Buyer Beware! Post junk gear here for others to avoid.

[Psychlonic]

A couple weeks ago, I bought a new machete. One of these as it were:

http://www.amazon.com/Gerber-22-41576-G ... 368&sr=8-1

The Gator Machete by Gerber. I've always had good experience with Gerber so with their name emblazoned on the blade I figured hey, why not? I've already got a fine collection of blades, ranging from ninja-esque machetes to kukris and an Ontario machete, the latter of which I used to carry quite a bit through the countryside near here on ops in case any hungry animals decided to get frisky. Might not win a fight with anything, but you can bet something is going to lose an appendage or two making me a pretty expensive meal.
Anyways, with this task in mind, I got the Gerber so I could retire my tried and true Ontario to strictly outdoor recreational duties. I wish I would have read some online reviews first rather than trusting the Gerber name because as it turns out, this thing is a complete piece of shit.

It looks great, it feels great, silent sheath and sure grip. The catch?

http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G ... f110.L.jpg

The motherfucking "tang" only goes into the handle MAYBE two inches and it held in place with bolts. There are reports of the blade flying off, bending blades, cheap powder coating, and on top of all of this it seems it still doesn't have the chopping power of a regular Ontario. Thankfully I looked it up online after I bought it to see what others were saying about it and realized this thing was the black sheep of Gerber. I promptly returned it to the store from which I bought it.

Whether you're looking for a machete for night ops, psychotic black ops I don't want to hear about, camping, exploring, whatever - the Gator is the wrong fucking answer. Don't buy it.

[Ghost]

Meant to post in this when i first saw it, but meh. I'll just leave a few cautionary notes for people looking into getting new gear.

With BDUs, i've found it's always best to look at them in person so you can inspect the material they are made out of, the stitching, how well the buttons are attached, and so on. there are a lot of companies that make shitty BDU knockoffs that will rip easily, lose buttons in the field the first time you take them out, and are just crap in general.

[Psychlonic]

Good point. I think losing buttons on the trousers is inevitable but some certainly lose them faster than others. "Propper" brand seems to be especially bad about it. I've also noticed that Tru-Spec seems to have poor quality stitching around the knees and the inside portion has a tendency to tear easily. Genuine issue/military spec. ACUs have fussy inseam stitching, and if they do not fit properly, the first time you rush into a crouching position, the crotch will literally blow out on you. It's hilarious until it happens to you.

[Illusion]

I got my combats/BDU pants from a market stool about 3 years ago! Within a week they'd lost a button off one of the bits that hold a belt kit on - but apart from that they served me well and are still in use! I agree about checking buttons though - its the one thing I always check now.

Nite-Eyez LED upgrade for the minimag.

I've heard good things but I got a VERY poor output from it, it was a lot worse than the stock bulb! However; it does have a really good push button cap which is useful.