18 February 2010

Army surplus/disposals

| misspris
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Hi everyone, just wondering if anyone can tell me if there is still an army disposal store in Canberra? I know that there was one in Fyshwick (? Second Wind) but I can’t seem to find them. I need some khakis for a party next week.

Cheers

Pris

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There is a new Military shop in shop 4/64 wollongong st Fishwyck. Ironside Military and security.
Xlnt shop.
http://www.ironsidemilitary.com.au

I was recently looking for an army disposals here in Canberra and came accross Ironside Military & Security. The guys who run it are called Alan and Troy. They have only been opened for a few weeks, however, they have got a lot of gear ranging from ex Australian and US military gear, through to new equipent such as Crossfire gear. They said that they will soon be agents for Platatac and will be stocking a lot of their gear.
There hasn’t been an army disposals since the one in Belconnen closed, as well as the one in Woden Plaza, so it is great to see a new store opened up. There prices are very competative, and much cheaper than the stores in Sydney and Goulburn. They also give discount to ADF and Law Enforcement which was a bonus for me.
A great store, and a couple of real down-to-Earth blokes. They certainly have my vote of aproval as well as my business.
For your information, they are situated at shop 4/64 Wollongong street in Fyshwick. Their phone number is 02 62800788. They are also soon to have a new webpage at http://www.ironsidemilitary.com.au

About 2 weeks ago I traveled up to Penrith to see the Gun & Memorabilia show and met a guy who was running a Military Antiques/Disposal table. His name is Alan and he said that he came from Canberra and would be opening a shop in Fyshwick very soon once he finds a suitable shop. The guy is trading as Ironside Military Antiques. Specifically I am after army wool blankets for my swag and camping where he said he had currently on order a large consignment from the U.S.

I am looking forward to when we can have a surplus/disposal store again in the region. Now that the question has been raised I will drop him an email from the business card he passed and see if I can get an idea of when and where he will be trading.

The camping store at Homeworld in Tuggeranong has a small selection of cam gear.

misspris said :

There is a disposal store in Goulburn (why am I not surprised!) but I’d rather buy closer to home if I can.

The disposal store in Goulburn will happily send you items, Im pretty sure they even have a website with some of their items on display, but I cant find it at hand.

To answer your question directly though, for camo pants and shirts, tried looking at K-mart or target or similar? My girlfriend has bought camo pants at K-mart before, Im fairly sure, and for a good price too, even if theyre not genuine army pants, you only need them for a costume.

I went to the store in Goulburn just before Christmas and I asked the guy there this very question. He said there are now only about five true disposals stores left in the country.

The disposals are not cheap anymore. expect to pay $30+ for most used cam shirts or pants, and same for ammo pouches. Used Auscam backpacks go for over $200. Can be better off buying new Chinese made stuff.

There’s still on on the High St in Penrith… at least there was three months ago when I was last in Penrith…

I would say the main reason you don’t see disposal stores anymore is the advent of the urban camo gear and the fact that the major designers took the concept over, refined it and made it mainstream.

This and ebay anyway.

The only one I can recall in Canberra was in Woden, upstairs near the bridge across to the Bonner Building section. If it’s not there, call Andrew at OzSurplus in Goulburn (02) 4822 1020 (he’s definitely still trading) and he should be able to give you advice, as he knows the trade in this area quite well.

Trunking symbols11:28 am 19 Feb 10

I heard that the Defence Dept stopped supplying surplus to the shops. This sounds plausible because in the early 1990s I worked at Defence in registry and one of the young guys came in wearing a khaki shirt which still had the rankings on it (Sgt & paratrooper). He got into a lot of trouble and shortly after that I noticed less and less surplus gear in the shops. The one at Woden Plaza was called Daymik and was originally located in the original court opposite the palm tree. They moved to the bridge at Bonner House in the late 1980s/early ’90s and concentrated on outdoor gear. They closed down in around 2003, replaced by the NRMA. Army disposal stores were especially popular in the mid 1980s when the Rambo thing was trendy. Even in the 1970s kids used to buy haversacks and use them as school bags – they were especially cool because you could write the names of your favourite bands on them with felt pens (Status Quo, Deep Purple, Kiss and Black Sabbath were the most popular when I was in high school and college). I would say the main reason you don’t see disposal stores anymore is the advent of the urban camo gear and the fact that the major designers took the concept over, refined it and made it mainstream.

colourful sydney racing identity10:09 am 19 Feb 10

I think it was the one in civic that had a pretty wide colleciton of Nazi flags, t-shirts and assorted memorabilia – right next to this stuff was a dsiclaimer that it was “presented for historical purposes only”. always made me shake my head.

swamiOFswank said :

Kippax Disposals, with the rotund guy who talked your ear off, moved to Scullin shops. Dunno if they’re still there.

He’s no longer at Scullin either, there’s just a very crowded op shop (walking around there reminded me of the Nanageddon episode of the Mighty Boosh).

I’d be interested to hear if you do find a disposal store, my partner has been looking for a great coat for awhile (he got his last one from Kippax) and we haven’t been able to find anywhere selling them.

!

PBO said :

Go to Trash and Treasure @ Jamo. There will be a guy there who has a covered stall which sells Jams and such but he also sells models and war stuff. His name is Ian, he is a big bloke with a beard and he used to run the Disposal shop at Page. He will be able to help you out.

Sounds like the guy who ran the place at kippax (who ran the place in Belconnen next to lazer zone/strike/whatever)

swamiOFswank said :

Kippax Disposals, with the rotund guy who talked your ear off, moved to Scullin shops. Dunno if they’re still there.

FWIW the rotund guy reminded me very much of the comic book guy from the Simpsons.

LOL, damn you’re right

neanderthalsis8:52 am 19 Feb 10

Just try and track down a pair of jungle green “cargo pants”. They look enough like the real thing to pass muster at a fancy dress.

Felix the Cat9:48 pm 18 Feb 10

There’s a fancy dress hire shop in Fyshwick that might be able to help – Sweet Apple Fancy Dress Hire & Ballet Shop
Unit 2, 79- 81 Gladstone St Fyshwick ACT 2609
ph: (02) 6280 9117

Also one at Mawson – Just Clowning Around
Southlands Shopping Centre Mawson ACT 2607
ph: (02) 6286 7100

And Monash – Christine’s Place
22 Hebblewhite St Monash ACT 2904
ph: (02) 6291 0151

swamiOFswank8:34 pm 18 Feb 10

Kippax Disposals, with the rotund guy who talked your ear off, moved to Scullin shops. Dunno if they’re still there.

FWIW the rotund guy reminded me very much of the comic book guy from the Simpsons.

target? they often have khaki stuff – though not strictly army disposal, might suit your hotlips purpose; take your radar with you and ensure your hawk eye is open to grab a klinger…

sexynotsmart7:27 pm 18 Feb 10

Hmmmm… maybe wear a dress and go as Klinger?

grunge_hippy5:42 pm 18 Feb 10

they used to be everywhere didnt they? now not so much. There used to be one in the civic interchange but its long gone too. I wonder why you don’t see them so much anymore? they always had such a distinctive smell.

real oldies may remember the disposal store in the civic bus interchange, around about where Iori is now . . . just next to the takeaway shop that did fantastic 15c potato scallops on a winters evening (yeah, it was the 80s)

Thanks everyone for the advice. Will check out Jamo Trash and Treasure 🙂

Niftydog – I’m not going as Steve Irwin (God help me), rather a shorter, more rotund, less attractive Hotlips Houlihan (it’s an 80’s party). I thought it’d be an easy costume to put together – I just wanted to buy some army pants, a blonde wig and a khaki tshirt and stencil M.A.S.H. across the front.

Jeeper said :

Jurkiewicz… now BCF. It would be worth a try…

Doubtful. BCF = Big Cluster F#@&.
Chris Jurkewicz runs Belconnen Camping World, but again there’s not really much in the way of true disposals stuff.

There may be one at the Weetangera shops.

Definitely not – drove past there two weeks ago… tumble-weeds everywhere.

Second wind is long gone, the manager now owns Wetspot Water Sports. They do have some second hand water sports gear but no army disposals type stuff.

A few years back I went to one at the Scullin shops. No idea if it is still there and Yellowpages is useless.

Jurkiewicz Adventure Store on Newacstle St in Fyshwick used to sell some disposal stuff, but this store is now BCF. It would be worth a try to see if they still carry some of that stock.

Go to Trash and Treasure @ Jamo. There will be a guy there who has a covered stall which sells Jams and such but he also sells models and war stuff. His name is Ian, he is a big bloke with a beard and he used to run the Disposal shop at Page. He will be able to help you out.

I remember that shop – but I think it’s been NRMA for ages now. Not sure if they moved elsewhere though. My yellowpages/Google searching wasn’t helpful at all. There is a disposal store in Goulburn (why am I not surprised!) but I’d rather buy closer to home if I can. I did check out Salvos at lunch time but didn’t have any luck there either. Might have to revise my costume idea 🙂

There use to be one at the Kippax shops but that was about 8 years ago! Would be interested to hear if it’s still operating. The ‘rotund’ guy running it was a complete military nut and would talk your ear off especially if you were service or ex-service, but he had some good stuff!

Khaki what, exactly?

I would imagine your average fancy dress party probably attracts about 6 or 7 Steve Irwins…

Second Wind was above Jurkewicz, but not sure if they’re still there now the place has been taken over by BCF (who are next to useless). Their surplus supply was sporadic at best anyway.

I’ve resorted to these two places as proper disposal stores just don’t exist any more.

If you are really desperate i’m pretty sure that there is one in golbourn.

To my recollection, Second Wind did more second hand water gear such as kayaks etc, not sure that they did army disposals. There used to be an army disposals store in Woden on the bridge above the pawn shop, though it’s a few years since I was there.

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