The science/art of camoflage

I’ve got one of these jackets:
It’s USAF issue, APEC digital Tigerstripe, in Goretex. APEC stands for All-Purpose Environmental Camouflage.
Which basically means it’s useless in most circumstances, however, it looks pretty, and is fine for wearing while standing guard on a remote airbase in Nevada.
I like the pattern, it’s a lovely jacket to wear, very soft, with heavy Cordura along the sleeves and shoulders, and cost me £85, new, unworn. Beats a crappy, non-waterproof SuperDry jacket costing £150 with knock-off of US Woodland camo printed on it.
Which is why I buy military surplus kit; it’s well made, comfy, and bloody cheap. And I like the pretty patterns… 😀
My favourite jacket is one of these, cost me thirty quid, and is lovely to wear, polycotton, so very soft and quiet, wind-proof, and is a really nice pattern, doesn’t show the crap too much:

Danish M84 field jacket

Mine’s speckled light green/dark green/black, it tends to stand out in an urban situation, so that argument doesn’t wash. It’s excellent for wildlife photography, though.
And a lot of people who wear camo kit would likely just punch you in the face if you pulled that stunt, not being too tolerant of that sort of ‘wit’.

Most people who wear that stuff where I live are fairly useless sacks of… nothing. They also wear animal fleeces with pictures of howling wolves & stallions under starry skies. Is that you? Would you punch someone in the face for bumping into to you? Not very tolerant is it? 😉

I’ve got one of these jackets:

There is a similar version in another camoflage that was issued to the US Army for a while. If you see one grab it – really nice windproof shell and quite a few of them were made by Patagonia. The quality is excellent – just not found one in my size yet.

US Army calls it ECWS

The gear has evolved over the past 20-25 years, more than the camo pattern varies.

Off on a tangent I love the STW daily mail link page 🙂

I haven’t been able to find any of my camouflage clothing for ages. Shame as it was very effective.

As a little aside story, the thread reminded me of a mate who was in the RAF on guard duty.Basic training in a field, in Wales, middle of the night cradling his wooden rifle, half asleep, when suddenly the “field” in full camouflage and armed with SLR’s, rose up in front of him and passed through the campsite he was guarding. Needless to say he kept quite and pretended he was asleep.

Most people who wear that stuff where I live are fairly useless sacks of… nothing. They also wear animal fleeces with pictures of howling wolves & stallions under starry skies. Is that you? Would you punch someone in the face for bumping into to you? Not very tolerant is it?

As are many of the people around here who wear top to bottom British Army DPM, which was kinda my point.
But someone deliberately barging into a person, just because they’re wearing a particular style of jacket is pretty intolerant too, but I guess you knew that. 😉
I see a lot of fishermen wearing RealTree, or knock-offs, which does amuse me a bit; fish react to silhouettes, and movement, camo doesn’t make the slightest bit of difference to a carp in a murky river. Still, if it keeps ’em happy to pay loads for something that doesn’t work, fine.
It does also amuse me seeing people wearing fashion clothing styled after the US Army M95 jacket, which my Danish M84 is, and paying stupid amounts of money for it, just ‘cos it has Superdry and some spurious Japanese kanji on one shoulder, and a Woodland camo pattern, when they could buy military surplus kit for a fraction of the price; £130 against £30? No brainer, that.

Tom B – Member
I haven’t been able to find any of my camouflage clothing for ages. Shame as it was very effective.

Coat, now! 😆

when they could buy military surplus kit for a fraction of the price

Point missed 🙂

We were asked to make some very cool camo gear made of custom Crye stuff. Had no velcro, (all button) for some guys that came over a few months back. Jackets and trousers and some harness stuff.

Count where did you get the Danish jacket? Can you recommend a good on line place?

Point missed

Well, no, not really, I understand marketing, and product recognition, the whole Cult/Superdry thing is very clever, using the Japlish that appears on Japanese clothing, and turning it around and selling it to a European market, the placing of brightly coloured logos at eye-level on jacket shoulders is genius, and it clearly works.
I’m too aware to fall for it, preferring to buy products based on quality and price, not what fancy logo is embossed on it.
I do have a Superdry beanie hat, though…
It’s why I wear a lot of Uniqlo gear, although I do have a fair bit of cycling-specific gear with logos on, mostly bought in the sales…
Although I do have a North Face Nuptse jacket. I bought it long before the dance culture made it ubiquitous, and a share of a work lottery win paid for it… 😉

I’m too aware to fall for it, preferring to buy products based on quality and price

Point missed, again…

Yes. The point is that people don’t want army surplus kit for a fraction of the price 🙂

hydro graphics in york realtree’d a spec SX i think it was, there was a thread on here. nice.

Well if you’re interested in MultiCam-ing your bike…

I bought a superdry jacket in the sales a few years ago. It was neither super, nor dry.

Global Hypercolour Camo 8)

So I was constantly ruining trous by gardening and lifting and bumping stuff around in them, and this thred prompted my to have a bit of a google….
Dragon supplies were asked by the parachute reg to run up some trops to the same spec as the originals (the hard denim, not tea bag type) and so I gots myself a pair!

(that’s not me BTW)
These things are the shit; the most hard wearing combats I was ever issued.
I haven’t stretched to the shirt though. MrsW put her foot down 😳

so I gots myself a pair!

You must be the coolest dude at the airsoft club 😆 Do you have some skateboard knee pads to wear over the top of them?

Behind the times, they have been doing this for years…

Hydrographics Show Case – Click on Mountain Bike

Guys, without being funny or anything, but blokes that wear army gear who aren’t in the actual army = Not a good look.

OK?

Yes. The point is that people don’t want army surplus kit for a fraction of the price

No, they prefer to wander round covered in pointless logos advertising someone else’s product, having paid over the odds for the privilege. And it still has a camo pattern on!
I don’t mind wearing band t-shirts, and it’s difficult to avoid with bike-specific gear, but if I can buy shirts, sweatshirts, jeans, etc, without logos, the happier I am these days. Even my Vans are plain black, with tiny discrete logos on.

Count did you see my question above?

No, they prefer to wander round covered in pointless logos advertising someone else’s product, having paid over the odds for the privilege. And it still has a camo pattern on!

so your fashion statement is “I’m anti fashion” whereas their fashion statement is “I like this brand”

Tip, they haven’t bought it because of the camo pattern ok? The Military thing was fashionable for a bit, but there’s a world between “actual” camo stuff and fashion camo and military cut and wot-not.

I’d post the vid of the bit in Devil wears Prada where Meryl pulls apart the girls attitude to fashion, but you prob still wouldn’t get it.

We’re all doing fashion Zero, whether we get it from the high street, Charity shops, or surplus shops, it’s still fashion straight (maybe a bit wiggly) from the pages of Cosmo and Vogue

No, they prefer to wander round covered in pointless logos advertising someone else’s product, having paid over the odds for the privilege. And it still has a camo pattern on!

Is that better or worse than sneering at people’s clothing choice on an internet forum? I can’t tell, help me out.

Is there actually someone in the picture posted by kayak23..?

I’ve spent five minutes looking…

Is that better or worse than sneering at people’s clothing choice on an internet forum? I can’t tell, help me out.

Well you don’t get the awesome smugness that you get from letting the world know of your brand-free existence, before reeling off a list of branded goods you own and why they don’t count.

Is that better or worse than sneering at people’s clothing choice on an internet forum?

Don’t worry, those of us who actually left the safety of camp and required camouflage are pretty thick skinned. Blue is good camo for the Naafi dwelling duffers though. Slimming too!

Guys, without being funny or anything, but blokes that wear army gear who aren’t in the actual army = Not a good look.
OK?

😀

But they’ll punch you in the face for bumping into them.

cmon folks share the best surplus shops for this stuff then, every time I look it is either overpriced or has bullet holes in it due to being “used”!!

cmon folks share the best surplus shops for this stuff then

Get yourself a friend in the forces…