My Military Gear Journey

In 2004, I had just quit my job at a state-owned company after one year of “stable” work. No business, no contacts, no plan—just a stubborn belief that I wanted to build something of my own.

I registered a free account on a then-popular B2B platform called Made-in-China. Alibaba was too expensive for me back then—I couldn’t afford it. I started scrolling through buyer leads, sending cold messages to anyone who might listen.

And then I saw it:

“We need 5,000 military sleeping bags.”

Just one sentence. No specs. No details. But something about it made my heart race.

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Truth is—I had no idea what a sleeping bag even was.

At that time, outdoor activities weren’t common in China. If someone told you they went camping, it probably meant they were elite or eccentric.

But I didn’t hesitate. I called up one of my best college roommates—he was still working at a state-owned enterprise—and asked if he knew anyone making sleeping bags.

By pure luck, he did. He even got me a sample within a few days. That was the very first time in my life I physically held a sleeping bag.

I sent pictures to the Kenyan buyer and told him confidently,

“Yes, we can make this.”

We chatted through Yahoo Messenger, because my spoken English was terrible. Whenever he called, I’d nervously say:

“We chat on Yahoo Messenger, please.”

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Here’s where it gets crazy.

The sample I randomly found?

It looked almost exactly like what he needed.

He was impressed. He replied, “This is close to what we want, but we’ll send our original version for reference.”

When his original sample arrived, my heart dropped.

It was much more complicated than the one I had sent. More features, more stitching, more layers.

But I was already in too deep. I rolled up my sleeves, worked with the factory, tested version after version… and finally, we got it right.

He liked it. He wired the deposit.

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But then, before mass production, he wanted to approve a final sample.

This time? Everything went wrong.

The weather was freezing. The factory was struggling. The new samples didn’t meet the same quality. No matter how hard we tried—we couldn’t match the earlier version.

The buyer grew anxious. He started to doubt my credibility.

He even called the Chinese embassy in Nairobi, thinking I might be a scammer.

Luckily, since I was using my roommate’s state-owned company to handle the export, the embassy confirmed,

“This company is legitimate. You can trust them.”

Still, I knew I was on thin ice.

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So I made a bold offer:

“Why don’t you come to China?

Just buy the plane ticket. I’ll cover everything else—your stay, your meals, your comfort.

See for yourself who I am.”

To my surprise, he agreed.

He booked his flight. I went all the way to Shanghai Pudong Airport to pick him up.

And just like that—my life changed forever.

That was my first real foreign client visit.

That was the beginning of my military gear journey.

And that same client? We’re still working together 20 years later.

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Curious how the visit went? The food, the factory tour, and how we built real trust?

That’s a story for Chapter 2.

Follow me to keep reading.

Have you ever had a client that changed your life? Let me know in the comments.

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