Military surplus

Military surplus are goods, usually matériel, that are sold or otherwise disposed of when no longer needed by the military. Entrepreneurs often buy these goods and resell them at surplus stores. Usually the goods sold by the military are clothing, equipment, and tools of a nature that is generally useful to the civilian population, as well as embroidered patches, name tags, and other items that can be used for a faux military uniform. Occasionally, vehicles (jeeps, trucks, etc.) will be sold as well.[1] Some military surplus dealers also sell military surplus firearms, spare parts, and ammunition alongside surplus uniforms and equipment.

A military surplus shop in Haikou City, Hainan Province, China
Military surplus trucks

Demand for such items comes from various collectors, outdoor adventurers, hunters, survivalists, and players of airsoft and paintball, as well as others seeking high quality, sturdy, military issue garb. The goods may be used, or not. Some merchants of surplus goods also sell goods that are privately manufactured in military standards.

History

The history of army surplus in the United States dates back to the American Civil War.[2] This was the first large American war that required proper military uniforms for many troops. In earlier wars, most troops were basically a militia wearing whatever they had with them. This required mass-produced wears and arms for both sides. After the war, to recoup some money they sold the supplies in stores. Thus the military surplus store was born.

In the 1870s Francis Bannerman VI operated "Bannerman's surplus".[3] His surplus company was one of the largest ever to operate. He built Bannerman's Castle, a massive storage facility on Pollepel Island in the Hudson River to store his goods.

gollark: You might live in somewhere with higher cost of living, as many software types do.
gollark: This is also probably wrong. There are perfectly good reasons to spend more than the median family on some category, especially if the categories are particularly granular.
gollark: Oh, and lots of things (particularly computing equipment) are usable for fun *and* work purposes.
gollark: As another example, I spend a nontrivial amount of money on removing small and cheap-to-fix inconveniences from my life (for example, finally getting a mouse as it's nicer than my laptop's trackpad in some ways, getting lots of spare USB cables so I don't have to deal with moving them around, buying pens in boxes of 50-100 so that I can just give them away). Obviously I don't *have* to do that, but I would be inconvenienced and somewhat less productive if I didn't.
gollark: Recreational stuff is somewhat necessary in that you probably need to do fun things to maintain a good mental state, which you need to do things.

See also

References
  1. "The World's Biggest Clearance Sale." Popular Mechanics, February 1955, pp. 89-93.
  2. "Short History of surplus." Kaufman surplus
  3. "The Bannerman empire." Antique Trader


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