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Once upon a time, There was a surplus of military surplus in the land, and there was much bidding and much rejoicing.

High quality government-made surplus apparel and field gear was easily obtained, available in quantity and dirt cheap. An industry was built on this happy circumstance, and surpies made the best of dealing directly with the source of the product rather than through any middleman.

But all things change and often for the worst, and the pipeline of genuine U.S. government military surplus to the army/navy trade became clogged - with government policies restricting the availability of certain classes of goods; with the amplified need for security measures following the events of 9/11; and with the introduction of an Internet-based distribution system that placed a third party between the government and the army/navy supplier.

As all of this was going down, in response to the growing fashion appeal of camouflage and the military look, mass market apparel retailers brought in military-style apparel made overseas that could not compete on quality or authenticity but compensated for that with astonishingly low pricing.

Faced with a shortage of the most important goods to the army/navy market and competitive pressures from mass retailers, army/navy industry suppliers took a good look at government-made military surplus and said “Knock it off!”

THE BETTER MOUSETRAP?

And so they did - knocked off government-made military goods by manufacturing privately-branded apparel and gear. But controlling the means of production also enables control of design, quality and attention to detail - even to the point where some companies not only produced goods that fully complied with government specifications, but in some cases exceeded them.

The prevalence of privately made, government-spec “replithentic” military apparel and gear gives us the term “neo-military surplus.”

These captive brands have allowed army/navy retailers to offer first-quality military goods at competitive prices with mass market military-style goods. These private label brands can be sold alongside authentic U.S. government military surplus with little to no loss of credibility.

One of the early adopters of the “DIY” approach was Atlanco of Marietta, Ga. The company introduced its TRU-SPEC line of military, law enforcement, EMT and outdoor sports apparel - produced in the company’s own factory which was built as an indicator of Atlanco’s commitment to forging their own brand.

Not satisfied with just making a product equal to the government’s needs, Atlanco took the basic military design and made numerous improvements and enhancements, which have particularly helped the company’s expansion into the law enforcement/tactical market.

Propper International is an official supplier to the U.S. military. They also sell their official apparel to the commercial market , but without the special materials embedded in the fabric that lower a soldier’s infrared signature or the IFF patch. Propper also offers its Genuine Gear line as a value leader. It is their replithentic line that provides government-spec quality at import priciing.