Deep Dive: U.S. Military Headquarters Field Desk

Initial Impressions

This U.S. Military M-52 Desk is impressively robust for something that was designed to be easily portable. Each wood component is hefty on its own, and almost all corners are reinforced by steel edging.

If you were planning on tripping and falling in proximity to this desk, it would be advisable to wear a helmet.

For a taller person, this desk is maybe a little short. But not as short as you might assume. You will be able to get your legs under the desk, assuming you are using the included folding chair, the seat of which sits only about 14 inches off the ground.

Height is only a couple inches lower than a typical cubical desk (27 inches versus about 29 inches).

And the large square-shaped main table area gives you a lot of space for whatever you need. Arts & Crafts. Workshop projects. Bookkeeping. You could easily set a monitor/keyboard or laptop computer on top of this desk with plenty of leftover room.

The Folding Chair

The sample examined for this post actually came with a full set of two folding chairs. In the past many of these desks have only come with a single chair. You will get at least one chair.

Initial impressions of the chair (or stool, as some in the office choose to call it) are that it is a bit wobbly. However, upon further investigation it was discovered these chairs each easily support the weight of an adult male (260 lbs.) standing on top of them, and even handle plenty of side-to-side motion without collapsing in on themselves.

The Drawers

The drawers are heavy and durable, like the rest of the desk. Many of them include separate slide-out dividers for adding organization or creating a bigger space for bulkier items.

Padlocks

Many of these Desks are showing up with padlocks. But even if you don't receive official padlocks, every single one of these Desks is compatible with adding your own padlocks. You can lock down the entire desk in its crate configuration, preventing anyone from taking it apart or messing with contents you might have concealed inside.

That's right, concealed inside.

All storage capacity inside this desk is 100% preserved in its transport configuration. The drawers sit inside their slots, and each drawer can easily be filled with bulkier gear (stuff big enough it won't sneak out the top) and stored that way. Of course, it will add to the total weight of the desk which is already considerable.

There is also a single locking drawer which with the addition of a padlock will keep secret documents (your diary, daily ledger or cashbox, perhaps) safe from casual perusal by curious eyes and fingers.

This is NOT a high security desk. Anyone with the proper breaching tools will be able to quickly gain access. Against a casual miscreant the padlocks will do their job.

Some customers have voiced concerns that this U.S. Military Field Desk doesn't ship inside a cardboard box, or some other protective enclosure.

Folks, this Desk IS the protective enclosure.

Here's the truth: As it moves through the world this U.S. Military Field Desk is going to get scratches, scuffs, or other abrasions.

It's going to get knocked around before it even gets to your door.

But if you are concerned about these randomly generated historical dings, which indeed add a handsome one-of-a-kind uniqueness to your Desk, well then, you should see the other guy.

In a past life, this wood Box would have gone toe-to-toe with shipping crates and hard cases. It would have been slammed into metal-reinforced edges. Dragged across rivets, bolts, and welded seams.

But it's been retired. Rotated out. Sent into the private sector.

Now imagine this Field Desk sent into the cargo holds of our nation's unsuspecting private shipping industry.  Imagine it surrounded by consumer cardboard and thin bubble wrap.

In the back of a simple FedEx truck, this Field Desk becomes an apex predator. The fox has come to the hen house.

It will leave a trail of broken glass. Shattered plastic. Insurance claims.

They'll have to buy a bigger broom.

Final Thoughts

You can set this Desk up at home and enjoy its unique military-inspired décor for the rest of your life.

But if you can handle a not-insignificant 80 lbs., which is what this Desk weighs, you can also take it on the road.

During your travels, this Field Desk becomes the World's Most Invincible Folding Table. Garage sales. Neighborhood get-togethers. Ticket booths. Unlike a typical basic model you could buy at a store, you'll also have all these nice drawers to secure writing equipment, duct tape, ledgers, or the petty cash.

And at the end of the day, this Field Desk comes home. You can't really break it. And no one else working the pancake feed, bouncy castle, or swap meet can break it.

Not even that one big guy who breaks stuff.

I know this man well. I see him every time I look in the mirror.

Maybe that one guy is you, too.

If that's the case, this is the Desk of your dreams.

You and this Desk are the same.

Some additional Youtube links:

Prepared Camping (which features the Field Desk in a camping environment)

Minuteman Mountain

War Nickel Revolution