Acu

[GETSOME]

I have seen ACU in two different shades,the orginal colors and also one in a shade darker .
Could it be a copy or are they making it slightly darker then when they first came out?

[Deftoner]

were you wearing sunglasses?

[el borracho]

When will people stop asking this question. There are no different shades of the ACU. What you have seen can be attributed to camera flash in photos, different levels of natural fading over time, and slight variations in the manufacturing process. After a few washes, the greens take on a grayish hue. When used in the field, dirt and sand with give the uniform a brownish tone.

[the_recruit]

The Camoflage is suppossed to be universal. It does take on different hues pretty well, but I still wish we hadn't done away with the BDU's.

33423

The ACU sure is the king of that AO. lol

[silveykyle]

I feel like this has been answered so many times.

[ZoneOne]

There are actually 12 different variations of the ACU.

;-)

[Rosa Jonas]

There are actually 12 different variations of the ACU.

;-)

Cadpat, Cadpat'ar, MARPAT Woodland, MARPAT Arid, Kuwait Arid, Iraqi gov and the artic version of MARPAT is all that comes to mind.

[-[Crosshair]-]

I have an ACU Tac Vest with some pouches attached to it, and the vest has different colours than my ACU uniform (I own the real combat shirt and pants, not replica ACUs). The pouches also have different colours than the vest and the uniform. So nothing out of the sh*t I own have the same shades/etc.

[Kap]

It has to do with manufacturers. Right now all my issued ACU jackets (4) are made by American Apparel and by which are of decent color quality, but my 4 issued pants are all screwed up, I have 2 propper pants, 1 from Woolrich and another one I have forgotten. The pants seem to fade much more quickly even when I wash my uniforms inside out.

My .02 cents

[Rosa Jonas]

-;2736328']I have an ACU Tac Vest with some pouches attached to it, and the vest has different colours than my ACU uniform (I own the real combat shirt and pants, not replica ACUs). The pouches also have different colours than the vest and the uniform. So nothing out of the sh*t I own have the same shades/etc.


Cadpat hues varies a lot too, don't they? Well at least on pictures. I don't remember if there's any official difference in schemes. It might just be unintended differences.

[-[Crosshair]-]

Cadpat hues varies a lot too, don't they? Well at least on pictures. I don't remember if there's any official difference in schemes. It might just be unintended differences.

Quite indeed. There are two generations of CADPAT uniforms, the first one has the buttons showing, the second one has flaps to hide the buttons.

I've seen a lot of old faded uniforms, "test" uniforms or something with different colour variations (more light yellowish, more dark greenish), etc.

I got lucky and got normal uniforms that did not even start fading yet, even after a year of high use and washings. I know people that were issued old faded pants or shirts when they enlisted... I joined the forces late enough that they now issue the same new uniforms to everyone from the same manufacturer, I think. All my stuff still looks like new. Looks like they got the materials and things of the like spot on now.

[aj-0311]

I have a "new" set of ACU's from the newest contract. A top made by Propper and a bottom made by American. They match perfect with an original set of American Apparel ACU's when they first came out.

There were no color changes as far as I know, because to do so would mean changing the original contract, and that hasn't happened.

The different colorations are due to the photographic filters used and if the uniform is wet.

I wear it on a daily basis, and I can say sometimes it works, but mostly not.

[JimDG]

It could also be from people buying ACU uniforms from suppliers not working under the specs of the government contract. In other words "Cheap knock offs". The USAF is now having the same problem with the top and bottom not matching and also with shade variations in initial production batches.

[Lerch]

Quite indeed. There are two generations of CADPAT uniforms, the first one has the buttons showing, the second one has flaps to hide the buttons.

I've seen a lot of old faded uniforms, "test" uniforms or something with different colour variations (more light yellowish, more dark greenish), etc.

I got lucky and got normal uniforms that did not even start fading yet, even after a year of high use and washings. I know people that were issued old faded pants or shirts when they enlisted... I joined the forces late enough that they now issue the same new uniforms to everyone from the same manufacturer, I think. All my stuff still looks like new. Looks like they got the materials and things of the like spot on now.
Wanna get technical about this? Officially there's 3 generations of CADPAT.
The first gen is available nowadays only on the old helmet covers. The green's were a touch lighter and the brown was...brown. Not the pink that is used now.
Second gen came out as the full uniform. They changed the colors to what they are now and produced the full uniforms as such.
Third gen is what we see now, covered buttons etc.., and made with harder wearing dyes.

The Gen1 uniforms are rare as rocking horse **** in the surplus system since they were all trashed shortly after the decision went down to adopt CADPAT, and at which point more money was chocked in and we got the printing machines from Europe. However you still do see them sometimes, same as the old DPM sets.

[-[Crosshair]-]

I have an old-ass helmet cover that is a hell of a lot lighter. D:

[brianm423]

There is NOT a darker version of the Army Combat Uniform.

[Lifeinasmallbox]

There is NOT a darker version of the Army Combat Uniform.

Well that depends on the amount of field time you do. ;) I have a set that...with all the stains from the mud, grass, whatever...are starting to look like my woodland set. I get confused when im getting dressed some times...

[BloodyTalon]

ACU's are like our version of the IDF's olive drab; it doesn't look at like it would be universal, but give it enough time in the field and you'll see. Although when you first set foot in a woodland area, you stick out, but that's just what i've seen.

Since we're on the subject on ACUs, i got mine issued this week and i got the tapes i ordered in today. I forget, do i put a "US ARMY" tape on the back of my patrol cap or do i put my last name?

And if anyone asks, i'm a cadet that's not contracted yet (although i will be by fall FTX). That's why it took so friggin long for me to get a set.

edit: found out, nvm.

[Lifeinasmallbox]

Since we're on the subject on ACUs, i got mine issued this week and i got the tapes i ordered in today. I forget, do i put a "US ARMY" tape on the back of my patrol cap or do i put my last name?

And if anyone asks, i'm a cadet that's not contracted yet (although i will be by fall FTX). That's why it took so friggin long for me to get a set.

edit: found out, nvm.

You're name is on the back of the PC...We damn near NEVER wear our PCs unless we're in the motor pool so I dont think it'll be that much of a problem :)

[brianm423]

Well that depends on the amount of field time you do. ;) I have a set that...with all the stains from the mud, grass, whatever...are starting to look like my woodland set. I get confused when im getting dressed some times...

Yeah of course. I know what you're saying here. My oldest set of ACUs are pretty beat up and have a darker tint to them. But a lot of people here and on another forum I post on swear there is a darker pattern of the uniform.

[brianm423]

ACU's are like our version of the IDF's olive drab; it doesn't look at like it would be universal, but give it enough time in the field and you'll see. Although when you first set foot in a woodland area, you stick out, but that's just what i've seen.

Since we're on the subject on ACUs, i got mine issued this week and i got the tapes i ordered in today. I forget, do i put a "US ARMY" tape on the back of my patrol cap or do i put my last name?

And if anyone asks, i'm a cadet that's not contracted yet (although i will be by fall FTX). That's why it took so friggin long for me to get a set.

edit: found out, nvm.

I just finished up ROTC. What school are you at?