Mixing camoflage patterns on a plate carrier.

[Fumps]

Advice needed guys

I was sent a pic of myself in the field during a skirmish & noticed that my loadout isn't as good as I'd hoped when it comes to concealment.

Although I'm happy with the kit I have, I really think breaking up the colours I'm wearing will help.

I have dropped the MTP scheme because I mainly play woodland in Autumn and didnt think it was working as well as the darker como's so now have DPM trousers with OD Ubacs & RICAS.

The issue I can see is that my upper half is a big flat area of OD green. so I'm thinkig of changing my pouches & command panel to a differant camo pattern to break this large area up........ Well thats my thinking anyway.

The natural option would be to go for a woodland camo like A-TACS FG, DPM or Mandrake etc but when talking to a mate he pointed out that to break up my shape maybe going for a colour change like A-TACS- AU would work better.......Now my head hurts !!!

So I guess what I'm asking is does anyone have any experience with this kind of idea ? I have been googling this but nothing is really answering my question.

Cheers in advance for useful opinions

 

[Esoterick]

I dunno i've never had issues being spotted wearing an OD plate carrier with either DPM or Multicam Tropic on. The thing that I have always found gives people away is their face, followed by people wearing colours that clash with the environment such as light or non earth tones in woodland.

 

[n1ckh]

I wear an OD carrier with mtp kit but no one's ever said you were easy to see

I wear my dpm kit when the foliage starts to thin out

 

[Fumps]

Hmmm I'm not sure weather to leave it as is or not. Not looking to change things for the sake of change but I was surprised how much I stand out to my background.

The way I spot people is usually their silhouette, with plate carriers & helmets that is often the bigger give away.

My son wears DPM & he blends in much better than me in MTP thats why I changed to the woodland camo I just think the large area on my chest is letting the colour range down a bit.

Hmm ***strokes chin in thought***

 

[TacMaster]

True camouflage isn't solely about the pattern you're wearing. You need to break up your shape as well.

Adding long grass, twigs (ones with leaves on them are the best to use) as well as any other natural debris to your plate carrier and any headgear can really help in breaking up your shape. Some dyed burlap strips are also very useful.

You have to remember that the effectiveness of your camouflage depends on the environment you're currently in. Lighter patterns like MTP are very useful in environments with lots of light colours, such as areas with very sandy soil and light coloured flora.

 

[Mack]

Had plenty of mixed pouches on my old 6094

 

[Lozart]

Hmmm I'm not sure weather to leave it as is or not. Not looking to change things for the sake of change but I was surprised how much I stand out to my background.

The way I spot people is usually their silhouette, with plate carriers & helmets that is often the bigger give away.

My son wears DPM & he blends in much better than me in MTP thats why I changed to the woodland camo I just think the large area on my chest is letting the colour range down a bit.

Hmm ***strokes chin in thought***

Get better at not being seen. Airsoft distances aren't that huge!

 

[Fumps]

True camouflage isn't solely about the pattern you're wearing. You need to break up your shape as well.

Adding long grass, twigs (ones with leaves on them are the best to use) as well as any other natural debris to your plate carrier and any headgear can really help in breaking up your shape. Some dyed burlap strips are also very useful.

You have to remember that the effectiveness of your camouflage depends on the environment you're currently in. Lighter patterns like MTP are very useful in environments with lots of light colours, such as areas with very sandy soil and light coloured flora.

Yeh I usually look for shapes rather than colours (Well i'm serverly colourblind so thats how my eyes work).

I'm not expecting camo to make me invisible, I'm just thinking of breaking up the patterning I have at the moment.

 

[n1ckh]

Thing is, none of us are in the armed forces where camoflauge & concealment is paramount so in reality it just comes down to thinking about your approach etc

If I camouflaged like I used to, I'd be a walking bush

If your that determined, make up a gillie hat or buy a gillie top

 

[Fumps]

Thing is, none of us are in the armed forces where camoflauge & concealment is paramount so in reality it just comes down to thinking about your approach etc

If I camouflaged like I used to, I'd be a walking bush

If your that determined, make up a gillie hat or buy a gillie top

Yeh I remember doing a full day about that kind of thing when in the kadets years ago was top fun I loved it.

I'm more thinking out loud & asking for opinions wondering what other people thought about it than anything else

 

[skarra333]

Can we see the picture, not to perv over, but to better assess the issue?

 

[Fumps]

Can we see the picture, not to perv over, but to better assess the issue?

Good idea.

This is not a pic of my loadout as it is now. The MTP is gone & I have replaced it with a OD UBACS & DPM trousers.

I also now wear a fast helmet but that bit is not important (Thinking of getting a Kryptek Mandrake helmet cover for that)

View attachment 16167

 

[TheFull9]

To my eye, the OD in that picture stands out a lot more than the multicam.

 

[Mack]

To my eye, the OD in that picture stands out a lot more than the multicam.

but but but multicam/mtp doesnt work in the UK/Woodland, how can that be

 

[Fumps]

To my eye, the OD in that picture stands out a lot more than the multicam.

yeh kind of my point really. Now I'm all DPM/OD the rig does kind of stand out because of a single distinct block of colour which I think would be better if I break it up a bit.

The MTP looks good when the sun is shining through the trees but not great when your trying to fade into the shadows, hence why I dropped it in favour of DPM. I think MTP does look great but my son demonstrated that DPM was working better than my MTP every month without fail.

Here is a pic of my son on the same day at the same site. when he is snug against a tree he's much harder to spot than I am in my MTP loadout.

I'm guessing the answer is "No" noone knows or has any experience of what I'm asking which is cool, I may do some experimenting and see what I find out.

editted for last bit & a bit of poor spelling

View attachment 16171

 

[Colonel Kurtz]

Again I'm gonna be an immersion breaking bastard and say that camo schemes make no difference to concealment. As Lozart says the range airsoft battles occur at is too small for it to make any difference. As long as it's vaguely a woodland colour (green hoodie does the job) then it's your behavior/movement that will make the difference.

A flat patch of green in your loadout isn't going to make people spot you, if anyone notices this then it's far too late already and they must be pausing to admire your outfit before pulling the trigger or something hehe.

Perhaps a ghillie suit tailored with the local foliage might make a slight difference if you're not moving, but even then it's the not moving that is making the majority of the effect.

If you wanna change up your 'loadout' in a manner that feels/looks more cool/consistent then do it, but there's no scientific justification or anything

 

[Lozart]

yeh kind of my point really. Now I'm all DPM/OD the rig does kind of stand out because of a single distinct block of colour which I think would be better if I break it up a bit.

The MTP looks good when the sun is shining through the trees but not great when your trying to fade into the shadows, hence why I dropped it in favour of DPM. I think MTP does look great but my son demonstrated that DPM was working better than my MTP every month without fail.

Here is a pic of my son on the same day at the same site. when he is snug against a tree he's much harder to spot than I am in my MTP loadout.

I'm guessing the answer is "No" noone knows or has any experience of what I'm asking which is cool, I may do some experimenting and see what I find out.

editted for last bit & a bit of poor spelling

I honestly think you're over thinking this. MTP looked good in your first picture because it was sunny and the tones matched the lit up foliage. DPM will look better when it's less bright. Against a sun dappled background, yes a solid block of OD will stand out but if you're standing in the open instead of hiding behind a tree or at least attempting to use the available concealment then the colour of your plate carrier is pretty irrelevant.

There's a similar thing in action every time I go to the Mall. Different, granted but similar - loads of people go for the all black SWAT/SAS look presumably thinking that if that's what the big boys use it must be right but actually apart from the dark areas all black sticks out like a sore thumb. ATACS AU works a lot better because it blends with the surrounding colours but more importantly it breaks up your outline. Let's face it, when it's dark you can't see what colour you're wearing anyway. Same with outdoors, as long as you break up your outline and don't silhouette yourself then you'll be better concealed at 40m than someone wearing all multicam standing in the open.

 

[Colonel Kurtz]

At The Mall I find ATACS AU is one those camo schemes i find very easy to spot in the dark as it has light patches. Agree it's too dark to see an outline regardless, but the lighter shades in it help you appear as a contrasting patch of moving blur, rather than just moving blur, and that's all you need to point and shoot at.

Def agree that a black makes you easier to spot in light areas, due to color contrast. However I personally find camo clothing sticks out the most because it's not a block color like the surroundings. Perhaps the best outfit for the mall would be some horribly 70's beige/brown clothing; dark enough to have benefit in the basement, and might blend in with the background in rest of the site better. However due to it being an entirely man-made arena and people not having straight edges or flat surfaces I think the only way to successfully conceal yourself in the lit areas in any manner is if you where to wear a cardboard box, then people might mistake you for another wooden barricade. Hmm wait a minute i think i have a cunning plan

So I agree with what you're saying, but personally I find the differences the other way around in terms of how much effect they have. To me i find black makes a big difference in the dark, but whatever you're wearing makes no difference in the rest of the site. People usually have so much adrenaline pumping they're really focused on a specific point of interest (doorway etc). It means if you're in that point they'll see you regardless of clothing style, and if you sneak up behind them they wont notice you regardless of clothing style either. And in woodland I seem to find no difference, maybe because everyone wears camo so there's not much difference to pick from.

p.s. i wear black but refuse to be tarred with the sas/swat brush, just my very very old combats and snowboarding softshell. I have been toying with the idea of a ninja outfit, as it'll be a hilarious delving into hypocrisy for me that a majority will consider wearing this special-forces costume ridiculous because i clearly don't have the relevant ninja athleticism or abilities

 

[TheGrover]

I wear full MTP and there have been times I've hidden in a bush and should have been spotted, but stopping and not making noise let me avoid a few guys walking a couple of metres past me

As said above: it's not your camo that hides you, it's your behaviour and movement, even if you're using a ghille, in which case you need to also behave like the Bush to hide, because the human eye is good at recognising a moving Bush as a threat, too many people wear goid ghilles then ruin it by moving around every few seconds

 

[Fumps]

If you wanna change up your 'loadout' in a manner that feels/looks more cool/consistent then do it, but there's no scientific justification or anything

Cool thats kind of what I was thinking & you confirmed my thoughts.

Not looking to reinvent the wheel it was just idle banter.

I may have a mess about with this, I may not......dunno its just a game innit ?