Belgian camouflage! no joke!

[Bracchus]

Sure there is some black in the Belgian camo and also a very, very little white stripe.

 

[chrisf]

Ah... look, there is black. Not much of it though. I can still it being effective in the right envrioment... I can see it being very effective in an area with high iron soil... can anyone say "invasion of PEI"?

 

[Scratch_043]

I actually think that the dark camo looks good, and as stated many times before, it probably works better than anything else in their AO.

but I still like the CADPAT better.

 

[Niss]

When I first encountered the belgian camo in my store i thought it was some kiddy knock off crap, but now I realize that it is a real uniform, my apologies. But I am reminded of a saying "We decided to give you good camoflauge for where you are, rather than perfect camoflauge for somewhere else."

 

[Thompson_JM]

I remember a freind of mine from the unit telling me that when they were on "Ex Southern Drive" i belive it was. They were doing work at night with the Yanks, and (from what i was told) our CADPAT basically Glowed in the Dark when veiwed through NVG's whereas the American stuff was alot darker...  I dont know, I wasnt there. Perhaps someone else could clarify this one for me?

and like the others posted. Its the Soldier not the Uniform....

Seriously though... remember what you learned in kindergarden... If you cant say anything nice.......

remember for alot of soldier the uniform is a source of pride and patriotism.  I know my chest got a little bigger when i put the OD's on for the first time.


Cheers
    Josh

 

[Cooper]

I've seen people wearing CADPAT through NVGs a few times, each time they were quite difficult to locate.... and they were 5 feet infront of me.

But yeah, back to the new American camo pattern. I don't see how that could blend into ANYTHING excpet maybe the arctic.

 

[Blackhorse7]

I like the new American Military pattern.  I think the MARPAT looks a cool, but the army pattern looks like it has a bit more of a broad spectrum.  The best thing about it is that they listened to the troops when designing it.  I mean, being there to talk to the troops who JUST wore it on a mission to get their immediate comments... you just don't get better testing than that.  But the name tapes stick out like neon signs.

 

[dr.no]

Given a choice between the belgian or the american camo, I'd take the belgian in an instant. Not only does it look like it would blend in better, the velco neck of the american one looks like it could chafe. And the patches stick out. They sort of remind me of the Canadian cadpat after it's been faded badly.  :warstory: <- Still, must work better than this dudes elvis camo

 

[P Kaye]

People are saying that this Belgian pattern works for their environment, in Europe.  I don't see how.  I've been all over Europe.  The trees and grass there are green.  What environment could possibly be suited to purple, blue and yellow pattern?

 

[Bracchus]

there is no purple, blue or yellow if you look well.

 

[soldiers301]

To reply on the new US ACU, I think is a big error from the US Army. No black, grey colour... I dont see any forest or desert area with no black ... and even not with grey colour. I think that if they want to change their uniform, why not issue MARPAT to all US Army. Thats what they do in the past with the current US camo.

The belgian camouflage ...I will never worn it so I dont make difference.

 

[Niss]

Like any camoflauge they become more effective as the distance between you and the person wearing it is increased, there are many factors that will affect the effectivness of the camo. I would think it would be difficult to guage how good it is, untill you are actually there in the field looking for them. Bear in mind, when you stick anything thats CADPAT in an environment with out thoes greens, blacks, or browns, it sticks out as if it was blaze orange.

Niss

 

[soldiers301]

Yeah I agree with you on that, but I still think that have different camouflage uniform for each environment is better than only one for all.

 

[purple peguin]

On the pockets/ places where you would put the unit badges, with them being velcro doesnt velcro get all fuzzy and wont stick making it almost useless?- new american pattern.And i think that is very odd that they use grey in it because i dont recall seeing grey leaves/ vegitation in the forest.

 

[Jungle]

Regarding the US ACU, there is already a thread here: http://army.ca/forums/threads/16970.0.html
The Belgians have been experimenting with cam patterns for a long time, so I trust they have come up with something that they find acceptable.
Regarding the colours or patterns, I did not attend camouflage university but I probably have enough experience to talk about it... It is very difficult to come up with an "all around" pattern. There has to be some compromise... As I stated before in another thread , black does not exist in nature. It is used in woodland patterns to simulate shadows, which there are a lot. That is also the reason black is absent from desert patterns; there is very little shadow on bare sand.
Another important aspect is the human eye: it is designed to easily detect the movement of light colours; that is part of the reason Police cars are painted white. So the ACU will probably not be as effective as Soldiers would like in woodland, but fairly effective in desert conditions.
And where are most conflicts taking the US Army recently ??

 

[PVT DJ]

I like the looks of the Belgian Camo but the us camo looks uncomfortable

 

[Freddy Chef]

Why things are seen:

* Texture
* Colour
  Movement
  Noise
  Position
* Shine
* Shape
  Silhouette
  Shadow
  Scale
  Spacing

â Å“Disruptive Patternâ ? as the British coined it, is the mentality behind any camouflage pattern in a fatigue/field uniform: which is meant to address Texture, Colour, Shine and Shape.

I believe the Australians pioneered the technique of repeatedly flying a RECCE aircraft over a terrain, taking numerous photos, plugging the data into a computer and having it calculate the optimum colours for a cam pattern. Apparently the US Army tried to do that with every terrain on the planet and got three tones of grey. IMHO, this jack of all trades colour selection technique is a waste of energy and resources. The computer average will miss certain terrains. As a few posts had pointed out, the colours will fade after several washings, and in the field, a soldier's combats will eventually look like mud and dirt. Easiest/cheapest to stick with a base colour (olive drab for woodland, tan for arid) and (arctic whites being the exception) 'scrim' to the environment/theatre of operations. [The only thing I'd agree with is a two tone, disruptive pattern. The KISS rule, less is more.]

I'm sure any soldier would criticize their defence department in the selection of the colours of their new combats. When CADPAT (relish ) first came out, it reminded me of a 1970's couch and carpet design, which stood out rather than blended in :. So, as one of Murphy's Laws goes, â ?the defence contract will go to the lowest bidderâ ?, and you'll be getting that company's interpretation of green, brown, etc. This seems to ring true for Canada, the US, and Belgium.