Camouflage
When talking about camouflage, most people mean the modern, multi-coloured camouflage patterns you see today, but the term could also be applied to plain colours like olive green.
There are a great number of different camouflage patterns on the market today, both military and civilian.
Military Camouflage History
The khaki uniform, first adopted in India, was an early attempt at camouflage. Casualties forced the British to dye their red tunics a sort of muddy tan colour.
This was called khaki, meaning dusty in Urdu. Khaki, however, was a camouflage colour, rather than a camouflage pattern.
In 1966 Britain became the first country to universally adopt a camouflage pattern when the British Army issued a DPM smock and trousers.
Even in the first world war, camouflage patterns were being tried, but these had to be hand-painted and so were restricted to very exposed troops and snipers.
The Italians were the first to mass-produce a camouflage pattern material. Indeed, they were the first to issue camouflage clothing and used it during WW2.
The British used the Denison Smock, but this was hand-painted so mainly restricted to paratroopers, scouts and snipers.
Military Camouflage Patterns
Today the number of camouflage patterns in military use is extensive. The following are the more commonly known ones.
- British DPM - In use by British Forces since 1966 and still in use today
- Flectarn - Adopted by the German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr) in 1976
- Choc-Chip - Used by the US Army during the Gulf war
- MARPAT - Used by the US Marine Corps
- CADPAT - Current issue for the Canadian Forces
- AUSCAM - Current issue for the Australian Forces
- Tigerstripe - Developed for close-range use in dense jungles
Recently, digital camouflage patterns have been introduced, such as the new ACU being introduced to the US Army.
MARPAT and CADPAT are both digital camouflage patterns.
The British Forces will soon be using a digital version of the British DPM.
Civilian Camouflage Patterns
There have been many camouflage patterns developed recently aimed at the civilian market.
One of the best known, and still one of the most popular, is Realtree.
There are a number of Realtree Camouflage Patterns available, although some of them are for fashion rather than function.
Jack Pyke has designed some camouflage clothing specifically aimed at the British countryside, and the range of Jack Pyke Camouflage patterns available is growing all the time.
Many camouflage patterns have been designed for specific areas of use. For example, the Marshcam and Wetland patterns were developed for areas of marsh land as found in the Mississippi delta.
For many outdoor leisure activities like hunting, shooting and fishing, and even for fun and fashion, there is a large range of camouflage patterns for you to choose from.
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Camouflage
