3 ms·

Military-grade just means it has a spec, now, I will admit having a spec is nice, very nice. but in general it says little about the actual quality of the item.

by somat 9mo ago

Military-grade just means it has a spec, now, I will admit having a spec is nice, very nice. but in general it says little about the actual quality of the item. And if the spec can't be found or there is no spec. Probably best to stay away, in those cases they are not even selling you the snake oil but the sound of it sloshing in the bottle.

culi 9mo ago
There is no legal requirement for it to refer to MIL-SPEC. More often than not it is just pure marketing without any actual spec tied to it
- hsbauauvhabzb 9mo ago
  Military grade afaict just implies the military ‘could’ use it, by that definition almost any company sells military grade products or services, except companies who explicitly would not sell to the military.
  - bluGill 9mo ago
    the military often writes a spec and then refuses to buy anything that doesn't meet it. Most soldiers are not going to walmart to get supplies - even f walmart sells that type of thing.
    - hsbauauvhabzb 9mo ago
      I’m not talking about what the military could or would use, I’m talking about what it takes for something to be called military grade.
      - colechristensen 9mo ago
        "military grade" isn't a protected phrase. As a consumer you might be able to sue them if the thing breaks and they can't prove that phrase meant anything? But doubtful. Claiming to conform to a more specific product or process standard would be more specific fraud. But in general though "military grade" is a red flag for shitty marketing. Example: pop tarts are military grade! [1] Though their commercial packaging is likely not. https://www.dla.mil/Portals/104/Documents/TroopSupport/Subsistence/Rations/cids/qapkg/Q-20211.pdf https://www.dla.mil/Portals/104/Documents/TroopSupport/Subsi...
  - JohnFen 9mo ago
    In the US, "military grade" is like "natural". There is no legally enforced meaning, so it means whatever the manufacturer says it means. Sometimes that's something real and of some value, but the majority of the time it's just a meaningless marketing buzzword.
  - deadbabe 9mo ago
    Original Gameboys are military grade, and even in the gulf war when they were used, there was one that survived being melted.
    - normie3000 9mo ago
      Used for what?
      - cweagans 9mo ago
        If you had one, you could also buy games in the form of “cartridges”. Putting one of those cartridges into the gameboy would let you play the game for as long as the batteries held out.
      - somat 9mo ago
        Morale
    - quickthrowman 9mo ago
      I remember that Nintendo Power letter to the editor!
- OneDeuxTriSeiGo 9mo ago
  Yeah if you see something labelling itself "MIL-SPEC", that's grade A snake oil bullshit. That said military spec stuff is actually generally a good sign that something is of higher quality than random off the shelf garbage but only if you know there's a specific spec you want it to work with. And most of the time you aren't even necessarily looking for a MIL-STD (standard) but rather a MIL-PRF (performance rating/spec). So like if something is "MIL-SPEC" run. But if you see say a spool of fiber that is "MIL-STD-1678 compliant" and more importantly "MIL-PRF-49291 compliant" and "MIL-PRF-85054 compliant", that's probably a really good sign that it'll do its job. The former PRF documenting perf requirements for the fiber itself and the latter PRF the cabling/sheath's corrosion and deterioration resistance. It's the military so odds are it'll probably cost extra for that and it'll still kinda suck but it'll suck in exactly the way they promised.
  - throw0101c 9mo ago
    TIL: * https://www.navsea.navy.mil/Home/Warfare-Centers/NSWC-Dahlgren/What-We-Do/Navy-Shipboard-Fiberoptics/Status-Standards/ https://www.navsea.navy.mil/Home/Warfare-Centers/NSWC-Dahlgr... * https://landandmaritimeapps.dla.mil/programs/MilSpec/ListDocs.aspx?BasicDoc=MIL-PRF-49291 https://landandmaritimeapps.dla.mil/programs/MilSpec/ListDoc...
    - ChrisMarshallNY 9mo ago
      Anything with “Marine” in its title, is usually 5X more expensive, but worth it. Nothing sucks more than having the engine crap out, 150Km offshore, because your fuel injection system got corroded.
      - pixl97 9mo ago
        Hell, anything even close to salt water is apt to get ate. What's funny is you'll see people say they want to retire and get a beach house. No. You. Don't. Blowing sand is hard on stuff, getting in gears and moving parts. But the salt, the salt is like some alien monster that just dissolves things that flat landers would never expect. Get the smallest amount of saltwater flooding in a closet with equipment and things start to corrode away like it's an alien acid world.

by somat 9mo ago

culi 9mo ago

There is no legal requirement for it to refer to MIL-SPEC. More often than not it is just pure marketing without any actual spec tied to it

hsbauauvhabzb 9mo ago
Military grade afaict just implies the military ‘could’ use it, by that definition almost any company sells military grade products or services, except companies who explicitly would not sell to the military.
- bluGill 9mo ago
  the military often writes a spec and then refuses to buy anything that doesn't meet it. Most soldiers are not going to walmart to get supplies - even f walmart sells that type of thing.
  - hsbauauvhabzb 9mo ago
    I’m not talking about what the military could or would use, I’m talking about what it takes for something to be called military grade.
    - colechristensen 9mo ago
      "military grade" isn't a protected phrase. As a consumer you might be able to sue them if the thing breaks and they can't prove that phrase meant anything? But doubtful. Claiming to conform to a more specific product or process standard would be more specific fraud. But in general though "military grade" is a red flag for shitty marketing. Example: pop tarts are military grade! [1] Though their commercial packaging is likely not. https://www.dla.mil/Portals/104/Documents/TroopSupport/Subsistence/Rations/cids/qapkg/Q-20211.pdf https://www.dla.mil/Portals/104/Documents/TroopSupport/Subsi...
- JohnFen 9mo ago
  In the US, "military grade" is like "natural". There is no legally enforced meaning, so it means whatever the manufacturer says it means. Sometimes that's something real and of some value, but the majority of the time it's just a meaningless marketing buzzword.
- deadbabe 9mo ago
  Original Gameboys are military grade, and even in the gulf war when they were used, there was one that survived being melted.
  - normie3000 9mo ago
    Used for what?
    - cweagans 9mo ago
      If you had one, you could also buy games in the form of “cartridges”. Putting one of those cartridges into the gameboy would let you play the game for as long as the batteries held out.
    - somat 9mo ago
      Morale
  - quickthrowman 9mo ago
    I remember that Nintendo Power letter to the editor!
OneDeuxTriSeiGo 9mo ago
Yeah if you see something labelling itself "MIL-SPEC", that's grade A snake oil bullshit. That said military spec stuff is actually generally a good sign that something is of higher quality than random off the shelf garbage but only if you know there's a specific spec you want it to work with. And most of the time you aren't even necessarily looking for a MIL-STD (standard) but rather a MIL-PRF (performance rating/spec). So like if something is "MIL-SPEC" run. But if you see say a spool of fiber that is "MIL-STD-1678 compliant" and more importantly "MIL-PRF-49291 compliant" and "MIL-PRF-85054 compliant", that's probably a really good sign that it'll do its job. The former PRF documenting perf requirements for the fiber itself and the latter PRF the cabling/sheath's corrosion and deterioration resistance. It's the military so odds are it'll probably cost extra for that and it'll still kinda suck but it'll suck in exactly the way they promised.
- throw0101c 9mo ago
  TIL: * https://www.navsea.navy.mil/Home/Warfare-Centers/NSWC-Dahlgren/What-We-Do/Navy-Shipboard-Fiberoptics/Status-Standards/ https://www.navsea.navy.mil/Home/Warfare-Centers/NSWC-Dahlgr... * https://landandmaritimeapps.dla.mil/programs/MilSpec/ListDocs.aspx?BasicDoc=MIL-PRF-49291 https://landandmaritimeapps.dla.mil/programs/MilSpec/ListDoc...
  - ChrisMarshallNY 9mo ago
    Anything with “Marine” in its title, is usually 5X more expensive, but worth it. Nothing sucks more than having the engine crap out, 150Km offshore, because your fuel injection system got corroded.
    - pixl97 9mo ago
      Hell, anything even close to salt water is apt to get ate. What's funny is you'll see people say they want to retire and get a beach house. No. You. Don't. Blowing sand is hard on stuff, getting in gears and moving parts. But the salt, the salt is like some alien monster that just dissolves things that flat landers would never expect. Get the smallest amount of saltwater flooding in a closet with equipment and things start to corrode away like it's an alien acid world.