Camo Pattern: Western Washington Foothills

J

JDMSMBACPA

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May 21, 2003
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My cousin's got some property in the woods in the Auburn-Black Diamond area. Her kid's invited me and my brother-in-law to play paint-pall with him there. At 17, he's half our age, but my brother-in-law and I both served in the army and my brother-in-law was airborne infantry and sniper (I was a combat engineer). We may have a few tricks to teach them. I figure the kids probably haven't yet figured out fire and movement, the use of fighting positions, clearing fields of fire, etc. ;)

Anyway, the terrain is normal Western Washington foothills stuff. Fir, Hemlock, Spruce and Cedar with patches of Alder. Lots of brown under the canopy where it's dry and lots of green stuff where it's wet.

I'm looking for some good camo that is reasonably affordable (under $100 or less--preferably a lot less--for a set) and effective. I like MARPAT (particularly the brown desert stuff) and CADPAT, but it is spendy. Flectarn tankers coveralls migh be a great cheap solution. Swiss Alpenflage also looks like a good cheap choice for the terrain. The cheap brown East German "rain pattern" camo migh also work well there.

I'm leaning toward "negative area camo" types like MARPAT, CANPAT, Flectarn and Alpenflage based on some info HERE:

Oddly enough over 100 Camouflage patterns were considered by the Marines, eventually the top 8 patterns were sent to the Scout Sniper Instructor School in Quantico, VA for evaluation, the two top patterns were MARPAT and a new Tiger Stripe with the Tiger Stripe just edging out MARPAT among an internet survey for their choice.

However, the Marines were seeking a negative area camouflage. Trees and solid objects are positive areas which is what a hunter would stand against and requires a positive type camouflage such as tree bark camo. A moving object within a negative area is quickly picked out in positive style camouflage. MARPAT being a negative type camouflage beat out the Tiger Stripe in the testing as the Stripes tended to show a bi-directional (left to right) pattern which was easier to picked out within negative areas. MARPAT like CADPAT is omni (all) directional with the pattern which is also enhanced in that no sharp edges occur in the pattern due to the pixilation on all edges.

The NATO results of Camouflage testing resulting in CADPAT being chosen as the best NATO camouflage and Sniper School Marine testing resulting in MARPAT winning the Marine competition confirms the ability of the Digital Pattern Designs to maximize concealment even breaking up the soldiers outline in open areas during movement.

Any paintballers out there have any recommendations?
 
I thought camoflague would be helpful in paintball when I first started, but learned quickly that it probably doesn't work becuase the games are so fast paced. I've been wearing black cargo pants and a blue jersey for the past 2 years and don't think I've stood out or blended in any more than people who are wearing camo. The field I play at is mostly wooded areas and I can see where people are even when they're wearing camo, which is why I don't think it'd work too well, but who knows.

However, it might be a different situation for you guys because there's only several people who are playing and the games would be played a lot differently (probably more hiding and stalking). IMO, I think the standard woodland camo would probably work well and they're relatively cheap from what I've seen.

If you want more info about this stuff, you might want to head over to www.paintballresource.org/forums and ask the same question. I'm one of the moderators over at that forum and I'm sure people will be more than willing to help you out.

Hope that helps at least a little. Have fun and play safely. :)
 
Thanks. You are right. There will only be four of us--at least the first time. Two man teams. The first team out gets an hour to get ready to "receive" the other two. The terrain is really cool. A steep slope that wraps 270 degrees around my cousin's house. It's pretty brushy so there is plenty of concealment (and half-assed cover from paint balls). There's some relatively level space at the bottom of the hill. We also talked about a three against one "hamburger hill" game.

You are probably right. IIRC I read somewhere the US military determined that faded OG-107 jungle fatigues were very effective unless wet. IIRC wet ones show up all black on thermal imaging equipment (not that paint ball enemies typically have those).

I think I will get the Flectarn tankers coveralls or old OD Army mechanic's coveralls. They are cheap, more unusual than woodland camo, and I can use them to work on my car.
 
Cool, the terrain that you guys are going to be playing on sounds really neat. I went up to this canyon with 5 other people once and the cover (trees, bushes, etc.) sounds like what you will be playing on. Needless to say, everybody had the standard woodland camo which worked really well. I got nailed from about 15 feet away and even after I called myself out, I didn't see the shooter. After the game, my friend said I was staring right at him for a few seconds before he fired. I had no clue he was there so I guess the camo does help when playing in small groups.

Again, have fun, play safely and let us know how the game goes!:)
 
I wear a brand of camo called Venom Wear by Sandana.It is made for paintball which means it has no zippers or buttons on it (hard surfaces make the ball break easier, if the ball doesn't break when you get hit, the hit doesn't count). It's the most comfortable camo for paintballing that I've worn yet.The pattern on the camo isn't really all that important because paintball is such a close up game, especially if you're playing a game like speed ball where everbody starts the game being able to see each other.
tip- remember to wear a cup
justin
 
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