Winter Camo

[joat]

Just wondering what your views on winter camo are. I have heard mixed reviews, and am at the stage where I am contemplating getting a good set of winter camo...so I thought I'd see what you all thought.

joat

[King]

Cheap idea I always had but never got around to: Just buy a white painters suit (can't be expensive at all) and wear warm clothing underneath. If you wanted you could paint/dye a bit of a camo pattern on or just random blotches to break up your profile. Plus with a vest, gloves, kneepads and a holster, it'll look pretty bad ass.

But as for real camo, Alpenflage always tickled my fancy (tee hee)

[Livonia]

Ill probably be making myself something this winter. Somewhat of a poncho/blanket.

[joat]

Yeah...as of now, I have a cheap ($50) vest set up that has been sprayed white, grey, black, and brown, white sweat pants that go over my BDU, and for a top I wear a white tiger stripe top.

I do like the painters parnts idea though!

I'm guessing the Alpenflage is fairly expensive?

joat

[Striker]

I use a set of urban bdus, the white, grey and black. I played a game a few years back and a kid that was wearing identical urban bdus was almost invisible. They worked really well for him, I'm hoping they work as well for me.

[Яoman]

Ive been thinking about making a White/Grey ghillie ontop of some Urbans but I think it may just be a waste of effort due to snow being being on the ground and casting a 2d image when place against eachother. Kind of like a white canvas. But who knows. I havent played in the winder yet so I cant say wich way to go so I wont vote for now.

[Crazyman™]

I need a new set myself since the set I bought last year shrunk a bit, it's hard to fit warm clothes under it now.

The painters suit is a good idea and they aren't expensive.

I play in German Schneetarn ( needing larger set ) but, it's getting harder to find in the US.

www.kamouflage.net/camouflage/en_00023.php

[Яoman]

Krazyman that camo is pretty BA. I love it. But it looks simplistic enough to make. Spray paint + white cammies or even fabric paint. Just blotch/spatter it on there. I do like it though. Simplistic and effective.

[Crazyman™]

At the few games I used it in last winter, people were amazed at how well it blends.. It is simple, but VERY effective!

Cheaperthandirt and the Sportsman's guide had it, but I think they were sold out last time I looked for a larger size.

I have an XL, but it's sort of like a cotton material and if you wash it, it shrinks like a bitch and makes it difficult to layer clothes underneath.

If anyone wants to get any, I recommend buying at least one size larger, maybe two.

[Great Troub of Troubistan]

Its pretty barren in the winter. The thing with a camouflage being all-white is that when you stand up, you are up against trees. Which remain brown. So if you are on flat-ground you are going to stand out.

[Яoman]

irishjig said:

Its pretty barren in the winter. The thing with a camouflage being all-white is that when you stand up, you are up against trees. Which remain brown. So if you are on flat-ground you are going to stand out.

Thats why camo is different for every role. Stalking would be my only worry while ill be taking shots while being prone or even just sitting. But an assault/recon guy rolling with an M4 theres a problem. Thats why I think urban with a bit more white will be the best choice

[Medex]

I don't think winter camo is absolutely necessary. It all depends on personal preference, and the environment you're playing in. Laying in a pile of snow as a sniper or recon, yes I can see the advantage to wearing winter camo. As for the average soldier, not so much. If playing in a heavily wooded area, you're more likely to blend in with the trees than the snow. I was at the big WW2 re-enactment (not airsoft, with real steel rifles firing blanks) at Ft. Indiantown Gap in February a few years ago, and noticed that against the backdrop of the trees, the GIs that wore white sheets over their uniforms stood out like sore thumbs, while those who didn't were kinda hard to spot. Just my two cents.

[Great Troub of Troubistan]

rabbit said:

irishjig said:

Its pretty barren in the winter. The thing with a camouflage being all-white is that when you stand up, you are up against trees. Which remain brown. So if you are on flat-ground you are going to stand out.

Thats why camo is different for every role. Stalking would be my only worry while ill be taking shots while being prone or even just sitting. But an assault/recon guy rolling with an M4 theres a problem. Thats why I think urban with a bit more white will be the best choice

Urban? It has blacks, and bright greys. I say replace the black with a brown, and the greys with a pine green. Then you got yourself a formidable assault winter camouflage.

[Clampitt]

Hey All,

I've been around and used a lot of different camo types and I'm just going to through my $0.02 out there.

First thing first, the camo should be selected and adapted based upon your most common area of operation. So while reading this, think about where you are at most often (or use pictures for reference). Are there a lot of trees in the area? How many of those are evergreens? All of these factors will apply to how effective your camo is, and as such, should be carefully considered.

As for the basics, as was said, will appear predominantly flat. When it comes to camo, there are three major concerns; color, texture, shadows (3D effect of most ghillie suits)

Using this as your basis, should you be a sniper or someone that will spend most of the time in the prone position the white painters suit would be a good idea for you use if you just want something on the cheap. For advanced concealment, you would want to be covered with a canvas or even a fleece textured material. I have a small pouch with a makeshift ghillie attached to my alice pack for when we have to secure our gear at an ORP and conceal it a little. It folds up quite easily and when not in use is out of the way. Using that as an example you could easily just get a sheet of canvas or another fabric with a similar texture, through it in a pouch, and when you need it, take it out and drape it over yourself. Since all you need in the snow when is the prone is just to blend with the ground, a white, properly textured piece is all you need.

Now, should you need to stalk or most often be in a low crouched position, your needs will change. At this point you will need a mixture of browns to help blend in with any trees. The big questions at this point are usually what color, how much, and do I need 3D? The first one is why you have those pictures, very little green in the picture, very little on your suit, lots of brown tree trunks, match the color and the amount. Now, with "how much" the pictures, again, will help out. The big thing is to remember that this is still your "winter" set and so the predominant color should be white. The last part of this is going to be do I need 3D, and the short answer is no. Again, this is "winter", the only thing you will ever want is a little light gray, but even so that isn't needed. For this, the best bet is white bottom base with small amounts of color coming from the top and fading to the bottom. For the top, you want a white base with slightly more color than the bottom, there are two ways you can go with this. First is having the color go in full force from top to bottom, no fading necessary. The second is to do the opposite of the bottoms so that you have full color at the bottom which fades to the top. The reason for the fading is to have the color not appear out at the top so that should you lay down, all that is seen is the white base. I prefer the latter simply because you will lay down quite often if you are stalking and with this method, you don't need to get out your full coverage sheet as rapidly. Note that with this method to work, the backside needs to be white without camo, for me justifying this isn't a problem because if I'm stalking, they don't see my back and if I'm falling back, I'm more concerned about getting the hell outta dodge than with blending with that one little tree I just passed.

Now our last general grouping will be more upright/rapid movement. For this you really should be concerned with merely blending a little. Basically, use the "stalking" camo as a general guide, at this point, putting the camo on the backside might be a good idea for you. This camo will help you be less noticeable but as with all camo, some will be better than others, and possibly just the plain white will work just fine for you.

The biggest things to remember is that you are NOT going to just disappear. You have to use proper movement techniques when you are in a tactical environment. This will help you not be seen as easily but if someone gets close enough, no camo will help anyway.

I'll may add some more stuff in about camo and usage and even movement techniques if people would like, so just let me know if you like this or if you would like some sort of help figuring out what it should look like.

-Clampitt

[Tex]

Whoa, best first post ever. Good advice right there.