From the introduction: The one great legacy of the age of war was a planet torched to a poisoned cinder by nuclear strikes. But if there were to be a second legacy it would be all the gear that was used to do that left lying around. Far from being purely and utterly bitter about their circumstances, the people of Have-Not consider that second legacy valuable: the tools of warfare, built to last, to use ammo that could mostly still be produced, and coming in several flavors from pretty decent to utterly lethal were useful in the ever-present fight to stay alive. That goes double for armor.