I picked up some new Woodland gear today and it got me to thinking about my favorite camo patterns. I’m partial to Woodland because it’s what I wore in the 1980’s as a National Guardsman. Even so, I prefer it’s ERDL predacessor. Multicam is by far my favorite of the current batch of camo and I realy like the recently replaced AUSCAM “bunnyflage.” My favorite pattern of all time, though, is the Rhodesian pattern. I was lucky enough to pick up several sets of it back in the 1980’s when it was still fairly easy to get.
So, what are your favorite camo patterns? They don’t neccessarily have to be the ones you think are most effective, just the one’s you like the best. They can range from hunting patterns like Mossy Oak to historical patterns like he French lizard pattern of Algeria fame to the latest tacticool pattern.
It depends…?
As a child of the Cold War, I have an irrational fondness for the U.K. DPM. The pattern has always looked futuristic and jungely… especially for use in Northern Europe.
A couple years ago I picked up a very well used green DPM smock that had faded into more muted colors - something in the area of 15-20 washings of old all-cotton Woodland BDUs. When I wore out in the temperate hardwood forest, a fairly tactically proficient buddy of mine went on about how effective the pattern was, especially when crouched along the forest floor. Most versions of DPM had a little too much black, but there is solid contrast between the colors. The colors were adjusted over time and I thought the lighter colored versions to be a more universal.
I love Multicam like an airsofter. The new versions are even better. I thought it was all hype until some guys wearing it maneuvered on me - I’ve been sold ever since.
True that.
The hype is accurate - I’ve seen guys disappear in 50% snow cover and in very heavy, dark forest conditions at the height of summer in the exact same pattern. 100% in all places - no; 90% solution across many climates - yep.
Favorite, or most effective (and if so, in what environment?)
For pure aesthetic appeal, I did Vietnam Tigerstripe.
I also have a thing for CADPAT. While it works great in wooded areas, it isn’t suited for much else.
I like Coyote Brown and Grey/Wolf for a balance of practical and tactical.
I love Multicam, and I am partial to a lot of the Soviet and Russian patterns. I grew up with my old mans Gorka gear and blue striped shirt in the closet and played with it a ton as a kid. For digital, I would love to get my hands on anything by Hyper Stealth like the US4CES patterns and some of the others they have made “Quantam Stealth” for the U.S. market would be awesome (those geese are ****ed). I have hunted using X-Camo for the last 4-5 years and I still like it a lot.
What camo pattern I like, is really determined by my terrain and where it will be used. I like Multicam, but have seen issues with in in certain environments. I like Marpat woodland for jungle use, if only it was lighter weight material. For nostalgic reasons, I dig ATACS FG- it makes me want to infiltrate an Imperial base on Endor!
I’m a big fan of Multicam and Multicam Arid, but sometimes I like to go old school with Woodland and Three-hour Desert. If I had to go with a digital pattern, I would pick the US4CES camo from the last Army camouflage competition.
ASAT for hunting mid or late winter. (Wish it was still reasonably priced)
Rhodesian for vintage (I have some from the late 70s)
Multicam for most practical
US4CES for “wish it was commercially available”
That US4CES is awesome. I love the comparisons I have seen for night/day VS all the competing patterns. Hyper Stealth was really the winner in my opinion.
