I notice lots of desert tan AR stuff and other gear. I understand where the trend came from and the lure. Isn't it crappy camo in the woods?

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Originally posted by pbslinger:
I notice lots of desert tan AR stuff and other gear. I understand where the trend came from and the lure. Isn't it crappy camo in the woods?

If satellite dishes and trucks are any indication, I'd say flat deseret tan in the LA or Europe woods will stick out. The shape of the object would contribute. Now if you got that rifle and rifleman low, like by the base of tree it would matter less.

It's better than black. There plenty of tan/brown things in the woods, but basically no black. Even lush green woods have tan/brown components, and even more so in the late fall/winter/spring. Or during the heat of the summer when things are dried out and crispy.

3 color DCU desert camo is actually fairly effective around here during the dead periods.

Dark tan (coyote brown, et al) is one of the best all-around/catch-all colors. Not the best at any specific situation, but a good base year-round, even in urban situations. One of the reasons why the USMC switches between desert, forest, and snow camo as needed, but their equipment remains dark tan/brown throughout.

Works for deer.

Maybe so but I'm not fawned of it for rifle camo.

Buck the desert camo trend, yeah.

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Originally posted by RichardC:
Maybe so but I'm not fawned of it for rifle camo.

Buck the desert camo trend, yeah.

To some folks, its en-deer-ing...

I suppose the tan also makes for a better base color for camouflage paint too.

FWIW Desert Tan, Flat Dark Earth, Coyote Brown aren't necessarily the same.

I agree with Rogue, that the dark brown is rather good and diverse.

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Originally posted by RogueJSK:
There plenty of tan/brown things in the woods, but basically no black.

Yes, true black is a very unnatural color with very limited exceptions. Other colors in deep shadows may be perceived as what we think is black by comparison with objects that aren’t shadowed, but if it’s so dark that black can’t be differentiated, then it won’t have any advantage over other colors. I recall reading of one test of different uniform camouflage schemes and it was reported that the wearer was almost always spotted by his black boots first.

One thing I did notice during an outdoor exercise was that a large, single panel (the back of a man’s coat) of light brown was pretty noticeable against a pine forest (dark green) background. A disrupted pattern like MultiCam really does make a difference. In fact, such patterns can even make a difference when they don’t match the background at all. I still remember looking over a counter in a school room where a bad guy exercise participant who was wearing MultiCam was lying on the floor. There was a distinct delay in my recognition that it was a person (and that delay was partly why I got “shot”).

Solid black is not great camouflage, when I went to the field I used to find me some mud and smeared it on my rifle to break up the color some. Washed right off before I turned it into the arms room.

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Originally posted by sigfreund:
but if it’s so dark that black can’t be differentiated, then it won’t have any advantage over other colors.

And it will still stand out under night vision.

Out here in New Mexico you get a solid smattering of arid/desert tan, some green from yucca, and even more green from pines. I'm a fan of some rattle can that includes both, like a Multicam or a tiger stripe.

Just like with clothing, camouflage patterns are for the people using them. I’m not saying a certain pattern won’t blend in better to background colors.

Movement, then with critters, odors are big. With that are any noises. Much of the time one could be out not long after sunrise or before sunset, dim light.

I don’t think we are talking military sniper type level. Of course birds can see colors, a little more of an issue with camouflage.

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I’m not saying a certain pattern won’t blend in better to background colors.

Bring a Ginger is a cheat code for snowy environments.

I just get naked, pale ass and bald head I blend right in.

Might be a short-term solution, but then after 5 minutes naked in a snowy environment your skin will have turned bright pink, thus stripping you of your innate pasty white camouflage.

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Originally posted by P220 Smudge:
Works for deer.

Hold my Bambi...

Works for Bunnies, too. Here in the Yoop, I go with Flecktarn.

I have Kryptek Highlander which is mainly tan and brown on a rifle, and the damned thing is nearly invisible in Central Florida at any time of year, unless it's lying in the lush green grass of summer. In the woods, even in the wet season, it simply disappears.

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Originally posted by YooperSigs:
Works for Bunnies, too. Here in the Yoop, I go with Flecktarn.

Just have to be different… Lol

I'm not convinced about the all black thing.

I can lay down my all black machete (and/or its black sheath) for just a moment, to pull a vine out of a tree and it disappears faster than Predator in a Mexican jungle.