My tentative advice is to allow for the possibility that military surplus gear is good quality, but check reviews of specific items, both to find out about whether those items are worth buying and to get a feel for whether military surplus (which country? which branch of the military? which sort of items?) are good value.
We may be talking about medium-hanging fruit here.
If it's worth saying, but not worth its own post (even in Discussion), then it goes here.
Notes for future OT posters:
1. Please add the 'open_thread' tag.
2. Check if there is an active Open Thread before posting a new one. (Immediately before; refresh the list-of-threads page before posting.)
3. Open Threads should be posted in Discussion, and not Main.
4. Open Threads should start on Monday, and end on Sunday.