Thoughts on ACU camouflage

[parallax]

All waves (including light) are subject to diffraction or refraction, which stems from bending around obstacles. Of course, the wavelength of light is only 500 nanometers. Unless Mr. Cramer is ~300nm tall, bending a light wave around him seems difficult.

Using a fabric with diffractive effects could be helpful though.

i spent some time working with fiber optic strands to transfer video and images over several yards away,back in the early 90's," thousands of strands" per bundle to create something akin to pixels on a televsion screen.. so i am wondering if they are using bundled fiber optic cable to gather light from the back and transfering it to the fabric front.. perhaps its like a sleeping bag with fiber optic cable running around the bag, that a person or object would have to get inside of, to avoid becoming part of the projected image on the fabric.

 

[Stomper]

ACU looks like faded crap, and is the WORST camo pattern out there. Thank God we still used the Woodland pattern when I was in.

MARPAT and MultiCam get my nod.

 

[ocarolan]

ACU looks like faded crap, and is the WORST camo pattern out there.

Agreed, ACU was a step backwards from its predecessors (OD, DCU). Europeans have some funny camo that might earn the "worst" distinction though - Belgian Jigsaw and Swiss TAZ 83:

 

[Stomper]

As goofy as the Swiss pattern looks, up in the alps when all the vegetation is not under snow, you'd be surprised how effective it is. I've watched hunting shows on the Outdoor Channel and thought the Swiss pattern would work awesome while hunting in certain areas of Alaska as well.

 

[CamoDeafie]

OK so most respondants agree with my assessment that ACU is kind of crappy. Got it...
I didnt set out to buy this it is just that certain deals came my way and before I knew it I had a full set of ACU gear. Rather than trash it and buy all new Multicam or such what are my alrternatives? So what about modifying it?

I was thinking, what if I were to paint over it with some larger tigerstripes of brown and greens? Leave much of the digital pattern exposed but add larger elements to it to break up the tendency to blob up into grey?

there's a way around it; someone has got this done with their set....find RIT fabric dye in olive green or hunter green; dilute it; then dye the ACU material in it; reports are that it immediately looked better....another color to try is a shade of brown; which would give the ACU pattern more of a Coyote Brown appearance.

 

[U201491]

i spent some time working with fiber optic strands to transfer video and images over several yards away,back in the early 90's," thousands of strands" per bundle to create something akin to pixels on a televsion screen.. so i am wondering if they are using bundled fiber optic cable to gather light from the back and transfering it to the fabric front.. perhaps its like a sleeping bag with fiber optic cable running around the bag, that a person or object would have to get inside of, to avoid becoming part of the projected image on the fabric.

They are actually experimenting with that concept. Change like a camelion to whatever the background is.
In this region I still think a mix of woodland digital and realtree would be best short of a modifiable ghillie.
_______________________________
At my age I shoot forward a lot better than I run backward.
Rearward movement is only used for a forward Advantage and better sight alignment !

 

[knuckle Head]

IMO Marpat may be the best for heavy greenery of the northwest, next would be BDUs they are still a favorite of a lot of people and for the rainforest of the northwest would be my #2 , next would be multicam and if I were in western WA, OR or ID and MT area;s would be my number 1

These camo patterns are for multi use and in most cases are excellent.

One must keep in mind amount willing to spend, use, terrain, seasonal changes and if they are changing patterns with seasons.

Also look at cabelas they have a lot of hunting camo that is terrain specific.

Find out what bw hunters use in your area in different seasons this will generally be the best choice

Have notices I have not mentioned acus well there is a reason, they are better fit for urban warfare than anything else. Unless you are planning staying and hiding and fighting in the streets, I would spend my money on them.

 

[erudne]

The Swiss and Italian patterns are terrain specific. The old Brit disrupted woodland pattern works as as well here as in Europe even OD works as long as you eliminate shine , silhouette, contrast, smell, movement, blah blah

 

[gunfreak]

The multi cam stuff is good and the old style woodland camo is still popular, a lot of spec ops guys still use it.

 

[ArgyleAdams]

I've had good luck with ASAT. Once on a camping trip I was throwing pebbles at a couple of friends from 5 yards away in light brush, and they passed about 2 yards away when they were trying to find where the stones were coming from. Good stuff.

Sent from a phone; typos likely

 

[timac]

ACU is a perfect example of political backscratching. A lot of the commercial hunting patterns are really nice, I personally like this, it is one of the finalists for the Army's new UCP (Universal Camo Pattern)

View attachment 68383

New pic of this pattern in use.

 

[erudne]

It looks expensive, and more detailed than what is needed, but if it floats your boat more power to you.
Most folks are shocked to see just how effective green/brown clothing is to human vision which relies on shape, shadow, shine, movement which is much different than the vision of prey animals. If I had a zillion dollars to spend I'd develop:
<broken link removed>

or this:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9SJjs8wXK...U1bwwN8c/s1600/SPECOPS+PenCott+Camouflage.JPG

 

[sapper77]

I used Rit dye to dye mine dark green. the don't look half bad. When I get time I will post a pic.

 

[erudne]

I used Rit dye to dye mine dark green. the don't look half bad. When I get time I will post a pic.

Been there ,,done that!
back in the day the US Army SOP was to use Coffee grounds to dye uniforms, fer camo!
OMG it was like Starbucks had moved onto the front lines (except fer the Baristas, of course). Nobody ever did that, if they had done it, it would have been part of the waterpark on South Park,,,,which never happened!

 

[cascadianliberty2012]

I'm a fan of A-TACS. You can find some better demos on youtube of it.

 

[erudne]

Been there ,,done that!
back in the day the US Army SOP was to use Coffee grounds to dye uniforms, fer camo!
OMG it was like Starbucks had moved onto the front lines (except fer the Baristas, of course). Nobody ever did that, if they had done it, it would have been part of the waterpark on South Park,,,,which never happened!

YUeah that was some arm chair Colonel who thought that up! #1 coffee is not a dye, just look at your coffee filter and besides it's water soluable, it washes right out. Even RIT is a water based dye

 

[Brutus57]

tea can be used to dye clothes. I might even try it on my Urban/Snow Camo boonie hat if SHTF.

Brutus Out

 

[Brutus57]

New pic of this pattern in use.
View attachment 69109

Looks like a still from the original Predator movie.

Brutus Out.

 

[Brutus57]

Agreed, ACU was a step backwards from its predecessors (OD, DCU). Europeans have some funny camo that might earn the "worst" distinction though - Belgian Jigsaw and Swiss TAZ 83:

Germans had some of the better WWII camos. What do people think about their more modern "Flecktarn" pattern?

Brutus Out

 

[erudne]

I live at 46 degrees N.latitude my veg. zones include Fir forest, Pine forest, Scrub oak/grassland, all within a 20 mile radius. I've used Felcktarn, OD, Multi-Cam, Brown, White, Woodland, Realtree, VN USMC.
For cross spectrum wear Brown and OD are the best/easiest to obtain followed by Multi-Cam, Flectarn, Realtree, with Woodland/VN USMC being the least versatile.
Flecktarn seems to be a very effective pattern.
Coyote Tan is a very poor choice for my area.
As to LBE I try to avoid black and favor Multi-Cam, but again brown/green pouches work as they break up the outline of various straps.
The Belgium and Swiss patterns are area specific and do work well in those areas