All about Camouflage & BCU (inc cartoons)

[William F. Owen]

In photos of MACVSOG recon teams taken later in the war they are almost always wearing OGs, both SF and the indigs.

The story I've heard is that tigers were great if the wearer was still but their boldness seemed to "jump" out at an observer if the wearer moved but that OGs appeared a little more blurry. I've even read accounts of SF having their tigers embroidered with patches and insignia and saving them for garrison wear. They called them "profile suits." So there's at least one case when it was camo for garrison and OGs for the field!

All true. I have named attributed and recorded accounts from SOG Recon team members from 1965-72. OGs and web gear were often sprayed with black paint.
Some teams also wore "Half-black", having completely black trousers or tops, blended with an OG top or bottom.

In 1982, the IDF in Beirut, used dust and ashes to modify the colour of their OG's, so just like putting on camouflage cream, then dusted up their Gear before patrols. Personally, I believe something similar is the way forwards, be it, tape, cloth strips or some powder or washable paint type compounds.

[Van]

Dayuhan,
Good examples, but note that the tiger's pattern is vertically oriented. It always annoyed me that the tigerstripe uniforms were more horizantal. If course, the real point is that orientation of the pattern may matter.

Re: Rifleman's

The story I've heard is that tigers were great if the wearer was still but their boldness seemed to "jump" out at an observer if the wearer moved

-Motion attracts the eye naturally, did the camo exaggerate this aspect of perception?

Consider the mountain lion as a baseline for a camo pattern. Their natural pattern is extremely subtle, blending tan, black, brown, and a ginger shade at an almost strand by strand level. Much like an extreme high resolution pixelated pattern. Look at their natural range, including mountains, jungles, temperate forests, deserts, and historically plains. If this efficient predator has a pattern that has worked for close to a million years in diverse environments, it is doing something right. And it is distinctively American.

The down side is that the puma's pattern had depth, using different colored topcoat and undercoat to create a shifting pattern every time it moves. The depth is essential to a good pattern, but it may be either too difficult to duplicate in mass production, or result in a fabric that is to thick for hot climates.