Effective Personal Camouflage Pattern

ctayfor

ctayfor

Active member
Does anyone have strong opinions on the most effective printed camouflage clothing?

I remember being stepped on by an infantryman when I was training some grunts in basic first aid. I was lying in small scrub as a "casualty" a group of them were supposed to find and treat. I was wearing the new (at that time) NZ DPM uniform. He found me alright, by stepping on my leg.
 
I'm reminded of the US Army's experience with their 1980s desert cam uniform (the Chocolate Chip camo as it was nicknamed) that was well suited to desert areas in the USA but was apparently very much less suitable for the Middle Eastern deserts of Gulf War 1.

I don't think there is any "one most effective" pattern simply because what works in one country does not always work in another country and sometimes even from terrain to terrain, (look at the experience in Afghanistan where they need two different patterns even in the course of one patrol where they can go from open dusty plains to lush green shrubbery).

Here in Australia we tried a few variations of a desert pattern AustCam uniform and found some of them badly suited to Iran and Afghanistan even though they worked well enough in Australian deserts.

Personally though, I believe camouflage uniforms are as much about providing an identifiable uniform for a nation as they are about actually concealing the soldier. For example, after so many countries in South America and then in Asia, started copying (some licenced, some just blatant rip-offs) the US Woodland pattern uniform, the USA probably had to change patterns just to disassociate themselves from those other nations.
 
Camouflage clothing does not make you invisible. The purpose is to break up the outline of the human form. While almost any type of camouflage clothing can help break up the pattern of your body and make you less obvious, some seem to be better than others at hiding the human figure. Camouflage patterns that incorporate light colors give the impression of air throughout the pattern rather than a mass of vegetation. Gradations of dark to light make an object harder to recognize as one item and the object loses its 3-D quality.

 
No single pattern in universally effective. Some are more versatile than others, but they all have limitations.
 
With the kit issued today you can wear what you like, and someone can see you and kill you.

You can dress up as a snowman or as a tree and you can bet your life someone will say, "See that snowman (or tree) its really a man, kill him."
 
There are some cammo patterns that work well in a few enviroments but most stick out like the dogs bollocks if you leave that particular area.
IRL that can be a difference in location of 50 meters or less.
A skilled operator will however learn how to utilize whatever cammo he is wearing at that particular point in time to the fullest of it´s capability.

Better to have acouple of different uniforms light/dark then just one that sucks overall IMO.

KJ sends..
 
Ghillie+Suit.jpg
 
It seems like Digital Camoflauge pattern is rather effective. We just got the new digital pattern and when tested on the field, it was harder to spot than the normal "blotches pattern" by 50%
 
Digital camos work really well at breaking up a silhouette when viewed through night vision goggles. That is one of their major features.
 
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