Military Surplus - Patching Holes & Tears

Whether you like military surplus gear because of fashion or you buy it for rough use out in the field, all of us who buy used military gear will eventually need to make some repairs. 

Common problems with milsurp gear is that the conditions can vary. One thing I will stress when deciding to buy equipment online is check, double check and triple check photos and make sure its the exact item you are buying. And secondly, READ the descriptions! 

Grading of milsurp gear is a gamble. If you order used-good graded clothing, even if the description says its still serviceable there is a high chance you will run into small holes or tears as part of the charm. For most of us buying clothing online in general a hole is "nicht so gut". But speaking strictly for aesthetic and for field use its a simple repair and sometimes left alone all together. For others if you are like me, its worth looking into repairing it. 

So lets tackle some of these defects and resolve any anxiety with it because face it. You should actually be more worried about fitment of the item as the conversion measurment sizes from EU to US can be a bit tricky.

Serviceable milsurp clothing can be had for dirt cheap. The minor defects are nothing to worry about if you set aside just a short time and some pocket change to patch them up. In the end the price and quality and time taken to fix them will be worth it. If you want to avoid this all together you can buy new graded or very good graded gear. Be aware you will pay for it. And in some patterns, dearly. In this example I will show some German Flecktarn pants listed in GOOD condition.

When you get get your gear the first thing you should do is try it on and inspect it. Inspect it while you wear it to see tears and holes that may be in creases or in common places. Crotch, seams along the butt, and knees or elbow areas. Flip the item inside out and check there as well. If you have minor tears you got two options. You can sew the areas up (hopefully) or you can patch them up. Try them on for inspection though! Its easier to spot defects in them in high wear areas. 

When I got these pants there were two notable spots that needed patching and then after working on them I found a third small hole in the seam on the butt. The two major holes I was worried about are on a faded crease above the knees. These were worn so thin they were barely held together with threads. I could actually see my skin through them. Patching seemed liked the best option here for a first attempt at repair. 

Here are the supplies you will need. 

Iron
Iron on patches (closer colors will hide the repair better)
Scissors 
Ironing board 

The garment should be clean and dry. You want to use pretty high heat on the iron and no water in it for misting. I take the iron and iron out the area as flat as I can first. Then I will try to move the seam and hole and make it as small as I can before cutting and sizing the patch. Patch should cover the whole area no problem and be a little bigger than what you think you need. 

When you have the hole area ironed and flat, and you have the seam how you like it then you can take your iron on full heat, put the patch over the area and work on it. I found pressure and 8-10 seconds will get the glue on the patch hot enough to attach it. Then after this let it cool and hit it one more time for 8-10 seconds and let it cool once more. Make sure its totally flat and totally attached to the area. Seams can be tricky but you should use the point of the iron to get it all gummed up and glued together. 

Here are the results after this method. 

I chose to do my patches on the inside so they didn't show but you can do them on the outside if you don't mind it being not the same exact pattern or color. Either way works. In hindsight I wish I could have had the seams of the holes closer together but I do think they will be alright. Sharp corners on the patches will start to come up after washing and drying, so maybe also cut the corners round before you do this. 

Overall the results were good and it was a good learning experience. Patches cost $2-3 dollars and I didnt even use one entire patch out of the three I got. That means this cheaper solution will work for many pieces that need repairs. I used probably not even .50 cents worth of patch on these. 

Time will tell if the patches will hold up due to the location of repairs but who cares right? If the repairs don't hold up, I will resort to sewing the holes up. In any case this method may work just fine for the long haul and its so cheap and easy to do realistically there is no reason not to try this repair first. After the fix the holes almost disappeared. 


Do you guys repair your surplus gear? If so do you use these methods mentioned above? What works best for you? If you like the subject matters I write about please support the blog by bookmarking and commenting. I write things like this so others have a quick guide that is linkable for others. 

Thanks for reading! 

DIY: Remove Spray Paint From Your Gun

In this blog you will find the easy to follow tutorial on how I went about painting my AR15. It can be found here at DIY: Paint Your Guns. In truth it is very easy and cost effective to rattle can any and all of your firearms if that suits your needs. 

But I have been asked about this numerous times. "Why would you want to ruin a gun putting spray paint on it?" Or "what if you decided you didn't want it that color anymore?" 

Short answers are:
"This is my gun, I will do whatever I choose to it. Frig off."
And "You can very easily just paint over it, or remove it and repaint it." 

Admittedly, I have stalled doing this project because I didnt know what sort of nonsense this could open up. And as it turns out I learned a few things out I will explain near the end. If you painted your gun with decent spray paint then this should not be too difficult. 

List:
Goof Off Spray (get the actual brand goof off) 
Big hard bristled brush 
Gloves 
Toothbrush or small brush. 
Brake cleaner

Cleanup - you will need a hose with sprayer attachment to spray brushed etc. Spray all your tools you want to reuse like the brushes. Label them for paint removal only. 

Going over this list you will see that I suggest Goof Off branded spray. That is because I know it works. If you want to use something else because its cheaper, do it your way. Few things are worth saving pennies on and this sort of thing isn't an area I would chance it. I used about 70% of a can which is a lot more than normal people would use because I had 4-6 coats of paint built up. For most folks I think one can could clean 2-3 guns before blowing out. 

The goof off is pretty simple to use. Spray the entire gun down with it and wait 2-3 minutes. Then you can start working on areas. If its thick and built up expect to use quite a bit of elbow grease and spray. Hit an area, spray again, wait 2-3 minutes, scrub, repeat. All the little hard to get areas you can use a toothbrush on. 

Note: goof off worked fine on all my plastic parts. 

After the bulk of the paint starts to come off you can see areas where it adhered better. Just spray these areas and wait and hit with a toothbrush if necessary. Let the Goof Off work for you.

Once the bulk of the paint is off you can wipe a lot of it off the gun with a clean rag. For me it took probably 1-2 hours to get everything pretty well stripped. Now, I'm not a perfectionist. And for this project I didn't need to get absolutely all the paint removed because I am just going to paint over it again. So for perfectionists, its going to take a lot more time and elbow grease and attention to detail. 

When you have removed all the paint you preferred I debated about using a brush and soapy water to clean it up. However I avoid water at all costs if I can help it when it comes to guns. Instead after I wiped everything absolutely clean as possible I sprayed the entire gun with brake cleaner. It worked pretty well. After its totally cleaned up and back to what condition you would like you can lube it and its good to go. It appears the brake cleaner did remove all the remnants of Goof Off.

Final thoughts and notes:

It was daunting when I first started but realized the Goof Off worked for the paints I used. Mind you I used Rusto. I dont like Krylon or any other paint. So I cannot say how it would work for anything else. But with that in mind, you should probably stick to one brand if you learned this process.

The brake cleaner will dry everything out hardcore. You should lube and clean it up as soon as possible. The plastic parts will dry out very badly and so will the metal. The brake cleaner did remove the Goof Off, which was the primary reason I chose it. Some used water and soap but there is no way I am doing that. That option is a last resort for some project for me. 

I did have to take the hand guard off and the gas system, and the muzzle brake off. Everything had to be broken down to actually clean it. Perfectionists, this is a reality and if you want to do this you better plan on a complete break down of your firearm. 

Once I took everything off I needed to wiped it down and started to put it back together the budget hand guard on my AR was definitely the weakest link on my build. It was loosening up without firing, it had some weird proprietary parts I didn't like, and the overall quality was okay at best. I spent probably $30 on it and for good reason, its shit. When I started this build I didn't plan on making it the way it ended up. I added a bi-pod and I eventually wanted a light. This 16" barreled carbine was not made to be the lightest option I owned by any means. It was made for being toted short distances, or used in propped up against something, or with a bi-pod. Going m-lok was a good choice for me in the beginning KNOWING it was going to be a bit lighter than other cheap options. After looking at the attachments and my needs I decided it needed to be switched to something more robust, secure and fitting for what job I assigned it. I chose to swap out the hand guard for a 15" quad rail instead. 

It didn't make any sense to keep the m-lok on it if it was just a pain in the ass to add rails on it all over the place. I don't go rucking with the rifle anyways. Added weight wont be an issue now that it will no doubt be heavier than before. 

In other words what I am saying is go into removing paint and doing these projects at your own risk. You may be forced to look at your build honestly and make other changes to it you didn't plan on. I definitely didn't plan on it and now look at me... checking my bank account to see if I can afford some new tools like a proper armorers wrench and a very durable hand guard that is quad railed. You build your own for the freedom to make it what you choose. And to do so at your leisure. 

It really is like legos for grown men. 

First Aid Crash Course

 

For the people who are self reliant it should be a no brainer that basic first aid is important. What is strange to me is that a ton of people who have taken up the hobby of firearms training and practice, rarely have it. 

Basic first aid?! BASIC FIRST AID! People... shooting guns.... without the most basic of FIRST AID!!! 

This is careless and ignorant stupid. My personal take on this is there are 3 levels of concentration. In a short list I prioritize like this. 

1. First aid (basic and trauma)
2. Gear and general protection (protective equipment, guns, gear)
3. Training and application (shooting, drills, practice, and other advanced coursework)

Without the first aid in general you are a burden. First aid is for your own sake. If you work out in rural areas, it can easily come in handy if you get cut accidentally. In the realm of the avid shooter it can save someone else's life or your own as well when the worst happens. 

I am not a professional. But for the sake of this article I do have certifications from the Red Cross and have ASIRT *active shooter* qualifications, and bleed stop training. As far as more extensive blow out courses go I have completed coursework without any advanced certifications. So take all this with a grain of salt. 

IF YOU SHOOT OFTEN AND ITS IMPORTANT TO YOU AS A HOBBY, PLEASE GET FORMAL TRAINING IN SOME CAPACITY! 

There are two levels of first aid to me you have boo boos, and blow outs. 

Basic First Aid

This can be treating small and minor cuts, scrapes, blisters, bug bites, and the treatment of shock. Also choking, and CPR can be all grouped as basic first aid. Most of these minor things are just boo boos.

Those new to first aid can easily do a search online for either free or very cheap Red Cross training programs. A lot of the times employers will even pay to have you take them. Find out what your employer has available for you to take before spending money on it. Typically they will offer a very basic first aid course along with a CPR certification. Sometimes they will also add skills like how to help someone who is choking as well. These courses are only a few hours long and you can learn life saving techniques that will stick with you a lifetime. And, chances are your work is going to pay for it. Congrats. You know more about first aid at this point than more than probably 98% of the people shooting at your local range! Scary huh? 

Click to find Red Cross Classes

After you get CPR trained, basic first aid, and would like to find out more advanced training there is a ton of other resources you can use online and for in person classes with professionals. If you are fortunate enough to have local ranges that offer CCW classes a lot of the times they will have skilled people available to teach trauma level classes related to gunshot wounds etc. I highly suggest looking for these classes if you would like to and don't mind paying money for them. However, a lot of these classes can be found online for free. 

Combat First Aid

When it comes to combat level first aid, these are blow outs. This is the life threatening material. Combat level related first had concentrates on mostly bleeding control and wound management. All of which is very important if you are dealing with firearms since they concentrate on gunshot wounds and serious lacerations or injuries. These courses usually will feature a good chunk of lecture and then practicing techniques using tourniquets, hemostatic agents, and clearing and opening airways. A vast majority of these are geared for civilians and require no previous first aid experience. The prices for these courses will vary however a lot of them are available completely for free online. 

*for some reason this video on mobile does not work*
Tactical Combat Casualty Care Training - Full 3 Hour Course (Click here)

Here are some youtube creators to check out for combat medic related materials. 
CarryTrainer - Full Courses Available
SkinnyMedic - Medical Videos and Prepper Info
Committee on Tactical Combat Casualty Care (CoTCCC)

Really, there is no excuse to have basic first aid and some combat first aid under your belt. There are a ton of free resources available out there at your disposal you just have to find it. As mentioned before a lot of the times employers will pay for these sorts of classes and things but you won't know unless you ask. The other good thing is that if you have insurance a lot of the times insurance will cover your medical and first aid related gear. Something to think about. 

First aid is integral in the prepping community. I urge everyone and any one to get basic first aid. But for those of us that are shooters and gunnies, this is absolutely essential to be a well rounded modern day warrior. 

Remember. Your IFAK (individual first aid kit) isn't for your buddy. Its for you. Urge your battle buddies to do the same and get their first aid shit together. Please. For their sake and for everyone around you. 

Plug holes
Stop holes 
Make holes

<3

AR15 Trigger Polishing

Milspec does not translate to "high quality". That would be a common misconception. Milspec basically means its the cheapest parts available that work. As a matter of fact, most aftermarket parts available for the civilian market to build AR's are leagues above average military gear. This is especially true I would think for triggers.


The cheapest of triggers for most builders is going to fall into this category of milspec. Lower Parts Kits or LPK's that have a full trigger group included can be as cheap as $29 on sale which is a steal. Of course, at $29 you wont be getting a competition drop in trigger. What you will get is something that will more than likely work when you need it. Other than that it will leave much to be desired.

Stock triggers will be crusty, gritty, and have a long-ish 7-8 pound trigger pull and some staging. This is really obvious when they are freshly installed with no oil involved. This is primarily because the coating on milspec parts are simply to prevent rust and corrosion over time. The parts do not have the quality control or care put into them to be very good. These factories push these milspec parts out in bulk. The black coating on these parts work well for what is necessary but as with everything else, leaves much to be wanted. But hey, they will work for people on a budget. Honestly, for most users this is all that is needed.

So you have your AR build completed and you finally got to try a drop in trigger on a buddies AR at your local range. You realize that the "flat face, high speed low drag, 2 stage drop in trigger" puts your mostly milspec budget build to shame. Well duh. His trigger probably cost 1/3rd the cost of your entire build. And after looking at drop in complete triggers its just not in the books for the moment. There is some work you can do to meet in the middle. A polish job is in order.

Here is what you will need.

Milspec trigger assembly
Rotary tool (like a dremel)
Small buffing wheels - cotton cloth white pads
Buffing compound
Rags
Q-Tips
Oil

 

Know the parts of your trigger. There are only a few parts on the trigger that come in contact with each other. These very small parts are the areas you need to work on. A lot of people will suggest sand paper of various grits. Don't bother. You run a risk of taking too much material off and throwing the parts out of spec and it may not work. A hand held rotary tool will be optimal to work slow and steady. There is much less of a chance of problems this way. Its even better if you have a speed selector on the tool set to low or very low.

There are 4 small areas of the parts to polish. Its sort of hard to describe but in the pictures you can see where the polishing took place. The process is fairly simple.

Take the trigger assembly out of your AR. If the kit isn't installed then you can do this straight out of the LPK. There are some more detailed videos on youtube that show which parts of the trigger are in contact. Find out and identify them according to the names on the photo above first before you start if you don't have wear on a used trigger. On a trigger that has been used you can clearly see wear in the milspec finish and you simply remove the black finish and polish only those areas.

After identifying which areas you are going to hit with polish, get a cotton wheel and prep it with compound of your choice. You will have to reapply in between parts more than likely. I use a compound that turns black when its working so its very easy to see when I am getting results on new parts. It also makes it easy to know when I need more compound to the wheel.

Gently hit the parts on low concentrating on the faces of each part, and not blowing out corners or edges of every part. Work on the slowest setting if possible and check your work frequently. It wont take much to get the parts gleaming. Wipe the parts occasionally to check where you need to concentrate on and add more compound if needed.

On milspec stuff there will be machining lines and striations on them. With sandpaper you can blow these lines completely out but risk removing too much. The polishing will shine everything up and you may still have light lines. As far as I can tell you do not have to completely remove them to get results. The idea is to smooth it out as much as possible without risk of failure.

After the parts start to show a mirror finish after wiping the compound clean you can move on to the next part. The hook is particularly difficult and you may experience the sharp edges doing damage to your wheel. Be careful and don't get the compound and the bits from the wheel in your eyes. Wear safety glasses.

When all the parts are hit and like a mirror finish you can reinstall the parts. Note: if your safety selector is already in your lower you may have to mess with it to get the trigger installed correctly. I was able to do it and tore my fingers up a bit getting the pins back in the assembly.

After you get it back together and all installed test the trigger without letting the hammer completely drop forward. Use your other hand to block (or use a polymer hammer block) the hammer from it slamming full force, preventing damage. Test the safety selector and trigger make sure its all working. Lube any polished parts with a Q-Tip and finish reassembly.


Completed your trigger will look something like this.

Its difficult to get a picture that shows how the mirror finish looks but its very clean in person. The hammer has two points you have to polish but I could not for the life of me capture it on camera. The trigger has a flat face that is polished, and the disconnector has one point that is polished as well.

Is it worth the work?

Here is my assessment. If you have the tools at hand, you should do it. This method is very forgiving and has very little chance of warping parts out of spec. After I lubed mine up and ran it a couple of times to make sure it was all functioning the creep and staging was noticeably reduced. The break of the trigger is crisp and predictable. The gritty and crusty feeling is gone. The staging isn't gone but it is a huge improvement over stock milspec trigger parts out of the box.

If you have milspec gear and want to test the waters for working on your own gear and improving what you already have give this a shot. The method I describe is safe and effective with very little chances for issues. Don't be afraid to take your stuff apart and work on it. You can always get videos online showing how to put everything back together if you run into trouble. Do not let that deter you from trying it. Plus, if you got milspec triggers what do you have to lose? You have everything to gain benefit wise from a simple DIY polish job.

Or if you dont want to do it, you can pay someone who will. Either way its a polishing worth it. Then get out to the range and test it out. Don't just take my word for it.

Sharp Knives, Sharp Minds.

"Sharpening my knife is meditation to me. There's something about connecting to our roots when we rub a piece of metal on stone to sharpen it."

- Chef Pete Servold

Skills and practices of the old will breed inspiration, deep thought, and a connection. It's understandable that a lot of people do not enjoy monotonous and normally boring tasks however there is usually a window time for contemplation and deep thought accompanied with realization.

I have learned to try and enjoy these things. It takes time and patience. Which at my age of 32 has been a journey to say the least. Claiming to be patient and to really understand it for me is a lie, but I can share something about this learning process. Like many people this progression is slow and requires well... patience. While practicing certain skills some times you learn these lessons faster if its paired with consequences.

With gun smithing patience is a must. Cleaning and repairing and restoring requires attention to detail and sometimes days between steps. This is especially true if you work with anything wood. Anything worth doing is worth doing right and with firearms it is no different. Its easy for me to understand patience in this regard because firearms and weapons require respect and discipline. These things come with time. With firearms this is quickly understood if the work you are doing is on an item you may need to have it work when you need it the most. Failing to be attentive to details and the overall result could cause a malfunction, or a disaster on range if you planned to fire it when it is finished. And even worse in a defensive scenario the thing may not work. Taking days between steps and taking the proper time to complete the work makes the end result so worth it.

Gun smithing is just one example that made a huge difference as far as patience goes. It helped me understand that with some things slowing down has to be intentional and deliberate. Reading this you probably have thought of more than a couple of hobbies, tasks or activities that have helped you with patience too. Keep those in mind.

When you have something that has an inherent consequence with going too fast, you tend to learn patience much quicker.

With knives people who are into prepping, surviving, EDC, outdoorsy activities and folks who work in industries take our tools seriously. We care for them differently. If you carry them for defensive reasons then yeah, this is important.

There is no reason that I can think of to have a dull knife. Its unsafe at the core. When I was in school the shop teacher told me this and it sounded counter productive. In my child brain my knee jerk reaction was that if I made a mistake with a sharp knife and cut myself it would be far worse. The instructor said that with a sharp knife and paying attention you wont have slip ups. You just have to pay attention and be aware of what you are doing at all time with your tools.

Caring for carbon blades recently woke this up for me. There is no reason to have an unkept blade. This is really true even with what we consider monotonous tasks related. Oiling, sharpening, and use is all part of the preparation, practice, and care. There is a zen though in doing so. During all of these things you have to be aware that its still a sharp knife, so zoning out isn't in the book. You will be reminded if you forget, so keep bandages on deck.

Often when I sharpen my knives or work on them extensively for a period I feel like there is a primal connection. A connection to my ancestors and the tribes they were with. It seems like such a basic and boring task but you get in a mode doing so. Something in our brains are wired to do it. Sort of like when you gaze into a bonfire. We get lost in it and have a deep rooted connection to every ancestor in our blood line. When you start to recognize these tasks and when you get into the mode its good to recognize it and maybe you will learn something deeper. And it can be any task or activity.




Like our brains we should always be honing our skills and always learning. For me gun smithing, knife maintenance and in a gathering around a bonfire are three things that help me understand patience, consequence, respect, and growth. For the heathen its a great opportunity to make a connection with those that we came from that are no longer with us. I am curious and want to hear what activities get you in the mode and help you connect with your roots.

And yes, if you are wondering even after doing this sort of knife maintenance many times I managed to cut my finger tonight. Always a good reminder me that were are not THAT experienced yet. No matter how many times we have done it.





Short update: I have always written blogs online as an outlet and a media for people that may find something useful or informative or enlightening. I've written for a series of publications in the past but first and foremost I have always written with the priority that it is shared and based here. All in one place and for a dedicated group of people. I have tried to blend my hobbies and skill sets while putting a traditionalist heathen twist to it. Right now this is the only place I will host material and for the foreseeable future.