The most hated camo ACU

[luke213]

So guys and gals ACU was just starting to be available when I stopped playing airsoft. MARPAT was really what guys wanted but it was very hard to get your hands on back then. So when I was going over my gear it was looking pretty dated being mostly woodland, black, and OD across the board. So this weekend I was at the gunshow for the business and I did some trading and ended up with a full setup of ACU gear, along with one of the ECWS Gen 3 Parka's.

I've been doing some research and watching of video's on this pattern, I never cared for it when I saw it. But I'm starting to warm up to it a little, I've seen some things that say it works pretty well in light snow cover, and full summer with bright sun and shadows it seems to do pretty well breaking up the person if they stay in the shadows. Now since I've never stood there and shot at someone wearing it in various conditions I've got limited experience saying how well it does in various environments. I know most guys don't like it as a camo pattern but I'd love to get some feedback on what you guys have seen and if anywhere it works well for ya.

If nothing else I really do like the cut and redesign on how the pockets and whatnot are setup, should make wearing my vest much easier to get to pockets etc, and it's very comfortable. I'd say I like it quite a bit better than my normal woodland BDU's honestly. So worst case scenario I'll just use it for wearing, and if a game requires something other than woodland. Since I've been reading allot of games doing green vs. tan etc.

Either way love to hear some feedback on guys using it and how it's worked for ya. I'm planning on trying it out some this coming weekend with the snow but I suspect my snow cover is a bit too much for the fairly dark colors of the ACU. Somewhere I've got a painters white suit with some spray painted camo on it, but for the life of me I can't find it. So it's ACU or woodland and I suspect ACU will do at least somewhat better in full on snow;)

Take care!

Luke

[Impulse]

I'm sure this is not unique, but the UCP camouflage has very limited applications that it actually works.
Firstly, it's very good for urban environments (and not just grandma's couch). It's not too disruptive but makes a decent midway blend with concrete. However, as urban environments are not generally one colorway, and are very close distance, this is not too important a concern.
It is adequate against brush with snow on the ground. Dedicated snow patterns are better, but ACU can work, better than your typical desert or woodland patterns.
And it's very well documented as effective in grey-rock mountains.

Probably the best attribute of UCP is its light tone and light pattern, making it usable as a dye base or making the effects of local soil more clear. 'Tea-dyed' ACUs make a considerably better 'universal' pattern, and using greener tones can make a cheap alternative to CADPAT or AOR2.

As for the uniform, I personally love the fit and feel of BDUs more than the ACU; the zippers and velcro have been well maligned, and there are more pockets than needed. Overall it's been considered not fantastic as a garrison uniform - but we shouldn't care too much about that

Here's some pics where it's not too bad:



The concept of tea-dying:






Maybe it was specifically designed for MOUT training sites?

It's also not terrible under night vision: better disruption than many of the other patterns available these days.

[luke213]

That's pretty close to what I've been seeing too, this video really sparked my interest:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mefP-rt9z9E&list=WL&index=12

Mostly this guy has done a few camo tests like this you can find on his channel and he seems like a good guy professional etc. But the one thing I noticed allot and I've seen on the field is that Woodland and MARPAT are pretty dang dark in foliage often times. That got me thinking maybe they were actually too dark, which led me to reading up on ACU since I knew it was lighter. He's in Texas which I'm pretty familiar with the areas that are like those in the videos and it's not too far from what our environment looks like in the summer and late summer. And since we did a select cut on our property last year I've got a bit more light filtering through than what I used to have. So I'm thinking from the looks of things it might actually work so long as I stay with some cover, out of the light as much as possible and likely add some local roughage to give it a little more cover to blend.

Mostly this is curiosity since I pretty much wrote off ACU's pattern as a failure when I saw it because it looked too light. But then looking at pictures and video I'm starting to second guess that. I still think woodland is likely better for allot of the year but I'm seeing some things that are making me consider ACU for at least some of the play time;)

On the pockets I'd agree there are more than the BDU and I'm still coming to grips with locations, velcro isn't great but not bad. I really don't like the sound, but I didn't care for the BDU buttons either. And for whatever reason I like the fit better in both the trousers and blouse in that they fit me better than the BDU's did. Maybe it's just my size or shape but the ACU just seems more comfortable and a little easier to move around in, maybe a touch less restrictive but not really baggy either.

Luke

[Impulse]

Woodland pattern originates with ERDL printed on cotton sateen uniforms that spent a lot of time in the tropics - they faded pretty heavily, it's my belief that the pattern was made darker than its environment so that, as it faded, it would reach a more usable colorway. There was certainly a tradition of fading issue uniforms, they ended up pretty close to our modern day multicam. More polyester-based fabrics and better-set dyes today mean less fading, so the BDUs you see are definitely dark.

They can still work... the pattern matters less than the way you use it. Woodland and MARPAT do well to break up your form, especially in low light, UCP won't do that. Classic Olive BDUs blend well in foliage but have no breakup pattern. Multicam is fine. My buddies and I have often enough worn DCU's just because they are lighter and cooler. Getting ACU stuff for the one or two winter games a year you might play is not too worth it... but then again, the ACU parkas and such are very cheap right now, and they work.

[luke213]

Well I've already got the ACU's and really it didn't cost me much of anything trade wise to pick them up so I don't mind having them around. Actually went down and picked through things in my dad's gun show camo boxes and traded him for a set of flectarn(sp?) and some straight OD BDU's and a few other pieces.

It's interesting you brought up fading, back when I started playing I didn't have much for camo some old woodland I'd had around for ages and used for hunting etc. They were very faded but man did they work well. I actually just found the pants but unfortunately mice found them first so they are DOA. But I'm thinking maybe I'll do some looking at some of my woodland and see if I can find some more faded sets or fade some and try that out as well;)

Luke