The best military field gear we’ve ever bought

If your unit’s comms plan is worth a shit, it’s going to call for way more batteries than are actually needed. It’s obviously better to have them and not need them than to need them and not have them. That means someone is going to be lugging around a lot of excess power – power that could be charging your phone, GPS watch, or headlamp. Make friends with that person, and you can use those batteries instead of your own power bank that you may or may not be too cheap to own.

This adapter allows anything with a USB cord to charge from a BA5590 or BB2590 battery. It’s cheap, it’s effective, and it might come in really handy.

Need to kill about 30 minutes? Ask someone in the military to talk you through their favorite multitool. We sound like a bunch of eight-year-olds explaining why Legos are the best and vegetables are gross. The Leatherman brand has become synonymous with multitools, and this is the best-selling multitool it offers. The Wave packs 18 tools in a compact package (compared to other multitools) that’s easy to slip into your pocket or mount on your gear. It’s made from stainless steel and has a black oxide coating, so it should last years in the field. Almost all the tools can be accessed from the outside – a must for multitools if you ask us.

I could go on and on about the individual tools in the Leatherman Wave, but I’ll keep it simple by saying that it’s worth spending $100 to never have to ask to borrow a multitool again. It’s a solid piece of gear that everyone should own. It’ll come in handy during field exercises, deployments, camping trips, and house projects. I bet you’ll wonder why you ever suffered through life without one.

Call it a woobie, call it a poncho liner, call it the greatest military invention ever — whatever you call it, call it yours.

If you think about the life your issued sleeping bag has led for more than five seconds, a new sleeping bag will probably be at the top of your shopping list. The North Face’s Blue Kazoo has been a camping icon for years. It’s light, soft, warm, and probably packs down a lot smaller than your issued bag. In addition to high-quality down insulation, you’ll get oversized zipper pulls, fitted hood, draft collar, and zipper baffle to keep you warm and comfortable.

In most regions, this 15-degree (Fahrenheit) sleeping bag is all you’ll need for field exercises and camping trips. Just remember that its bright colors aren’t anywhere near tactical, so you’ll need to keep it tucked inside your bivy sack.

Sometimes people forget about traditional GPS devices in the age of color touchscreen displays, customizable apps, and Bluetooth convenience features that come standard in a lot of GPS watches. That just means that people who want a simple GPS device for land nav can pay a fraction of the price compared to cutting-edge tech. Several of our writers have sworn by the Foretrex 601 and its predecessor, the Foretrex 401, in the field and during deployments. Allegedly one even used the Foretrex 201 in Iraq but that was during the ancient times so we can’t verify it.

High points include intuitive controls, waypoints using MGRS and latitude/longitude, a big screen, night vision compatibility, and fantastic battery life. On the downside, it’s hard to shoot a true azimuth without a sighting mechanism, the strap isn’t the most comfortable, and the screen can get scratched easily. It’s also not as accurate as military GPS units, but for $200 can you complain?

Travel is part of life in the military, and not all of it involves a bivy sack on the ground. Your service will probably include stays in questionable hotels and base housing. Hell, your barracks room might be pretty substandard. One way to seriously upgrade your quality of life is to use a Tempur-Pedic mattress pad. This one can make a cheap mattress way more comfortable so you wake up rested and ready to take on the day. It even comes with a pillow and travel case.

At nearly 20 pounds, this duffel probably isn’t going into the field with you. It’s more for upgrading a cot or mattress in a more established sleeping situation. Play your cards right, and you might even be able to bring it on a deployment – that would be a total game-changer.

We can make fun of people for having the latest and greatest tech, but that doesn’t make Garmin’s current hotness any less legitimate. The fenix 7 offers a lot of the features that come in the tactix series at a much more accessible price. Is it as capable? No, but most people won’t miss anything. This edition comes with a super-durable sapphire crystal and solar charging to extend battery life to almost three weeks when used as a smartwatch. Turn off features you don’t need in the field to get more than a month out of a single charge (if you refuse to take our advice on buying the battery adapter and making friends with the comms guys).

Dropping $900 on a watch is significant, but it’s a fair price for what this one can do and how long it’ll last. Our team has put Garmin GPS watches through hell and can vouch for their effectiveness. If the Instinct series is just a little pedestrian for you and the tactix is out of reach, this is the GPS watch for you.

Jetboil camp stoves are one of the first things people buy when they’re buying gear for a camping trip, and this one should be in your pack if you plan on staying in the field for any length of time, too. The powerful stove can bring one liter of water to a rolling boil in less than two minutes, and – unlike those pesky MRE heaters – it isn’t reliant on a rock or something. The insulated cup is safe to handle when hot so you can scoop it right up and chow down as soon as your meal is ready.

The only drawbacks are the cost of buying fuel canisters and the space they take up in your pack. Each one can be used a few times, but they’ll add up quickly if you’re foot-mobile in the field for more than a few days. The benefits outweigh this, though, and you can get tons of use out of your Jetboil when you camp, fish, or hunt.

How could we forget? You can also use your Jetboil as a portable coffee maker with this French press attachment. It’s simple, light, and cheap so it’s a no-brainer for coffee drinkers. It isn’t quite as good as something like an AeroPress and you can expect a few grounds to sneak through if you’re not careful, but this is an easy way to get even more use out of your Jetboil. In fact, if you do a good job and are willing to share, you might be able to score some favor with whoever is carrying those radio batteries.

If the Tempur-Pedic luxury-in-a-box system isn’t for you, it’s still possible to get a better night’s sleep in the field. One of our contributors swears by this travel pillow, and it can make all your field time, flights home, and (if you’re stealthy) safety PowerPoints a lot more comfortable. It comes in a few different sizes, rolls into its own cover when you aren’t using it, and is machine-washable.

The combination of a map, GPS device, and lensatic compass is pretty tough to beat, but it can be added to. Clipping this little compass to your non-GPS watch or pack strap is a great way to keep an eye on your heading without breaking out the whole land-nav ensemble. It’s also a wise addition to your get-home bag since all you’ll need it for is to guide you home to the actual compass that’s in your go-bag.

This bulk order comes with 864 total wipes. If you’re eating MREs, the first one should last you a week and the remaining 863 will last through the following day.