Luvlyquants
22819
466
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Nov 29, 2025 8:42 PM
Luvlyquants
22819
466
10
ThatMangoAteMyBabyy
Military Specs has entered the chat:
PicassoCT
They literally made a torpedo which didn't work https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_14_torpedo#Problems - and send people out with it in a world war2 - and then doubled down on it being perfect. They bought cheaper gun powder for ammo, which clogged rifles in vietnam. Europe doubles down on tanks- while they are proofen to be ineffective in ukraine right now..
EmperorCartagia
MilSpec means it will do the job acceptably well for an acceptably long time. It does not mean it will do the job the best forever, like people seem to think.
TheSecondPiewackit
1 exception: 100 mile an hour tape.
oliharris19697
Made by the blind and incarcerated for the lowest bid.
CouldntCakeLess
MrFuzzyBlumpkin
Well, he is military grade bumb fuckery.
Armyguy8382
Can confirm.
unluckyandbored
Military-grade = built by the lowest bidder
martineb72
Another fun one is Industrial Strength chemicals. The thing is industry often has stronger regulations on chemicals than home use. Since it could be used by a person 8 hours a day for 5 days.
IndependenceHallPhiladelphiaPA
thats definitely a civilian meme.
bigk001
as a homeless Canadian veteran this is 100% factual, sadly
Davedavedavedavedave
Low bid https://media1.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPWE1NzM3M2U1OGIycGJhOG94dzNieDF6aTlqYzBtbmE2Mzgxcm9oMWEycG1hbnIyMSZlcD12MV9naWZzX3NlYXJjaCZjdD1n/ZeatEMi9X4lnTMjTJV/200w.webp
emu314159127001
When i was in great lakes in 2002 (Navy boot camp,) one of the first things they had us do after getting our gear is take dental floss and reinforce the hanging loop inside the peacoat. It would then be colored black with a marker to match.
Without this, the loops would all break almost immediately
thisnigromakesmemad
the year is 2025 and were still doing this shit
ArbysAteMyBaby
Don't forget the slave labor! UNICOR is a mandatory source for certain products, meaning federal agencies like the Department of Defense (DOD) must acquire them from UNICOR first, without competition. Google it. That good old loophole in the 13th amendment about slavery unless you're in prison
lifeisadadjoke
If one needs 'military grade' for hunting, you suck at hunting.
DiracsDelta
Eh, I get the joke, and it’s not wrong. But for a lot of electronics purposes, mil spec can be an excellent and useful standard. MIL-STD-883 was my life for 6 months a few years back. They basically wrote the book on wirebond reliability. But for anything a normal consumer might find, yeah, military grade is often trash.
woozle
I know, right? So much gear was designed by an asshole who doesn't know how humans work.
hellsgunslinger
Or someone who doesn't know how colors work
Perfzilla
As that asshole, we were encouraged to cram in as much carcinogens as possible in every surface coating.
woozle
lolol
DdCno1
How many of you have been poached by the factories producing landfill-fodder for temu?
Perfzilla
not many, they can't afford my consulting rates.
Drew442
Probably my least favorite commercials are any of the "military grade" garbage or anything being sold by "For Patriots" because its also garbage sold to scared people.
swedeonamoose
Tbf us civilians know it as tacticool and will avoid it like the devil.
kahlas
To b honest, tacticool is a term invented by us veterans to mock civilians for not avoiding military style gear like the devil and instead fully embracing it.
NacLac
You all need to understand contracting. Government sets a minimum requirement, contractors bid based on these. If it doesn't satisfy requirements, it won't be accepted.
And the government isn't going to pay more for the item if company A will build the same thing as B.
Lowest ACCEPTABLE bid.
I swear you all think that the entire process is a scam. It often is but the principled are so a business practices. Learn a little before yucking it up!
ImgurIsOutOfUsernames
Have you ever used a piece of "military grade" equipment? It's garbage. The best equipment I ever used in the military or in associated organizations was "COTS," which is "commercial off-the-shelf," stuff. Basically, we bought the "non-military" stuff that was driven to innovate and improve quality in order to beat the competition. Only 14yo's and ammosexuals think "military grade" is good. Of course these days, it is a race to the bottom with the world-wide enshitification of everything...
SofaH3ro
People don't want to hear facts lol. Military standards supplement most civilian best practices.
Septcanmat
Right, and the requirements are never written or approved by the end-user, so the product rarely meets their needs properly, and because the person making the buying decisions is a bureaucrat trying to pinch the Pennie’s as hard as they can INSTEAD of those end-users, there’s no pressure on the manufacturer to improve customer satisfaction.
OdinYggd
Except, that's exactly not how government purchasing works. See there is an absurd amount of red tape involved with selling anything to the government that many companies can't be bothered with doing. So instead the government reaches out to preferred contractors, who do that red tape in advance and bid on government sourcing contracts.
These preferred contractors then buy stuff from the civilian channels at civilian prices, and add their own markup. In effect making everything cost more.
Perfzilla
yeah that's ideally how it works, in reality, there is little oversight because most of the work is at least FOUO so the public cant see the details, and all the military purchasing nerds want cush defense contracting jobs when they get out of the service. There's a lot of avenues for scammy behavior
OmenJones
Only exception in my experience: Mossberg 590A1. I don't need to be able to run over my shotgun with a car and still shoot it, but I think that thing would still go bang.
DdCno1
To be fair, if you made it any simpler, you'll end up with a slamfire shotgun. Not much to go wrong on these.
BrokenAnimal
Myabe things are different here (Norway), but the winter gear we used when I was in the military worked really well. Tested in in minus 40 degrees C + moderate/strong gale and it held up pretty good.
The rest of the gear seemed well suited for it's purpose as well.
Misora
I specifically bought a military grade phone and I love it. It's designed for shit kinds of outdoor weather from freezing to burning hot, can withstand mud, rain, and sand, and was designed to be usable by sleep deprived 18 year olds hopped up on a case of monster.
DdCno1
What's the make and model? I'm somewhat skeptical of the claim. Is it actually procured by armed forces?
Misora
I actually work DoD adjacent and they mostly have Samsungs that I've seen but there's a special edition I'm sure they give them a significant discount on. But like I said I got the toned down one that's still rated as 'rugged'.
Misora
Currently I'm using the Samsung Cover Pro 6. Not the tactical edition but still MIL-STD-810G certified. Can be used from 32 to 90 with no issues. I've actually used it up to 120 with minimal issues (camera won't work) and supposedly can be stored -40 to 176. Rated for a 1.5m repeated dropping on hard surfaces which I've also taken full advantage. It's ok but I liked the Samsung 7 Active more before the battery gave out. Haven't tested the waterproof greater than 10 seconds but it was fine.
DdCno1
Alright, this looks pretty legit.
Misora
I like it. It's not a great phone but it's solid. You can also field change the battery which is a big selling point to me after having to replace and entire phone for a repeated battery failure. The camera isn't as fancy as an iphone but when you're the kind of person who has accidentally dropped kicked your phone 15 feet in a parking lot you prioritize the durability.
iggylights
Don't forget anything made for the government was provided by the lowest bidder.
Dasnekones
That is how things used to work. Nowdays its provided by the biggest bribe or closest personal connection.
NeoNeanderthal
Don't forget, anything made for the army usually has a tenuous connection between Price and Quality while civs are stuck with a rigid connection between Marketing Budget and Lifetime Profitability. The four fingers tasted vile, but weren't bad for you. Go eat "on a budget". See what happens(Don't!).
Doonesman
First we pray to Vulcan, ugly god of forge and flame
And also wise Minerva, we glorify your name
Please aid us on our journey
And find it in your hearts
To please bless the lowest bidders
Who constructed all the parts!
Stonemarter
Or the bidder with the biggest lobby farm....
pm1001
And was still ridiculously expensive
PunnyTiger
more often by whoever offered the biggest kickback to the senator in charge of the bidding
NacLac
Lowest acceptable bid.
backrideup9
Right now there's only like 3 companies placing bids, more it's more likely whomever gives the beat kickbacks. All the companies build their product to a price point to ensure executive salaries, quality be damned.
CallMeCourierSix
Milspec: it's compatible with other military equipment, and meets the minimum standards set by the military.
This does not mean it's good for civilian use, or good quality. In fact, much of what the military uses is meant to be expendable/disposable, because making it tough enough to last would make it too expensive AND too heavy to be toted around easily.
samwyze
Gotta fill those burn pits with something, amirite?
CallMeCourierSix
Srsly. They burned human waste. And empty chemical containers. And things like BEDS. AND FUCKING APPLIANCES. AND EVERY OTHER GOD DAMN THING YOU'D NORMALLY TOSS IN A LANDFILL!
Fucking horrifying. And someone has to stand around to make sure it burns, move shit around, and ensure the fire doesn't get out of control. All while breathing in smoke from burning paint, plastic, and toxic chemicals.
KMakyra
"If you or a loved one have been diagnosed with mesothelioma..."
CallMeCourierSix
It's kinda funny, but John Stewart fought for years to get proper care for the firefighters at the WTC collapse, because they inhaled all kinds of toxic shit. And that was a few months.
Imagine YEARS of being in the military, and living at an outpost that has a burn pit. Breathing that shit in day after week after month after year, as it drifts over the base. Burning human shit. Burning plastic. Burning paint. Burning chemical residues. Burning used machine oil.
Perfzilla
as someone who worked in defense contracting, it was absolutely not provided by the lowest bidder, it was provided by the bidder with facilities in the most congressional districts
spookyu
Then it all gets subcontracted anyway
AshtonNight
I do software defense contracting and government throws up so much red tape, it's impossible to do our job too
Perfzilla
but you still get paid to do it don't you? you're being babysat with an allowance
spiceass9000
Well that and lobbying
Perfzilla
lobbying is absolutely part of that
RufusPimperton
I do municipal contracting. It's insane where pennies get pinched and where money is no object. From my experience, the higher the bid, the more corners get shaved down in places you really don't want to shave.
Perfzilla
federal contracts seem opposite, the higher the bid the bigger the grift
RufusPimperton
My wife does the federal stuff and as near as we can tell it's the same. A huge convention is going on right now where all the big contractors are showing off their projects (real and hypothetical). A low bid typically has clauses for added expenses where a high bid has much less wiggle room. Ie: paying little for a new tech that will have additional expenses (and cut corners) or a lot upfront for a project that's 98% done. Not really a *grift* so much as for profit MBAs vs public books.