Brown Camouflage
Ok, so maybe its just me, but it seems like most camouflage patterns seem to work off either green or desert color schemes. In general there do not seem to be a lot of brown (as opposed to green or tan dominant) patterns out there. The closest things out there seem to be A-TACS, and two Chinese patterns (Type 03 "Tibet" pattern and the Type 07 Desert/Arid Pattern). This is surprising to me, as brown-dominant camouflage would seem to work very well in a wide variety of environments (Northeastern woodlands in the winter, California foothills in the summer, some grassland and desert areas come to mind). I'm wondering first off if anyone has any experience with these Chinese patterns. They look to be fairly effective camouflage, but I am suspicious of the quality of the actual uniform. Also, for A-TACS users, most of the photos I've seen make it look like the pattern has a sort of "white-ish" or sunwashed quality to it. Has anyone found this to be an issue with the pattern?
Various German WWII camoflage patterns like Eichenlaubmuster, Sumpfmuster, and Fallschirmjager Dot 44 come to mind.
I think the problem with brown based camouflage patterns is that they only work in very specific environments or seasons. For example, if you were to walk around in a french bocage in mid Spring, Eichenlaubmuster wouldn't be very helpful.
Brown was definitely missing from ACU. And green. And Khaki actually. Pretty much all colors not found in rocky Afghan hills.
Or cantaloupe patches.Originally Posted by budgie
Some other brown/brownish dominant patterns you may want to look into:
Australian DPC
East German Rain Pattern
Spanish Amoeba mountain variant
Italian 3 color
Thats just a few off the top of my head. But it looks like in the new US trials that they are going with a more brown dominant style.
just beats me how they missed it all this time.
WW2 era US 'duck' patten had a brown dominant theme. The USMC also had reversible helmet covers in the 60's with one side being a brown leaf pattern (forget it's exact name). Similarly the ERDL 'lowland' had quite a bit of brown as did M81 woodlands. Even modern woodland MARPAT has a lot more brown than people notice.
This is all of course not counting not counting the endless brown dominant desert versions that virtually every country has right now.
Edit: Looked it up...The reversible helmet covers I was thinking of actually came shortly after the Korean war. It was known as the "Mitchell" pattern and the brown dominate side was a 'cloud' pattern (the 'wine-leaf' pattern was the green side only).
Last edited by PMI; 06-09-2012 at 12:43 PM.
MARPAT is mostly brown dominant.
If you consider solid color uniforms, the UK and Commonwealth wore dark khaki for about 60 years. Some British units in India started using it as early as 1848.
The SADF (South Africa Defence Force) used to wear "browns" and have a look at the SARP (South African Railway Police) camo.
If I had to select a single color, it would be brown like British battledress. The uniform should look like ground, not like trees. For example, Danish green Flecktarn knock-off or Canadian CADPAT are too green, except for ever-green forests.
Austrian camo is also based on brownish-pink background. Also SS pea pattern or BW Flecktarn has a lot of brown and only a little of green. Still fascinating, how well it works even against pure green leaves.
According to the patent filing:
47% Coyote
5% Khaki
30% Green
18% Black
And the old woodlands were:
34% Brown
30% Dark Green
20% Light Green
16% Black
Austrian Erbsentarn, Czech Woodland/Leaf/Erdl, Russian Autumn Partizan are VERY brownish, too.
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