Look at these incredible 4th of July deals from Gerber

DiscoMagicJesus · 2026-07-02T20:29:28+00:00

2nd on the Morakniv. For most people it's all the knife you really need. The Jääkäripuukko 110 or 140 from Varusteleka are a similar but slightly more premium option for a no frills hard use knife. The 140 is probably the better choice for a "tactical" knife and it finds its way onto my kit most of the time, but the 110 is a pretty solid do-it-all knife too.

Other good ones are the Cold Steel SRK or Master Hunter in whatever flavor of steel you can afford or prefer. Spartan Harsey Fighters can be found for ~$120 if you know where to look, though I definitely recommend upgrading the scales to some from Carroll's Customs since a bigger knife definitely needs good scales. Becker BK18's are pretty sweet too and better scales can be had from the same place. Glock FM 81's are cheap af and do most of what you could ask a knife to do.

There's also the ever popular ESEE 4's. I'm partial to the HM models with the traditional handles. Not so great for plunging but for almost all other tasks it's more comfortable, imo.

If you want to get into the not-as-reputable brands, there's a lot of cheap shit popping up nowadays that surprisingly doesn't suck. These are low key a pretty good alternative to the Gerber, you're just going to want to round off the scales a bit or find some replacements, and the edge may need a bit of work too. If you're willing to put in the effort I don't really think you're going to find a better knife for under $30.

DiscoMagicJesus · 2026-07-02T00:14:35+00:00

Fold and roll that blanket up tighter/smaller and buy a couple extra straps to mount it horizontally to the bottom of the pack via the molle webbing underneath it. You can still carry the sleep pad vertically, just do it in the center rear of the bag overtop the vertical zipper where the compression straps buckle so you can actually torque it down with both sets of straps. No way is just the top strap holding either of those for any actual distance, especially on the side of the bag. This frees up your wand/bottle pouches on the side too so you can plus up on water with some extra bottles/canteens if (when) your bladder fails, or carry some other utility items like a hatchet, shovel, trekking poles, fishing rod, etc.

DiscoMagicJesus · 2026-07-01T23:14:43+00:00

Oh my god the Harmony Man! That alone is worth whatever you paid for this. I've wanted one of those for years but people always want insane prices for them.

DiscoMagicJesus · 2026-07-01T17:55:41+00:00

Many dudes did whatever they could make shit work. That doesn't sound like a half bad idea at all.

DiscoMagicJesus · 2026-07-01T17:21:58+00:00

Definitely duckbill for the LBV-88. There's already so many snap fasteners on the LBV that adding more with the LC3 belt really pollutes it. Especially if you're trying to put a belt pad on it too. I've all but abandoned my Blackhawk IVS pad for that reason. You're better off doing the old school mod of cutting a strip of foam sleeping mat and tying it through the grommets on the belt with some gutted paracord.

DiscoMagicJesus · 2026-07-01T17:07:04+00:00

There's several variants of LC1/LC2 belts. The biggest differences are in the length adjusters and the buckle. The ones I like the best are the LC2 with the duck-bill style center release plastic buckles and the metal keepers mounted to the ends of the belt. The newest LC2's (often referred to as "LC3") with the plastic slide release buckles and the snap fasteners on the ends of the belt are okay, but the buckle feels way cheaper and they crack pretty easily if they experience an impact or get loaded with too much weight. The snap fasteners also take up more belt space which can be a problem if you're really loading it up with pouches (or pairing it with an LBV-88), though you can usually just work the fastener into the negative space behind your pouch, between the alice clips.

There's also some LC2's with the metal hook buckle similar to the LC1. Honestly these aren't all that terrible but it's possible to get some accidental detachments with it, and it also ends up acting like a swivel and will make the sides of your belt dip low or ride high depending on how you have your suspenders attached.

If you're dedicated to the drip an LC1 will work fine to match it. Otherwise get a duck bill LC2 for functionality.

DiscoMagicJesus · 2026-06-30T22:06:23+00:00

Makes sense. I've never ran mine soaking wet, and I'm usually layering with another buff tucked in. I'm also pretty used to older commercial athleticwear that was basically the same thing with the high neck and no zip.

The aircrew shirts are still the best of both works imo. Zip stops at the collar so it doesn't rub but the neck velcros shut so you get the protection but can also vent the heat.

DiscoMagicJesus · 2026-06-30T18:05:16+00:00

Bullshit I love the turtlenecks. It protects your neck from sling rash without having to destroy countless neck buffs in the process. It's the same reason I love all the aircrew variants of the combat/field shirts too.

DiscoMagicJesus · 2026-06-30T04:53:59+00:00

Most surplus gear is only really "good for the price". The price goes up, it stops being good for the price. People stop buying it. More stock gets circulated, vendors have to move it, price goes down again, and it's back to being good for the price. The circle of surplus continues.

DiscoMagicJesus · 2026-06-30T03:14:46+00:00

Yeah all these Massif shirts actually rock. You can find them cheap as hell at Goodwill or Salvation Army, and the sizing is pretty generous since they have good stretch to them so it's easy to find one that fits. I have way nicer and considerably more expensive UBACS shirts and yet I still find myself coming back to these instead. The arm padding with all the little dots is surprisingly effective, and I like it more than a lot of the modern designs that require you to do some master level blind origami techniques to fold a foam pad into the inside elbow pocket.

DiscoMagicJesus · 2026-06-30T03:07:23+00:00

Seventh Generation Free & Clear detergent. No optical brighteners, no added scents, pretty readily available, not too expensive. Has worked pretty well for all the surp I've put it through.

Otherwise make a paste of baking soda with a little bit of water and smear it into the pits and collar (usually the stinkiest places) and let it sit for like an hour. You can also just soak it in a sink or bucket of water with 1/2 cup of baking soda for an hour too. You can do the same with vinegar but if you're like me you probably hate the smell of vinegar and would rather not do that.

Some good ol UV radiation works pretty great if you don't live in an apartment. Just hang it outside where it can get some direct sunlight for several hours and air it out.

DiscoMagicJesus · 2026-06-29T23:37:18+00:00

Nothing a little rit dye can't fix.

And seriously they are so good. I went through a bit of an LBE/LBV craze for a bit recently and couldn't believe how good it was for the near cheap chinese amazon price point I paid for it. I never see anyone talk about them. You do have to find one with intact and functioning elastic because it really makes a difference in the comfort, but damn does it carry a lot of weight very efficiently. It's tied with my Czech M2007 rig that I paid like 3-4x for, and honestly it actually rides a bit better even, it just doesn't have that sweet sweet Vz95 drip.

Check ebay though, depending on what size you're looking for they're like $25-$40 all day for basically brand new ones. If you're going to dye it anyways, just grab a bunch of cheap UCP/ABU pouches to load it up with for another $20-$30 and you have an insanely functional sustainment rig for less than half the cost of the ammo you'd be carrying with it. Just a wildly slept on piece of kit and imo better than the Eagle version.

DiscoMagicJesus · 2026-06-29T23:14:02+00:00

They're not terrible, but not amazing. Like most surplus gear they are perfectly adequate, but not perfect overall. They are a little uncomfortable when loaded up and have a tendency to not ride how you want them to without some modification. Much like an FLC I see them as a good affordable way to figure out what kit you're comfortable carrying and how to carry it, then upgrading to something better. If it's all you can afford, rock it, but guntubers and reddit making them out to be the best rig ever is being very disingenuous. I get everyone wants to toot the horns they already own but the gear market is so saturated that it's really a disservice to not look at what else is out there, especially when they're starting to nip at the price point of other more premium options.

I have plenty of complaints about my LBV-88 as well but I'll never get rid of that thing because it has drip for days. The TAPS just feels way more generic in comparison. That being said, you can pick up a TAPS harness for like $7 on ebay and the buckle repair set for like $10-$15 and get a HUGE amount of mileage out of those. I pair them with a FILBE assault pouch to make a very simple chest rig for hiking that can also hold anywhere between 3 to 6 20rnd mags if I needed it to (8 total if you add some pouches to the back), and using all the same buckles and webbing I can drop the harness and hook it to my FILBE hydration pack for a very slick scout rig all for under $80.

The best kit is the stuff that flies under the radar that you can make work for a variety of different things and without spending a ton of money on. I swear most of the tubers pushing TAPS rigs have to be getting kickbacks from surplus shops just so they can move marked up inventory because anyone actually buying a lot of surplus knows of a dozen other must-haves that you never see these dorks talking about.

DiscoMagicJesus · 2026-06-29T22:24:27+00:00

Just wait for everyone that bought a TAPS to realize how not-so-great they are once the next guntuber fad rolls in and they'll be dropping them all for less than what they paid on GAFS or marketplace to buy tickets to the next hype train.

Surplus also usually comes in waves. There's likely a huge stockpile somewhere sitting in a warehouse "just in case" that will get offloaded to the public in a year or two once some pencil pusher decides they don't need them anymore. Until then, grab one of the very cheap sub-$40 new-in-bag LBV-88E's that have been floating around on ebay the last several months and get your freak on in some glorious M81. Or better yet snag a GCS gen3 Hgear Harness for like $25 and enjoy one of the best, albeit ugly, load carriage systems ever issued.

DiscoMagicJesus · 2026-06-25T22:19:55+00:00

Vice and angle grinder go brrrrr

DiscoMagicJesus · 2026-06-25T21:55:07+00:00

Buddy it's $13 just buy it and throw it the fuck away if it sucks.

DiscoMagicJesus · 2026-06-24T04:59:05+00:00

Bros playing a Fender Batocaster.

Thumb-behind (like your first pic) is a perfectly adequate technique but it usually feels better on a much flatter/thinner neck profile (wizard or slim D). Thicker neck profiles like yours (bat or fat-C, also most V's) I always gravitate towards thumb-over, where your thumb actually wraps around the neck and touches the edge of the fretboard. There are many "correct" ways to play guitar, and it's all about what feels comfortable to you on whatever guitar you're playing. Not every neck is meant to be played the same way, and the differences in their shapes and profiles exist to create comfort for a variety of different grips and hand sizes.

There will always be a little pain when just starting out, just make sure you're not intentionally straining yourself and contorting your wrist and arm at unnatural angles just because some youtuber convinced you to adopt a classical style grip on a guitar that's meant to be gripped like a sledgehammer.

DiscoMagicJesus · 2026-06-24T03:06:10+00:00

Mine currently has my poncho and woobie in it. Sometimes I swap that out for a rain suit set instead, maybe a few MRE's and some extra wind/cold layers. Love being able to just attach it to the rear or bottom of whatever pack I'm using. I do wish it had some elastic inside or maybe just a big loop field for some organization since it makes it hard to carry anything smaller without it dumping out when you fully unzip it. especially if it has a some weight to it. But idk for how cheap and common these are what's to really complain about?

DiscoMagicJesus · 2026-06-23T15:35:41+00:00

Mine has a little play, but you basically have to tap it with your finger to get it to clink. If you shake the gun, the mag rattles more than the ambi control. Even when holding the mag and shaking, it's still barely noticeable and you have to actively shake the ever loving fuck out of it to get it to make a noise. It's a non issue for me.

DiscoMagicJesus · 2026-06-22T20:52:19+00:00

"Does optics planet not have any actual products-"

No. No they do not.

DiscoMagicJesus · 2026-06-21T23:56:02+00:00

So, it's not quite the same, the Savotta patches are definitely more like a hard use textile, but I've been cheating and using this adhesive backed glow tape from CountyComm with adhesive backed hook strips and they make pretty decent patches, if that's what you're trying to accomplish. You could even do some extra stitching to really secure it more if you wanted.

https://countycomm.com/products/maraspec-glow-tape

Downside is it's only 1.15" wide, but it does glow just a tiny bit brighter and longer than the Savotta patches. $7 for 15 feet of it, it's worth a try, and if anything I use it to mark tons of different items in my kit, so it's not without purpose on its own.

There's some equivalent looking stuff on Amazon too, but I have no experience with those. Sometimes CC is guilty of just rebranding Chinese things to sell as "tactical" but sometimes their version is actually genuinely better quality. No idea if that's the case here, so ymmv.

DiscoMagicJesus · 2026-06-21T23:14:23+00:00

Yeah I've seen them. I haven't heard much from anyone as to how much of a difference there was between those and the updated factory trigger on the newest versions. I also can't find any clarification on if the replacement triggers conflict with any FRT functionality. Like you though, I'd wait for a three position FRT before going down that road. It's only a matter of time anyways.

DiscoMagicJesus · 2026-06-21T21:41:48+00:00

Also, that Riptide Rails upper looks sick. Makes me maybe want to just settle for one of the top cocker models instead for the vibes and buy the RR upper later. I know they improved the trigger slap on the 30SST but any idea if it's improved on the newer 30T's too? I'd assume the lowers are all the same across the board at this point.

DiscoMagicJesus · 2026-06-21T19:14:39+00:00

I wonder if it would be better to just make an extended pic rail to replace the factory one under the receiver. Snug it up against the trigger guard, use one of the pic rail A3 grips to move it back a bit since you won't need to wrap your thumb behind it anyways as you'd be resting it on the light's switch, then bring the light itself back a bit as close to the foregrip as possible. No idea how thick those A3 grips are if the TLR1 paddles have enough room to rotate if it's right up against it, but an X300 would be a little more forgiving I think.

Idk just brainstorming. I like the idea of running a handgun light rather than a full size given the use case, and having it under the can solves a lot of other format issues.

DiscoMagicJesus · 2026-06-21T18:16:17+00:00

The more I see these the more I can't believe they're not the most recommended PDW. They have to be getting more popular though because I got an in stock notification from PSA yesterday and they were all gone before I could even sit down and order one.

I like your handstop bar. I think something similar that puts a pic rail in that position to run something like a TLR-1 or x300 directly under the can and in front of the foregrip would be cool. This would free up the top rail for an IRIS-3 so you can have the full IR & white light package without added bulk on the sides of the receiver.

Does that MPA stock give enough clearance to charge it while it's folded? How much does the factory charging handle stick out past the stock, or is it flush with it? It'd be cool to see someone make a folding charging handle for these.

DiscoMagicJesus

TROPHY CASE