What did Uncle Sugar waste $350 on today?

S

stephenthesuave

Joined
Jun 27, 2011
Messages
266
drumrollllllllllllllll the GERBER INDIVIDUAL DEPLOYMENT KIT... YAY!

ID_kit.jpg


just got issued one of these fantastic waste's of money... i MAY use the pouch, but then again I've never said "man I wish I had a pouch that would hold an m4 cleaning tool, multi-tool, and flashlight"

The whole set up costs around $344 to the government (thanks for the inflated .gov pricing Gerber, another reason to write you off) and weighs an astounding 24 oz. Hopefully they don't ask for it back and I can sell it for $100 NIB in a year or so.
 
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Did you have to pay for it or was it given to you, and if it was given, man up and deal with it, switch it out for a leatherman wave or something its a free $350 package
 
That kinda makes me sick to my stomach.

Hopefully they won't make you use the cheap crap.


Also, thanks for your service.
 
We got RFI'd not one but two gerbers, this was in addition to the one the unit issued us. They were all different though, so I recieved a stainless, stainless needlenose, and a black needlenose. We got to keep them, so I'm set for Gerber tools and flex cuffs for life, for some reason we were issue 3 pairs of these too. As for me I still carried my Leatherman Charge though.
 
Superdave1 said:
So you are really going to have the gumption to complain about the cost and then say hopefully they don't ask for it back so you can sell it ????? That speaks volumes about your character
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I don't think you understand how it works... Its not like they come around and take orders for things, they just decide they know best and spend asinine amounts of money on cheap crap. The manufacturers in turn have ZERO incentive to build us something we can rely on, because they already got their NSN. If it was up to me, I'd have let them keep it. I tried to deny it because its just something that can get lost/stolen then I have to pony up for it potentially. You can think I have poor character or whatever you want, it makes no difference to me. I'll gladly go fight to defend your right to question my character.

Ken44 said:
That kinda makes me sick to my stomach.

Hopefully they won't make you use the cheap crap.


Also, thanks for your service.
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Well they cant make me use it, thankfully. Thanks for understanding my position.
 
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I think that is SWEET and would of loved to be issued something that cool....The 10 years I was in, this is what I got issued....
1-Steel toe boots
2- A sucky flashlight
3-Sucky rain gear (poncho)
4-Pens,pencils and small notebooks ( I was a crewchief on tactical fighters, F-5s,F-4s and A-10s)
5- Gortex rain gear issued to me once !! That was actually cool
5-Desert BDUs because I'm a Desert Storm vet...
CD
 
Then give it back....U said hopefully they wouldn't ask for it back so you could sell it LNIB.
You don'thave to accept everything you are eligible to receive. I could have asked for things such as mukluks and colder weather gear while I was stationed in Germany but I didn't need them or entertain the thought of obtaining them just to profit.
 
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yeeeeaahhhh... tried to give it back, but I signed for it from my SL, he signed for it from the PL, he signed for it from the CO, etc. I agree, if it was RFI or CIF I could take it back. Its unit purchased though so it has to belong to somebody, and nobody wants to be on the hook for more stuff than they have to be. I'm just doing my part and taking one for the team.

Who knows, maybe one of my soldiers will lose (or break most likely) a part of this kit and I will be able to square them away.
 
True...
At least it wld get some honest use instead of ebaying it.
The government isn't known for its budgetary sense. If they don't spend it they're afraid of losing funds next year (especially at the unit level).
 
CellerDrummer said:
I think that is SWEET and would of loved to be issued something that cool....The 10 years I was in, this is what I got issued....
1-Steel toe boots
2- A sucky flashlight
3-Sucky rain gear (poncho)
4-Pens,pencils and small notebooks ( I was a crewchief on tactical fighters, F-5s,F-4s and A-10s)
5- Gortex rain gear issued to me once !! That was actually cool
5-Desert BDUs because I'm a Desert Storm vet...
CD
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+1

30 years ago, we got your basic....basic....did I mention *basic* gear...

Web belt, Ammo pouches, canteen, mess kit, poncho, and some other small odds n ends.

Multi-tool? yeah right, we didn't even get issued a decent knife, fixed blade or otherwise....So yeah, I think it's a pretty sweet deal too...even if it is overpriced...everything the military buys is overpriced...
 
ono724 said:
+1

30 years ago, we got your basic....basic....did I mention *basic* gear...

Web belt, Ammo pouches, canteen, mess kit, poncho, and some other small odds n ends.

Multi-tool? yeah right, we didn't even get issued a decent knife, fixed blade or otherwise....So yeah, I think it's a pretty sweet deal too...even if it is overpriced...everything the military buys is overpriced...
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The multi-tool and cleaning tool I have no issues with, I just think there are better products. The strap cutter is cheap, so no big deal there even though we are also issued the much better Benchmade version. The thing that blows the price up unnecessarily is that damn flashlight. They retail for like $160 and they're garbage. 40 Lumens for "over 60 minutes".
 
if the army were a little smarter about what they bought then they would pay alot less. they contract out those stupid little assault packs for an astounding 300 something bucks and they are craptastic. if the army would brighten up a little they would spend far less money.

also if they have that money to blow on crap id prefer a pay raise, tactical gear should be shooters prefference any darn ways so why they dont just give you a stipend and say get what you need is beyond me. But then again there is always that one guy who would spend their stipend at the class 6 and show up with a dimestore backpack. .
 
razorsdescent said:
if the army were a little smarter about what they bought then they would pay alot less. they contract out those stupid little assault packs for an astounding 300 something bucks and they are craptastic. if the army would brighten up a little they would spend far less money.

also if they have that money to blow on crap id prefer a pay raise, tactical gear should be shooters prefference any darn ways so why they dont just give you a stipend and say get what you need is beyond me. But then again there is always that one guy who would spend their stipend at the class 6 and show up with a dimestore backpack. .
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I agree on all points... I think the only way to make this work would be like what they do with eyepro. There needs to be a list of approved manufacturers or specific items, then a stipend is paid for the average cost of that specific item.
 
A good example of this is our plate carrier armor system... it was tested by 1,000 soldiers and it came 4th out of 4. But we wear it because people in PA kept electing John Murtha every time he was up for it, and he gave the contract to a campaign donor who was based in his district.

Not everything can be justified with "at least you have plate carriers, I'd have loved to have them". We were going to get one regardless, we just ended up with the least effective, least comfortable one that they tested. A little disgust is justified.
 
This example pretty much sums up our issues in DC!
stephenthesuave said:
A good example of this is our plate carrier armor system... it was tested by 1,000 soldiers and it came 4th out of 4. But we wear it because people in PA kept electing John Murtha every time he was up for it, and he gave the contract to a campaign donor who was based in his district.

Not everything can be justified with "at least you have plate carriers, I'd have loved to have them". We were going to get one regardless, we just ended up with the least effective, least comfortable one that they tested. A little disgust is justified.
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