Due to mobilization, thermal underwear and harnesses have run out in stores

Thermal underwear, warm socks, as well as comfortable hiking boots turned out to be the first item on many lists of “with you to the army”. It is necessary not to get sick in the very first days of the trench life and not to rub your legs to bloody blisters. Those who used to be fond of, as it is now called, “tactical” clothing, have already acquired this in various specific places (which are discussed below). And purely peaceful people are used to going to sports shops for this.

– Winter jackets and pants are only bright! – the seller of a sports supermarket Alexey disappoints buyers.

It’s not at all surprising: sports shops sell equipment for extreme sports, and visibility is needed there, so that if something happens, they can be seen and rescued quickly. In combat conditions, the task is completely opposite.

As a result, there are exactly two types of khaki jackets on sale. Both are summer. Likewise with pants. True, here “bertsev” – that is, in fact, high trekking boots – is a good enough choice. And almost all of them are black or the color of dirt: what you need.

Price – let’s say, by Moscow standards, for almost any wallet. From 7,000 to 25,000 rubles and even more.

“I didn’t notice that there was any kind of invasion after the start of mobilization,” says Aleksey. But in the section where thermal underwear is “found”, the goods were clearly “pinched”. It is not available. The inscription hangs: only by online orders.

Wait for delivery

In fact, many of those who are now stocking up on “equipment” first of all went to the Internet: a habit formed by the covid two years. Indeed, large marketplaces are encouraging: there is a choice, delivery (to Moscow) right tomorrow. Prices are different: 5000 rubles for one good set is not the limit.

“A year ago I was selling the same product for about 3,000,” one of the textile sellers represented on well-known marketplaces told MK. – But consider for yourself: raw materials are imported, logistics jumped, plus now there is increased demand. Those parties that went to retail at the old prices have already been sold out, there are new ones left, which have a new cost price.

Over time, the entrepreneur believes, prices should level out: manufacturers can supply more goods, and no one has canceled imports from countries that dress the whole world. But the problem is that the “equipment” is needed right now.

… There are also berets on the Web, and “in quantity.” You can choose, and the price is lower than the sports store: from 3,000 to 10,000 rubles. However, there is a caveat: shoes, in order to be on the leg, still need to be measured. And offers on marketplaces provoke consumer panic: the last pair is left! Delivery in 5-7 days! And the return now, most often, is not free.

– I would not advise taking shoes without trying on online sites, – says mountaineering instructor Roman Nosov. – Often the shoes only look good in the photographs, and when you receive the goods, you return them. It is better to immediately go to a camping equipment store or a military store.

Kingdom of camouflage

By the way, there are practically no official military dealers in Moscow. But in them “non-statutory”, but good equipment is not for sale. But paramilitary stores, which are usually designed for hunters and fishermen, are in abundance, especially in the outlying areas. Business is good, and the owners usually like it.

“Thermals were completely swept away, I have already delivered new batches twice,” says Andrey, a military pensioner, the owner of a similar store in the North-West Administrative District. – Backpacks, I don’t have unloading either and I won’t, look on the Internet. They were taken apart from the beginning of the operation, and now they have been taken away completely, the delivery will be at least a month later.

Now you also need to “catch” protective equipment: tactical anti-fragmentation goggles, bulletproof vests. Helmets used to be – under the order. Manufacturers of such equipment, as Andrei said, are fully loaded and new orders from private traders are put only “on the waiting list”.

“But try it on the Internet, you can find it,” adds the store owner. – Krupnyak has more opportunities, they buy out large lots. But the price can be outrageous.

The price is really inhumane upon closer examination: class 5 protective helmets (and this is exactly what the experienced ones recommend) cost 30, 60, 100 and even 180 thousand rubles. And no, this is not the limit. But the most important and opposite thing is that in small print against almost all positions it is written: “Out of stock”.

Life, “dialer” and first aid kit

It is also recommended to take an individual first aid kit with you. At least in terms of modern hemostatic agents (bandages, tourniquets, hemostatics, etc.). The rest is more or less the usual medicines that many people have at home. Or illegally obtained, like syringe ampoules with strong painkillers …

And here – a frank “ambush”, the same as with helmets. In ordinary pharmacies, such a product is most often not available, and by searching the Web, it turns out that practically nothing is available. Including conventional rubber hemostatic tourniquets. In addition, hemostatic sponges and their analogues have almost completely disappeared from the market. True, some of the things you need are on marketplaces (not pharmacy, but general purpose) – and the prices, as usual, are not encouraging.

In addition, they now take a lot of useful little things with them. As told “MK in Chita” one of the mobilized, it turned out to be the easiest way to buy an “unlit” SIM card in a communication salon. But a push-button phone – a “dialer” without a camera (the only ones allowed in the Armed Forces) managed to grab literally the last one in the city.

– There are not enough tourniquets, I did not find them in any pharmacy, – the Chita resident confirms. – In each pharmacy, pharmacists said that everyone was buying up everything, and there were simply no such elementary things listed above, and when they appeared, they were immediately taken apart. And this has been happening every day since the 22nd.

With hunting accessories (matches, dry fuel, foam, balaclava, spoons, forks and even tactical glasses), there were fewer problems. But with backpacks and raincoats – back, there is a shortage …

“On one site, a suitable version of the backpack was found, but, unfortunately, in 10 minutes of my way to the store, the backpack was already bought,” the source from Chita confirmed. Similarly, with adventures, I had to get a winter sleeping bag.

Compared to this, “civilian” hygiene products are obtained easily and naturally. And the conclusion from this, it seems, is simple: the message “from above” about mobilization, backed up by subpoenas, reached the addressee. And even those who have not yet received these very agendas, as they say, are not waiting, but are preparing.