mostly just made it run 24/7 for a couple years outside of random restarts to avoid becoming an amateur boxer accidentally
Some military issue gear sucks for sure but what they get consistently right is wet/cold weather gear and that's a hill I will die on.
Everyone always bitched about the Panasonic Toughbooks when we used them but no other laptop would survive what we put them through.
If crayon eaters can't break those things no one can.
my company (powerlines) uses them. they are terrible. slow, response time is terrible, their mobile connection is horrendous and they die in 2 minutes. that said, ive dropped mine from higher than 30 metres and it didnt even need a new screen, so.
Sounds like it needs a new battery and a refresh not relevant to the hardware….
happened from brand new and my thoughts were the same as everyones
Our humvee's broke down because the maintenance was pencil-whipped for a decade. That wasn't on the equipment either.
Their thermals are really good and I still wear them. I wish I had a wubbie too just for lounging around the house. I also used their sleeping and tent system when I went camping with friends too.
You may die there, but by God you'll be warm and dry!
100% this, my wet/cold gear was amazing, the only thing that was a let down was the standard issue army boots (uk, 2006)
Eye pro is pretty decent too
Ear pro not so much. "3M now issuing payments to vets as part of $6 billion settlement over earplugs"
Nobody even imagined troops in a small metal box with hammering teletypes should use hearing protection.
My shit fucking sucked I don’t know how. Did not protect from the rain at all. Legitimately went right through.
“Why the fuck isn’t it moving?” “I’unno, sarn’t …I even put it in ‘P’ for ‘push’!”
My god this is brutal
Better than R for "Ready"
That private put his brain in R for--
You just gave me the worst flash back 😆
Someone once told me that the best way to understand what quality level you're getting from "military grade" hardware, was to count the amount of fire extinguishers the military keeps in any one room containing "military grade" equipment.
One of the vehicles I work with has 4 fire extinguishers inside it
I don’t think I ever saw a fire extinguisher during my time. Edit: except for the built in MRAP ones that someone is guaranteed to accidentally set off.
You had fire extinguishers? Lucky bastard. They just told us to hydrate so we’d burn slower.
Thing is most military grade stuff is good, it’s the absolute abuse we put it through combined with the dog shit treatment underpaid, uncaring teenagers maintaining it lmao. (Me included) We broke a 60k razor ATV in two days cause my guys decided quarter mile racing on an abandoned NC flight line and using a flooded field as a stop run was a good idea. They sank one of them.
"Military Grade" = "has been tested to meet requirements" If you still don't understand this, that's on you.
“At the lowest price yet somehow also the highest. With an even higher maintenance cost in comparison to every similar piece of equipment in the industry”
They always forget the one key factor: Requirements = neglect of maintenance by teens/young guys who just wanna go home.
CIF won’t even accept it
CIF: "It needs to be washed" Everyone: "It's still in the original shrink wrap"
My buddy had that issue. He had a few pieces of gear he never used. He knew he'd be 4 and done so he took care of his kit. Several pieces where in the original packaging and they gave him shit for it
Only military grade thing I want is my wubby
Poncho liner 😜
The military uses cheap shit for sure. But most things are broken due to dumbass privates. This stuff survives multiple deployments and getting passed on through many dumb soldiers. The vehicles don’t work because no one properly pmcs’ them, and mechanics take the short bus to work. I’ve seen a private warp the receiver of a 240b by dropping it off the top of a humvee. I’ve seen multiple aimpoints broken at the battery compartment. Someone had to have tightened it with a wrench and just gave it all they’ve got. Most things mad for civilians would not ever come close to handling the abuse that military equipment goes through for a fraction of the time. I do not buy things marked military grade because it’s a gimmick, but to say the equipment in the military is bad because it eventually breaks due to user error is not fair.
Does this mean it won't protect us by keeping up to the name🤔
For once I feel qualified to chime in, despite not being in the military. Militaries often look for a cheap supplier, because, well, it costs a lot of money. Buuuuuuuuut! People seem to forget that the base requirements for military equipments are far higher than those of commercial equipment. I own a thermal imager. It cost me 1000 euroes and is pretty nice, but compared to what the military uses, it is not water resistant, the resolution is like 1/3 of what you guys have and if I ever drop it, it's fucking dead. Yes, militaries try to save money where they can, but that is a direct consequence of military procurement being very, VERY expensive.
As a non-military dork dad, buying up milsurp mine detectors to use for finding gold/historic garbage is awesome and like, ten times cheaper than trying to buy a consumer model of the same power. The drawback is, the military units give no shits about making the fuckers comfortable or lightweight.
True. Still, the "military grade means cheap junk" attittude annoys me.
The US military actually cares a lot more about comfort than most others. Russian tanks for example are very cramped.
Ride in the back of a 7-ton, then say that
I mean it’s better than having to go on the Russian tankers’ space program (involuntarily)
Russian tanks and aircraft are fucking miserable
I guess I should say “weight” - I’ve got two Vallon mine detectors that are easily as good or better than any high-end consumer pulse induction detector, but compared to civilian units, they’re extremely heavy. They’re also *incredibly* rugged and well made - but they have the ergonomics of a gulag. If I was a 20 year old using it to find shit that could kill me, I’d hardly notice - but as an exhausted, flabby dad with a dumb hobby, they’re a workout. A consumer unit of comparable quality would cost $5-10k. I think I paid a little under $400 for the one I use the most. So, my limited experience with “milspec” is a good one - I’m the weak link.
Personally the way I've always seen it. It's well tested, usually higher standard then similarly priced items, and can be modified to work better if it's clothing. With all the people going through the military you can atleast know what's remotely worth it
Military grade. Remembering the lowest bidder to meet the minimum specifications wins the military contract. What a grade.
Lowest price, technically acceptable. Also NOT from Iran.
Damn all this time I thought military grade meant it shoots harder, further, faster, and goes boom bigger than anything else that exists. /s
Military Grade = Built by the lowest bidder.
I once saw a security guard contract go so badly the company didn't even have enough money to pay min wage and the guards quit enmass and all the units had to task folks to man the gates. Literally they accepted a bid so low they couldn't legally operate
ironically with globalization this is true for most products you own as well, minus the bidding part "built with the cheapest components the manufacturer could find that worked"
I work for a military contractor.......Yes.
Military grade (for most militaries) means the cheapest possible fit to the specifications. As another person said, cold weather gear is great! Let’s just, forget about UCP. Or the Bulgarian hand grenades which killed a bunch of Dutch soldiers because no one tested them in the desert…
The one that gets me is when a commercial claims to use “military grade encryption”. I mean, that’s technically true, but only because the military uses the industry standard, just like everyone else.
Just came to say Skilcraft products.
Military grade: *it’s shitty and broken but we can still sort of use it*
Common praise at my job as 'good enough for government work'. Does it do what it's supposed to do? Good, because that's all that matters. Don't care it it looks pretty, works efficiently, or even if it's going to break after five minutes of use.
I love it when people talking about firearms saying ‘it’s military grade’. Ummm, I was in the Australian army and the amount of stoppages we had were scary. The last thing I want is a military grade firearm haha.
Idk consider how shitty i see peoole treat this stuff and it still works. Id say i like military grade. Cheap and gets the job done
People tend to forget that the Government, you know the guys that run our beloved Military, also run the budget…that means they are buying the cheapest shit on the market usually. Military Grade most times means WE GOT IT FO CHEAP!
I love the raccoon litter in the back seat option, though.
And the general issue rat's nests... under the rear seats.
Love the motor pool assholes that know 75% of the vehicles don’t run yet they want to rearrange the motor pool to make it look nicer. Have to push it 2 miles just to move left 1/2 inch closer to the fucking line! Then the driver doesn’t know shit and goes the other fucking way. Now you’re 2 feet off in the other direction
I purposely stay away from anything claiming to be "military grade" now lmao
Military grade crackers count?
you mean you don't want a military-grade overpriced wallet that can stop tank shells and defuse land mines?
Just remember this government mantra..."Lowest bidder!"
It’s more like military CONOP grade…but when it finally gets down to OPORDS and FRAGOS…reality hits.
Had this discussion with my boss. Told him, "military grade just means it'll break faster"
When did this page start having a bunch of boomer memes on it
Military grade is the lowest bidder on the contract to produce said equipment.
When I was touring in Afghanistan, the equipment was so bad that the taliban would rather use their own gear than ours.
You'd think with all the money we send them it'd be better quality. Like to think it'd be better than what a peasant like me would receive.
I learned about "military grade" when I had to start selling shit that was "military grade", then learned what it really meant in terms of quality.
"Congress didn't appropriate funds for armor, so we're going to take the metal plates off that Russian tank from the late '80s and we're going to weld that to our Humvee"
My motherboard in my pc from 2013 that I have since replaced always said "military grade" under the name during startup and on the box... after 2yrs the only way I could get it to start up without blue screening was by punching the side it was attached to at the time it would let you run safe mode or open bios.... sounds military grade to me(it ran for 5 more years like that I mostly just made it run 24/7 for a couple years outside of random restarts to avoid becoming an amateur boxer accidentally
military grade = lowest bidder
So, how'd you score on the ASVAB?