Military paraphernalia

[ColbyBruce]

My wife likes to wander through junk/thrift/antique shops and drag me along. Sometimes oddball things turn up. Yesterday I saw a military mine sweeper kit, still in the crate, for a mere $700.00. I suppose such a thing could come in handy, depending on where one lived, but a $150.00 metal detector from Academy Sports could possibly work just as well.

 

[desi2358]

Yeah, there has been a lot of surplus gear sold to the civilian market over the years. Some is practical and useful, some is best suited to a military collectors interests. I've seen mine detectors, artillery rangefinders (big ones!) and many other things at surplus stores and gunshops. Sometimes find such stuff at yard sales too...........

 

[Retired W4]

A nearby pawn shop has a mine sweeper AND a Geiger counter. Don't know if either works. I was more interested in the RPG 7 launcher but it was not for sale. Display only.

 

[pmanton]

I'm an old guy (86) I fondly remember the War Surplus stores in the 50s.
I remember lusting for a gun turret I saw in one of the stores.
I have no idea what I would have done with it.

 

[Faulkner]

I ran across a Civil Defense box of geiger counters not long ago. According to my internet search on the model number they were made between 1961 and 1964. A sheet inside the sealed box indicated they were last tested in 1982. I installed a battery and they seem to function.

 

[DWalt]

Back in my old home town, in the 1950s someone had taken over an abandoned shoe factory building and filled it with military surplus stuff. I remember it had lots of electronics items, but really, some of everything. But no guns or gun related items that I can remember.

 

[Hair Trigger]

A nearby pawn shop has a mine sweeper AND a Geiger counter. Don't know if either works. I was more interested in the RPG 7 launcher but it was not for sale. Display only.

Would you have been able to get ammo for it if it was for sale?

 

[Birdgun]

I've asked for my Christmas, since I was age 10, for an Army flame thrower like the one that I saw in an old War Movie. I told my parents it would have many uses. I could light the BBQ grill or Dad's cigarettes. I'm now age 78 and still see many practical uses for an Army flame thrower, but so far, nobody has seen fit to give me one. I wonder why?

 

[DWalt]

I've asked for my Christmas, since I was age 10, for an Army flame thrower like the one that I saw in an old War Movie. I told my parents it would have many uses. I could light the BBQ grill or Dad's cigarettes. I'm now age 78 and still see many practical uses for an Army flame thrower, but so far, nobody has seen fit to give me one. I wonder why?

I sort of remember that a workable military flame thrower is considered to be an illegal destructive device.

 

[cherrypointmarine]

Ah come on DWalt , I'm sure Birdgun will promise to never use it for anything but it's implied purpose .

 

[SMSgt]

I'm an old guy (86) I fondly remember the War Surplus stores in the 50s.
I remember lusting for a gun turret I saw in one of the stores.
I have no idea what I would have done with it.

Regular playgrounds for an imaginative nine-year-old they were.

 

[Birdgun]

When I was in the U.S. Army, we ate C-Rations. One of the items we used to keep, either on our key chain or on our dog tag chain, was the venerable can opener, the P38. I still keep a couple of P38's in my pocket and when I see an old vet wearing something (usually a cap) that identifies him as a veteran, I'll approach him an say, "I like your hat and I have for you something you appreciated." Then I'll give him a P38. It always brings a smile from these old guys. Many tell me they still have theirs at home.

Salute,
Birdgun

 

[DWalt]

I did once see a flamethrower used in a reenactment at the Nimitz Museum of the Pacific War in Fredericksburg TX. The Museum is a must-see if you are ever in the area.

 

[Rustyt1953]

I have carried this for 53 years.

 

[DWalt]

I have carried this for 53 years.

I carried a P38 in my wallet for a long time, but I don't know what happened to it. I actually needed to use it on a few occasions. Slow but it worked.

 

[Birdgun]

How to keep your P38 sterile.

One day when I was in the U.S. Army, I grabbed a P38 still in its wrapper out of a C-Rations case and read the instructions on the wrapper. (Yes, I was bored.) The instructions made me chuckle.

To this day I have never, ever, seen or heard of a service member using the hole in the P38 as instructed on the P38 wrapper.

P38 Wrapper.

God bless,
John T.

 

[Rustyt1953]

I use my P38 more than my pocket knife as it has myriad uses.

I can still open a can almost as fast as my electric can opener. Like riding a bike one never forgets.

 

[Greyman50]

Collected, bought and sold US militaria for about 50 years. A $700 mine sweeper is a RIP OFF even 30 years ago. Sadly most collectors are up in age or gone on and there are Very Few new collectors so values of just about everything has fallen.

 

[handejector]

I ran across a Civil Defense box of geiger counters not long ago. According to my internet search on the model number they were made between 1961 and 1964. A sheet inside the sealed box indicated they were last tested in 1982. I installed a battery and they seem to function.

If your skin blisters and your hair starts fallin out, better try new battreys.

 

[LoboGunLeather]

When I was in the U.S. Army, we ate C-Rations. One of the items we used to keep, either on our key chain or on our dog tag chain, was the venerable can opener, the P38. I still keep a couple of P38's in my pocket and when I see an old vet wearing something (usually a cap) that identifies him as a veteran, I'll approach him an say, "I like your hat and I have for you something you appreciated." Then I'll give him a P38. It always brings a smile from these old guys. Many tell me they still have theirs at home.

Salute,
Birdgun

My old P38 is still on my key ring today. Yesterday was the anniversary of the day I arrived home from my second tour in Vietnam in 1971, 53 years ago now.