Video: Best Camo Patterns For Where You Live

    The host of this video looked at the dominant terrain and vegetation types across the continental U.S. and divided the continental U.S. into 3 main zones: dense woodland, "grassland", and desert. The dense woodland is most of the U.S. east of the Mississippi river states to the Atlantic Coast, from the Gulf coast up to Canada; and the coastal area from Washington down into Northern California. It should have also extended eastward from the top of Washington into Northern Idaho (which even includes a bit of rain forest), but that is where your local knowledge comes in useful. Plus, there is so much farmland in those areas, I suppose "grassland" may fit depending on where you live. 

    "Grassland" would probably be better termed savanna because it is not just the great plains, but a lot of the scrub land and forest in areas considered to be high mountain desert. Basically, it is the great plains area west through the Rocky Mountains and Intermountain regions, but also includes central California. Most of Texas falls into this region. 

    And the "desert" area, no surprise, includes west Texas, the lower half of New Mexico, Arizona, and southern California, while stretching north into Nevada and southern Utah. (Although I would argue that the coastal area of southern California, which is considered a Mediterranean climate, would actually be better classified as part of the "grassland"--of course, you don't have to drive too far inland and you are in some of the driest, hottest deserts in the world).

    For each of these three areas, the author has a primary pick and then offers a couple alternatives plus a photo realistic hunting camo pattern. The primary isn't just driven by what is the best camo for that terrain, but the availability of the camo and tactical gear in that camo. Thus, in some categories, better camo has been dropped to an alternative because the camo clothing is hard to source and/or other gear in that pattern is hard to find. So, for the woodland he recommends M81 Woodland; for grassland he recommends the regular Multi-Cam or similar patterns adopted by other militaries; and for desert he recommends 3-Color Desert. Keep in mind, this is not just the effectiveness of the camo but availability of gear. 

    Beyond the three main terrain types, the host also addresses special considerations such as camo for the snow (without buying a whole different set of gear in snow or white); consideration if you live in a transition area and discussing transition camo patterns; urban areas (which is basically "no camo" as he recommends you just dress as you normally do albeit perhaps in subdued tones); and, finally, for those that are cash strapped, he basically recommends that you buy UCP gear--which can generally be had for very low prices--and then dye it.   

    I would note that in many of the desert and high country desert areas, a mix of clothes in flat dark earth, coyote, tans, and other earth tones seem to work well. 

VIDEO: "The Best Camo Pattern for US Civilians (by Region and Terrain)"
Black Flag Civilian (21 min.)

VIDEO: Alternative To Painting Your Rifle

Prepared Airman explains why he doesn't paint his rifles--basically he wants to easily be able to change the rifle's camo to match the terrain and season--and what he uses instead, which is the Predator Ghillie™ GAT WRAP from Beez Combat Systems. The base MSRP is $29.99 but almost all of the camo patterns offered cost an additional $4.

    I've never used the GAT WRAP--I'd never even heard of it before I watched this video--but I have used the reusable, self-adhering wrap in a camo pattern on occasion. It worked well enough on a bolt-action hunting rifle where I wanted to cover up a shiny stock. 

 VIDEO: "Alternative to painting your Rifle"
PreparedAirman (4 min.)

Clever: Using Rubber Bands To Create A Camo Pattern

The producer of this video used rubber bands to block off portions of the stock as he adds successive layers of paint in order to break up the outline of the rifle. 

VIDEO: "Rubber band spray paint camo on gun"--@alwaysreloading288 (1 min.) 

VIDEO: Tiger Stripe Camo vs. MultiCAM OCP

This video was released earlier today, apparently as a follow up as a test against the Woodland camo. Based on the images in the video, I would have to say that the Multicam is the loser in the "deer vision" test in all settings because it appears so much lighter than both the Tiger Stripe and the background foliage. But even in the "human vision" tests, the Tiger Stripe seemed to be superior in almost all settings, including some of the desert settings. The only terrain where the Multicam seemed to excel was areas with dry grass. 

    Of course, this is just a static test using photographs and perhaps it will work better in a real world setting. 

VIDEO: "Tiger Stripe Vs MultiCAM OCP | Viewer Request Showdown"
The Camo Matrix (9 min.)

VIDEO: Tiger Stripe vs. Woodland M81 Camo

This video compares Tiger Stripe camouflage against U.S. Woodland M81 in various settings, both as a human would see it and as a deer would see it. Obviously the producer did not go around to all these different areas, but it is all done by overlaying the pattern on photographs of different backgrounds. In any event, while the two (at least to my eyes) appeared to be equally effective in the "deer vision" mode, the Tiger Stripe pattern seemed the better pattern in almost all settings as humans would see it--the dark brown on the Woodland camo just did not seem to blend into most of the backgrounds and really stuck out in many instances. 

 VIDEO: "Tiger Stripe Camo vs. US Woodland M81 | Viewer Request Showdown"
The Camo Matrix (9 min.)

VIDEO: How To Defeat Thermal Optics

Testing various products, from a simple Mylar blanket to the latest materials used on the front lines, on their effectiveness as defeating thermal. The takeaway is that most any material--even a Mylar or wool blanket or a poncho--can work with a proper setup and a fixed position. But only one product worked well if you had to move around. 

 VIDEO: "How to Defeat Thermal Optics on Any Budget | Hide or Die?"
Dirty Civilian (48 min.)

VIDEO: NIR Compliant Uniforms vs. Knockoffs As Seen Thru Nightvision

In this video, the YouTube channel "Dirty Civilian" tested different uniforms under night vision/near infrared to see if there is any difference between the genuine issue uniforms and cheap knockoffs (mostly from China). They also tested whether washing using a detergent with brighteners makes a difference, and the difference between solid colors versus camo patterns. 

    Basically, there was no difference between the genuine uniforms and the knock-offs when viewed through night vision. Also, using a detergent with a brightener made no difference, nor did it matter if the uniforms had gone through many washes. There was some advantage to certain camo patterns over solid colors simply because the patterns can still break up the shape.

    What they discovered, however, is that different fabrics vary in how they reflect in the infrared. The standard uniform fabrics appear equally dim in the near infrared as in daylight, but polyester fabrics can show up as very bright under an infrared light. 

    Also, I think that the reason that many people believed that the detergents with whiteners are bad to use in connection to night vision is because they are mixing up infrared with ultraviolet. Deer and some other animals can see slightly into the ultraviolet spectrum, and clothes washed with brighteners will show up much more readily in ultraviolet, especially in dim light. So hunters know to avoid washing their hunting camo in detergents with whiteners. (See also this article with tips on washing and drying your hunting clothes). But, as noted above, it apparently makes no difference in the infrared spectrum.

 VIDEO: "Are Knockoff Combat Uniforms Just as Good? | Night Vision Clothing"
Dirty Civilian (25 min.)

Quick Look: Agilite Mitznefet (Helmet Shape-Breaker) - Multicam

VIDEO: "REVEALED! Why Israeli Soldiers wear 'Chef Hats'"--Agilite (2 min.)

Earlier this year, in March, I came across the video, above, discussing the Mitznefet. What is an Mitznefet? Wikipedia has as good an explanation of it as any:

The Mitznefet (Hebrew: מִצְנֶפֶת‎) is a helmet covering used by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on combat helmets for infantry soldiers since 1994. It is considerably larger than the helmet, with a similar appearance to a chef's hat. The main purpose of the Mitznefet is to break up the distinctive outline of a helmeted human head via its floppiness and also prevent light from reflecting off of the wearer's helmet, providing a tactical advantage and making it easier to camouflage when necessary. Additionally, the bulk of the covering can be pulled down to shade and protect any side of the wearer's head from direct sunlight exposure.

The name comes from the priestly mitre or turban worn by the Jewish High Priest during the temple periods. A good video on the history of its unofficial development and eventual widespread adoption in the IDF is below:

VIDEO: "The Mitznefet: Israel's Unique Take on Camouflaged Helmet Covers"--Uniform History (11 min.)

    I was intrigued by the idea because the shape of the human head is very distinctive and we are essentially hard-wired to spot human heads and faces. The traditional way of breaking up the silhouette is to use head gear (which can have the problem of also being distinctive), use a camouflage pattern as part of the head gear (hopefully breaking up the pattern), or to attach shrubbery or grass, strips of cloth or netting, etc., to one's head gear to break up the outline and camouflage the head. An example is shown below:

"Personal Camouflage & Face Paint"--
Olive Drab

    But using shrubbery presents its own problems, including the time and effort to correctly arrange it, and, although I don't have experience as such, seems that it would be impractical when traveling by vehicle or in urban combat. And what if there is no vegetation common to your area, e.g., some desert areas.

    The Mitznefet seems to be a useful solution for urban, desert or shrub land. (I doubt it would work well in a forested environment if for no other reason that it would snag on tree branches or larger shrubbery). It definitely breaks up the shape of the head.

    Agilite, which produced the first video above, happens to make and sell a Mitznefet made of a mesh sporting a Multi-cam pattern. When I ordered mine in March, the price was $49.00 and they offered free shipping. It also shipped with some swag: a couple stickers of the Agilite logo (a scorpion), one of someone rappelling from a Blackhawk helicopter, and the Israeli flag.

    The Agilite Mitznefet is large--more than ample for any helmet or hat I can think of. It is drawn close by an adjustable shock cord that holds it tight to the head, although it can be pulled off a helmet without any problem. You could wear it as a hat, but with the fabric bunched together, it is not very comfortable. Besides, the mesh fabric, by itself, would not protect you very well from the sun; that is, it provides some shade, but as a mesh it lets enough sunlight through that you could still suffer from a sunburn if you were sitting still for a long period. But it works great on a helmet and even better, in my opinion, around a soft hat or cap.

    Currently Agilite is out of stock. However, there are other manufacturers. For instance, in writing this, I found another company called Zahal that makes a double-sided Mitznefet with woodland camo on one side, and desert on the other. It is being sold for $45.

    I have some photographs of the Agilite product below:

View looking straight on.

View looking down from the top.

I recently took it with me out to the desert just to compare a helmet with and without the Mitznefet:

Not the greatest shot, but it shows a helmet with multicam helmet cover atop a steel silhouette target at approximately the height of a person (note: the junk is not from me--this is a reasonably well known shooting area and, as we know, not all shooters are very good at packing out the garbage they decide to shoot up, even though it is this behavior that gets areas shut down to shooting. Sigh).

Same view but with the Mitznefet on the helmet. 

But we should not be standing up if we are under fire from an enemy force, so here are some shots where I put the helmet on the stump of a dead sagebrush so it would be about the height of someone on their belly but with their head up:

A view of just the helmet.

And with the Mitznefet on the helmet.

As you can see, at least when the helmet is close to the ground, the Mitznefet does make it more difficult to spot the helmet, giving it the look of something more natural. Just quickly scanning the area, you might think it was one of the numerous pieces of volcanic rock found in the area.

A Quick Run Around the Web: July 11, 2015

A selection of survival and self-defense related articles:

• First off, I would remind readers of Active Response Training's "Weekend Knowledge Dump" for this weekend, which has a number of useful and/or interesting articles. While you are at Greg Ellifritz's site, you might want to also take a look at a guest post by Dr. Lauren Pugliese, a veterinary surgeon on veterinary/health considerations for cats.
• The author of the Alaska Escape and Evasion website/blog recently posted about painting a camo pattern on his rifle. He indicated he has had some good success with Hunters Specialty brand paint from Cabelas over other types of paint (such as Krylon). He used Army Olive Drab and Marsh grass yellow stripes and a over spray of brown and OD to blend it up, followed up with several coats of clear matte finish to protect it. One thing he specifically notes is that he did not use any black, trying to get the paint to match natural colors and shadows. In that regard, I would also note that there are no defined edges--i.e., no taping or marking off the different colors. It doesn't cost anything to sign up for his blog, so go over and check it out.
• The End of the American Dream blog writes about "10 Very Strange Things That Have Happened In Just The Past Few Weeks." (H/t The Survival Place).
• The Daily Mail reports on a woman who (barely) survived being stranded for two weeks in the desert of southern California; her husband was not so lucky, dying after the first week. Coincidentally, I also came across an article at Survivopedia entitled "Surviving The Heat, Surviving The Desert." While the article has some good, common sense advice, it does repeat the somewhat standard advice on building a solar-still to collect water from soil and/or plant material using a plastic sheet spread over a hole in the ground. For a long time--basically since I read about the technique in a Hardy Boys book when I was a kid--I thought that this was a really clever way to collect water. Unfortunately, it is not very efficacious under most desert survival circumstances because you will lose more water through sweating while you dig the hole than you could ever reasonably recoup through the technique.
• Ancient Pathways provides a review of the 5.11 Rush 24 pack after having used it for a year.
• Although published a bit over a year ago, I would point out this article on "6 Strategies to Lighten Your Bug Out Bag."
• Earlier this year, Dave Canterbury published a nice article on different fire starting techniques and what was needed for each in types of materials, skills, and conditions. The idea was to allow you to make a better informed decision of what is more realistic for the user. For instance, he notes that the high skill level and nearly ideal conditions needed for friction methods of starting a fire make it less than ideal; whereas using a magnifying glass (or, I would add, a fresnel lens) doesn't require as much user skill and more forgiving as to conditions and fire starting material.

Online Color Blindness Test

Not a substitute for a medical diagnosis, but something interesting to take to see how good is your color vision. The test is offered by EnChroma, which makes glasses designed to allow people with color blindness see colors more normally. On the other hand, I know a couple people that are color blind (red/green) and the condition makes it easier for them to spot camouflaged animals or people.

DIY Camo on AR-15

Guerrilla America has an article on a DIY method to camouflage an AR-15 (or other rifle). As some of the comments have noted, one concern is whether the spray paint used by the author would stand up to high temperatures, and whether it would stand up to cleansers.

I have used engine paint because of its ability to withstand high-temperatures with moderate success. I've not had any issues with the engine paint because of heat, but certain solvents (such as brake or carburetor cleaner) will take it off. I haven't had any issue with standard nitro solvent or CLP.  The primary problem with the engine paint is that there is only one brand I have found in my area, and the it only has one color that would be appropriate for a firearm--a semi-gloss black.

I intend on trying Brownell's Alumi-hyde this coming summer to refinish a couple firearms (my garage will be more than hot enough for curing the paint), and hopefully can give a review then.

Stealth Clothing

The Daily Mail reports on "Stealth Wear"--fashions designed to block thermal signatures from being seen by thermal imagers. I gather from the article that it is not yet on sale, but will be expensive when it is finally available. The article notes:

The nickel-metalized fabrics he uses to create his new clothing line are very specialized and very expensive, he says.

He does plan to offer the clothing at a price, but don’t expect to see these products at Target or Conway.

Harvey’s ‘Stealth Wear’ has been on display at Primitive London, a network of underground designers and artists, since Thursday, January 17.

The designers didn't stop there. The article states:

The designers also created a special pouch for cell phones that shields them from trackers by blocking the radio signals that phones emit and a shirt that blocks detection of the wearer’s heart.

Also:

In 2012 he introduced face makeup product called CVDazzle that allows the user to throw off face-recognition software.

H.E.A.T. Camouflage

I haven't written too much on camouflage before, just citing a few articles about camouflage here. My thought is that if someone(other than as part of a military unit) is wondering around in full camouflage after a disaster, of any magnitude, they are simply asking for trouble. My other concern is that most camouflage is terrain specific, and its efficacy can change based on lighting and the type of lighting. 

For instance, I have some hunting gear that is in RealTree's AP (all purpose) pattern. It works great in a grassy area or area with lots of bare wood, but not so well in conifer forest or where there is a lot of green undergrowth. It also is better for sitting still, but less effective when moving because it has light colored highlights that tend to catch the eye when moving. Finally, again because of the light colored highlights, it isn't as effective at night. None of this is a big deal for most types of hunting (I primarily bought it for turkey hunting, and secondarily for deer hunting), but degrades the effectiveness of a particular camo pattern if, for some reason, you were trying to be inconspicuous during or after a period of natural or social upheaval.

Conversely, one of my sons has a Mossy-Oak jacket (which is mostly dark grays, dark browns, and dark greens) which seems to be very effective as a general pattern: because there are no light colors, it doesn't catch the eye when moving or in dim light, but there is enough of a difference to break up your outline. However, it might not be ideal for a desert environment.

My thoughts have always been to use the "grey man" approach--natural colors in your everyday clothes. Solid grey or brown are probably better, overall, than any particular camouflage pattern. Warrior Talk News recently had an article on this very topic--what they called "Hippy Earth Tone (H.E.A.T.) camouflage." It reported:

... The matter at hand arose this last weekend when we held the Small Unit Tactics class in Kingman, AZ. 

We had twenty guys attending. Some wore the very popular and effective Multicam camouflage. A couple of guys wore some derivatives of MARPAT, ACU, and various other "Green" camo. And we had several that were wearing civilian outdoor clothing, but in what I would term "muted earth tones". These were various shades of drab green, gray, brown and tan. Nothing blue or red - nothing white or black. And the tans were more brown than sand...so they were not "light".

This is not Urban camo to blend into groups. The objective is to sport a drab colored image based on shades of grey, brown, green, tan. Nothing blue...nothing red...nor any derivatives such as bluish grey or pinkish salmon. The idea is that the clothes blend into the woods/weeds, yet can go into the city as well. The wood/weeds takes precedence over the city in terms of colors.

Patterns would also be contraindicated unless there are plaid plants or stripped trees in your AO.

In any case we had students do a walk back from 100 to 350 yards as the other students watched them for contrast, effectiveness in blending with the area, and how easy it was to see them. Not scientific I suppose, but good enough for what our purposes where.
Anything moving is easy to see as nothing moves like a man. As well, a human head is distinctive and different from anything in nature. But aside from that what the class saw was that the Hippy Earthtones difused light and allowed the wearers to be nearly as "camouflaged" as the multicam wearing guys. Don't believe me? Ask they guys in class that saw what I am writing about.

The advantage of the Hippy Earthtones over the Multicam is this. If it is probable that one may need to go from rural weeds to city streets and back, the multicam would be contraindicated as while it would camouflage well in one zone, it would call attention to the wearer in another. The Hippy Earthtones would work well in both.

 The general report on the class similarly points out:

When they got back, we talked a bit about camouflage. The students had a variety of camo patterns on so Gabe had some examples to work with. Rather than camoflage, several students were wearing shirts and pants in browns, tans, and greens. These aren’t quite as good as camo patterns at hiding you out in the weeds, but they can be surprisingly close. Where they really shine is that you can dump your rifle and LBE and walk into a hotel or nice restaurant and not get a second look. In the insurgent fighter context, this can be as useful as being able to go unseen out in the wilderness. Gabe coined the acronym HEAT camoflage (Hippy EArth Tone) to describe this kind of setup.

Gabe sent a few downrange: one in Woodland MARPAT, one in Multicam, and two in HEAT camo. Even out at 300 yards, when they were standing up or walking along the bare dirt of the range, they were pretty obvious. When they kneeled or went prone, even on the bare range, it was a lot harder. Coming back they moved off to the right or left of the range, into some vegetation (sparse brush from hip to shoulder height). There they were still visible when moving, and fairly evident when standing, but everyone practically disappeared when they dropped down.

The MARPAT woodland was a bit dark for the environment. Some parts of the background it blended pretty well, but on others it was fairly obvious. The Multicam was probably the best overall. The two guys in HEAT camo did almost as well as the multicam, save for one guy’s very light colored (slightly off white) hat. Faces and hands could be quite visible, as where shadows on the front of their body when they leaned over while kneeling.

Frankly, a sniper veil would have been a simple solution to covering heads and faces.

Some Articles on Camouflage

Here are some articles I've found on camouflage that I thought I would share.

(1)  The Wilderness Survival blog has a good introductory article on personal camouflage, including not only visual camouflage, but some discussion of noise and smell as well.

(2)  Ever wondered how different camouflage stacked up against each other? Here is a link to a 2009 U.S Army report of a test of various camouflage patterns under different conditions.

(3)  Here is a guest post at Survival Blog on camouflage, including how to make a ghillie suit.

(4)  Finally, what if you don't have camouflage on? The Survival Topics blog discusses how to hide in plain site with fairly typical street cloths, including photographs.

Hiding from Thermal Imaging Devices

As the U.S. military has found over the past couple of decades, night-vision equipment is a real game changer. The use of light intensification scopes and goggles have given our infantry and Marines a decisive edge; thermal imaging has played a similar role for military aircraft hunting insurgents. However, as the prices of thermal imaging equipment continues to fall, it raises the corresponding conundrum, as preppers, of protecting against thermal imaging equipment that raiders or looters might have.

I have theorized in the past that mylar space blankets might provide some concealment against thermal imaging, but had found nothing concrete on the topic and haven't had the money to buy and test equipment myself. However, I ran across this in a post to the Survivalist Blog reviewing the FLIR Scout PS24 thermal imager:

You can hide from thermal imaging. I found that glass acts as a mirror; a white-hot candelabra bulb is not visible through a double pane window standing only 2 feet away - all you see is your reflection in the window. Thermal images reflect off still water as well. I’d expect a space blanket “hide” to shield a thermal signature about the same.

It provides some food for thought.

Gear Review -- Camo-Form Self-Clinging Camouflage Wrap

On my recent hunting trip, I decided to try Camo-Form self-clinging camouflage wrap. Basically, it is the self-clinging bandages printed in a camouflage pattern. The package indicates that the wrap comes in several patterns, including Army digital, MARPAT desert, MARPAT woodland, standard desert, standard woodland, and snow. The pattern that I tested was the Army digital.

I was using a bolt-action rifle. While the stock was not what I would describe as "high gloss," I thought it might not hurt to put something over it to cut down on reflection and break up the pattern of the rifle. However, I also wanted something that I could easily remove.

The wrap actually clings to itself very well. In fact, you want to avoid "rolling" the edges of the wrap, because it is almost impossible to tear apart. (I had once section that I finally just had to cut off and throw away). The first thing I noticed with the wrap on was that it was tacky and provided an excellent grip. While I didn't shoot the rifle with the wrap on it, I suspect that the wrap would grab the skin on the cheek during recoil. Also, I would avoid putting it wrapping the barrel of a weapon where you will have a high volume of fire--I think the wrap would probably melt.

However, while applying the wrap, I immediately noted a significant flaw to my overall plan--you can't wrap around the bolt and action. The picture on the package shows the wrap applied to an AR style rifle, and this is probably where it would be best--a short actioned rifle with a matte finish on the receiver. Nevertheless, I was still able to wrap the barrel and fore-stock, and the rear stock, which would still break up the overall shape of the rifle.

Later in the day, it started raining. Since I didn't know how the wrap would work in the wet, and I didn't want it holding the moisture in close to the metal and wood, I took the wrapping off. Except for the issues noted above on "rolling" the edges, it came off fairly easily.

As a side-note, I would note that the Army digital pattern is terrible camouflage. I was in typical high-mountain forest, with a variety of pine, and a sprinkling of aspen and other deciduous undergrowth, the dominant colors were green and brown. The Army digital pattern was the wrong kind of green to mix into the forest, and the overall scheme has too much light coloration, making it too bright. However, after we reached the peak of the particular mountain on which were hunting, and I laid the rifle down to take off some of my gear, I discovered what the Army digital matches. I had stopped to take a break at a weathered granite outcropping, covered with greenish-grey lichen, and the grey and black splotches of old lichen. The camouflage blended right in.

To sum up, the camouflage pattern aside, the wrap seemed to work well for what it was intended. It is relatively easy to apply and remove, and allows you to easily change a camouflage pattern on rifles. Its best use would be on a rifle that already has a matte or flat finish. It would also be most effective with a rifle or long arm with a short action where you can get maximum coverage with the least interference with the mechanical workings of the weapon, such as an AR or break-action shotgun. I think it would have limited application on an AK style rifle because the realistic coverage area is so small. It would be almost useless on the HK G3/91 or similar system because you would not be able to wrap the barrel, the fore-stock, or receiver.