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So I see a lot of threads about "Which vest is better?" or "What are the best boots?" or "Whats a good lightweight rig?". Well, being the tactical gear whore that I am (I can and will beat anyone on this forum in quantities and experience with gear, except maybe SFC Anderson and Admin. MAYBE). I dont have time to do this all at once, so I will update it with a new topic as I get time.
So lets start off!
Camouflage
So You wanna get a new camo pattern eh? Maybe its because you got tired of your old one, maybe your old pair ripped and your looking for something fresh. Maybe your like me and for reasons unknown you decided YOU HAD TO HAVE IT.
First, what type of environment are you planning on using this pattern in? Thick Vegetation? Pine Forest? Urban Environment? Multi Terrain pattern? Obviously your environment determines what type of pattern you need to wear, BUT, flat colored gear (Coyote Brown, Ranger Green, etc) when combined with some patterns can make them more effective, and as such can make them work in some environments most people would not consider wearing them in. On a basic level, this is how many Common camo patterns break down (Jacked from Paul's "Principles of Camo" thread from a LOOOONG time ago).
Woodland BDU [dark colors including OD, Black, and Tan, all in equal amount]: effective in dark and heavy vegetation, tend to fade with time and can be too dark for some environments
Digital Woodland (MARPAT)[dark colors including Forest Green, Loath, and Earth Brown, ]: effective in medium to dark vegetation in a variety of densities of terrain, still too dark for some areas, don't fade easily
Digital Desert (Desert Marpart) [Desert Sand, Coyote Brown, Khaki]: Works well in open fields of tall brown grass, also works well in the winter when dead leaves are on the ground. However, it is Primarily used in desert areas (Obviously!) Does not work well in areas with heavy green vegetation. Fades Pretty easily.
MultiCam (Brown, Tan, Cream, Green, OD, and Coyote Brown) : effective in a wide variety of environments, including all levels of vegetation color and density as well as well as being one of few patterns to boast an acceptance in urban settings, can be a bit too light for very dark vegetation (ex.setting up next to a dark tree can offset you from the environment)
Woodland TigerStripe (Dark Greens, Browns, and Black): effective in very thick and dark vegetation, ineffective in lightly vegetated areas and spotted much more easily than other types of camouflage
DigitalX: same color scheme as MultiCam with the advantages of the digital pattern, however, not much difference in performance
ATACS (Cream, Brown, Coyote Brown, Desert Sand, Khaki, small amounts of green): A new pattern, ATACs using a sponging effect to create a unique "Pattern within a pattern". It works well in Urban areas,mountain areas with lots of rocks and gravel, in desert environments, and areas with lots of shadows and cover. Does not work well in open areas with green vegetation (ex: Green grass field with occasional bushes or trees)
These are the most common patterns, and if you have questions about other patterns just ask! I am not to familiar with Russian camo, but I am familiar with most patterns used by NATO forces (MTP, DPM, Italian Vegetato, AOR1, AOR2, flecktarn, and a few others). You will notice I left out UCP (commonly refereed to as ACU). As many of you know, I am not a fan of UCP, and I shouldn't have to tell anybody that it is a pretty useless pattern unless you are playing in the middle of a desert or if you are playing CQB (In which case your camo doesn't really matter most of the time)
Think you have things figured out right? Guess again NOOB!!
You see, there are these things called Flat Colors, and they can be combined with camo patterns to camouflage yourself more effectively.
Some of the more common Flat Colors are (In order from Dark Greens to Light colors to Dark Browns): Olive Drab (OD), Ranger Green, Foliage Green, Desert Sand, Khaki, Coyote Brown.
Pretty much any flat color can be worn with any Camo pattern. Honestly. However, there are certain colors that work best with certain patterns
Woodland: OD, Ranger Green, Khaki, and Coyote Brown all work well.
Digital Woodland: OD, Khaki, and Coyote Brown
Digital Desert: Coyote Brown, Khaki,
Multicam: Any flat color works very well with MC
Woodland Tigerstripe: OD, Coyote Brown
Digi X: Same as MC
ATACS: Ranger Green, Desert Sand, Khaki, Coyote Brown.
Flat colors allow you to mix and match to better transition from one environment to the next. They also can be used with almost any pattern, which makes them very valuable (Especially in assault packs, vests, and pouches) Here are some examples of Mixed gear:
Scenario 1: Multicam bottoms will work very well with an OD or Ranger Green Top in Ga. The bottoms will better blend in with the stumps, sticks, grass, and other random forest foliage on the wood floor, while the OD/RG top will blend in very well with the leaves of trees and bushes and branches and what not.
Scenario 2: Say you are playing in a Pine Forest, with lots of Brown pine needles on the ground, but a lot of green pine trees as well. You could wear Coyote Brown Bottoms with an OD Top, and that would be an extremely effective color combination for that environment.
Here are some pics of Flat gear with Camo patterns.
This pic shows a Ranger Green top with ranger Green gear, as well as Multicam bottoms.
This pic shows Woodland Top and Bottoms with Khaki gear.
Headgear
So You need something for your head do ya? Excellent choice. Even in airsoft, headgear is important (if nothing else then just to keep the sun off you). But some of you dont want to settle for a regular patrol cap and you want something different.
Well you can go the regular route and get a Tactical Ball cap. Not much to say about this. I have them, I use them, and they keep the sun out of your face. They are lightweight and they breathe very well. Ball Caps come in many different colors/patterns and they usually have velcro on them. They are very cheap, you can get some ballcaps for as low as 6 bucks, while nice balls caps (made of mesh, better material) are around 20-25 dollars.
Another route to go is the Boonie. This is my favorite headgear to use. Boonies keep the sun off your face and your neck, as well as Being lightweight and breathable. They break up the outline of your head, and they reduce the overall shine of your face due to the brim being so wide and going all the way around the hat. Boonies cost around 10-15 dollars.
Some people use shemaghs as their headgear. Shemaghs are useful face covers, can be used as neck warmers, and come in a Variety of colors and patterns. they can be very hot however, and usually fog up goggles or glasses if one wears them to play airsoft in. Shemaghs cost between 6-12 dollars.
Helmets
There are many types of helmets available to the airsoft player, from replica's, to bump models, to the real deal. They are also many different types (ACH, Protecs, FAST Helmets, etc.) Helmets also come in a variety of colors and patterns, although most people paint helmets to a color scheme of their choice.
ACH/MICH2000 - is the current model of ballistics helmet issued to the US Armed Forces and to some other NATO units.What the helmet is made of/ what the helmet is padded with depends on the quality of helmet you get. ACH's are able to accept most modern NGV mounts as well as helmet lights and helmet Rails. It is also one of the few helmets that allows the wearer to wear both the helmet and a communications headset. Replica's run anywhere from 25-100 dollars, while real helmets run anywhere from 200 (used) to 400.
IBH - The IBH is Very Similar to the MICH 2000. It does have a big difference however. The IBH was designed for use with Communications headsets in mind, and as such has ear cups cutaway from the helmet to allow for headsets such as PELTOR's. This gives the helmet an overall lower profile and lighter weight while sacrificing some ballistic coverage. IBH replica's cost anywhere from 35-120 dollars.
Protec offers a lightweight, easily affordable bump helmet to the tactical community. They differ only slightly from their recreational models, and usually come with a rail system. They are very breathable, which makes them good for hot summer games.
OPS CORE FAST Helmets are relatively new. Although their are no replica models currently, Opscore does offer a lightweight, polymer bump helmet available to buyers for about 250 USD, while the Actual ballistic helmet retails for around 1,000 USD. Fast Helmets are lightweight, low profile helmets that come with rails and a VAS shroud as an NVG mount. The bump models however, come with an integrated NVG mount. Like the IBH, they also feature cutouts for communication headsets. These helmets are highly favored by the Special Forces community, and other Specialty units around the world.
NEXT TIME WE TALK ABOUT BOOTS!
So lets start off!
Camouflage
So You wanna get a new camo pattern eh? Maybe its because you got tired of your old one, maybe your old pair ripped and your looking for something fresh. Maybe your like me and for reasons unknown you decided YOU HAD TO HAVE IT.
First, what type of environment are you planning on using this pattern in? Thick Vegetation? Pine Forest? Urban Environment? Multi Terrain pattern? Obviously your environment determines what type of pattern you need to wear, BUT, flat colored gear (Coyote Brown, Ranger Green, etc) when combined with some patterns can make them more effective, and as such can make them work in some environments most people would not consider wearing them in. On a basic level, this is how many Common camo patterns break down (Jacked from Paul's "Principles of Camo" thread from a LOOOONG time ago).
Woodland BDU [dark colors including OD, Black, and Tan, all in equal amount]: effective in dark and heavy vegetation, tend to fade with time and can be too dark for some environments
Digital Woodland (MARPAT)[dark colors including Forest Green, Loath, and Earth Brown, ]: effective in medium to dark vegetation in a variety of densities of terrain, still too dark for some areas, don't fade easily
Digital Desert (Desert Marpart) [Desert Sand, Coyote Brown, Khaki]: Works well in open fields of tall brown grass, also works well in the winter when dead leaves are on the ground. However, it is Primarily used in desert areas (Obviously!) Does not work well in areas with heavy green vegetation. Fades Pretty easily.
MultiCam (Brown, Tan, Cream, Green, OD, and Coyote Brown) : effective in a wide variety of environments, including all levels of vegetation color and density as well as well as being one of few patterns to boast an acceptance in urban settings, can be a bit too light for very dark vegetation (ex.setting up next to a dark tree can offset you from the environment)
Woodland TigerStripe (Dark Greens, Browns, and Black): effective in very thick and dark vegetation, ineffective in lightly vegetated areas and spotted much more easily than other types of camouflage
DigitalX: same color scheme as MultiCam with the advantages of the digital pattern, however, not much difference in performance
ATACS (Cream, Brown, Coyote Brown, Desert Sand, Khaki, small amounts of green): A new pattern, ATACs using a sponging effect to create a unique "Pattern within a pattern". It works well in Urban areas,mountain areas with lots of rocks and gravel, in desert environments, and areas with lots of shadows and cover. Does not work well in open areas with green vegetation (ex: Green grass field with occasional bushes or trees)
These are the most common patterns, and if you have questions about other patterns just ask! I am not to familiar with Russian camo, but I am familiar with most patterns used by NATO forces (MTP, DPM, Italian Vegetato, AOR1, AOR2, flecktarn, and a few others). You will notice I left out UCP (commonly refereed to as ACU). As many of you know, I am not a fan of UCP, and I shouldn't have to tell anybody that it is a pretty useless pattern unless you are playing in the middle of a desert or if you are playing CQB (In which case your camo doesn't really matter most of the time)
Think you have things figured out right? Guess again NOOB!!
You see, there are these things called Flat Colors, and they can be combined with camo patterns to camouflage yourself more effectively.
Some of the more common Flat Colors are (In order from Dark Greens to Light colors to Dark Browns): Olive Drab (OD), Ranger Green, Foliage Green, Desert Sand, Khaki, Coyote Brown.
Pretty much any flat color can be worn with any Camo pattern. Honestly. However, there are certain colors that work best with certain patterns
Woodland: OD, Ranger Green, Khaki, and Coyote Brown all work well.
Digital Woodland: OD, Khaki, and Coyote Brown
Digital Desert: Coyote Brown, Khaki,
Multicam: Any flat color works very well with MC
Woodland Tigerstripe: OD, Coyote Brown
Digi X: Same as MC
ATACS: Ranger Green, Desert Sand, Khaki, Coyote Brown.
Flat colors allow you to mix and match to better transition from one environment to the next. They also can be used with almost any pattern, which makes them very valuable (Especially in assault packs, vests, and pouches) Here are some examples of Mixed gear:
Scenario 1: Multicam bottoms will work very well with an OD or Ranger Green Top in Ga. The bottoms will better blend in with the stumps, sticks, grass, and other random forest foliage on the wood floor, while the OD/RG top will blend in very well with the leaves of trees and bushes and branches and what not.
Scenario 2: Say you are playing in a Pine Forest, with lots of Brown pine needles on the ground, but a lot of green pine trees as well. You could wear Coyote Brown Bottoms with an OD Top, and that would be an extremely effective color combination for that environment.
Here are some pics of Flat gear with Camo patterns.
This pic shows a Ranger Green top with ranger Green gear, as well as Multicam bottoms.
This pic shows Woodland Top and Bottoms with Khaki gear.
Headgear
So You need something for your head do ya? Excellent choice. Even in airsoft, headgear is important (if nothing else then just to keep the sun off you). But some of you dont want to settle for a regular patrol cap and you want something different.
Well you can go the regular route and get a Tactical Ball cap. Not much to say about this. I have them, I use them, and they keep the sun out of your face. They are lightweight and they breathe very well. Ball Caps come in many different colors/patterns and they usually have velcro on them. They are very cheap, you can get some ballcaps for as low as 6 bucks, while nice balls caps (made of mesh, better material) are around 20-25 dollars.
Another route to go is the Boonie. This is my favorite headgear to use. Boonies keep the sun off your face and your neck, as well as Being lightweight and breathable. They break up the outline of your head, and they reduce the overall shine of your face due to the brim being so wide and going all the way around the hat. Boonies cost around 10-15 dollars.
Some people use shemaghs as their headgear. Shemaghs are useful face covers, can be used as neck warmers, and come in a Variety of colors and patterns. they can be very hot however, and usually fog up goggles or glasses if one wears them to play airsoft in. Shemaghs cost between 6-12 dollars.
Helmets
There are many types of helmets available to the airsoft player, from replica's, to bump models, to the real deal. They are also many different types (ACH, Protecs, FAST Helmets, etc.) Helmets also come in a variety of colors and patterns, although most people paint helmets to a color scheme of their choice.
ACH/MICH2000 - is the current model of ballistics helmet issued to the US Armed Forces and to some other NATO units.What the helmet is made of/ what the helmet is padded with depends on the quality of helmet you get. ACH's are able to accept most modern NGV mounts as well as helmet lights and helmet Rails. It is also one of the few helmets that allows the wearer to wear both the helmet and a communications headset. Replica's run anywhere from 25-100 dollars, while real helmets run anywhere from 200 (used) to 400.
IBH - The IBH is Very Similar to the MICH 2000. It does have a big difference however. The IBH was designed for use with Communications headsets in mind, and as such has ear cups cutaway from the helmet to allow for headsets such as PELTOR's. This gives the helmet an overall lower profile and lighter weight while sacrificing some ballistic coverage. IBH replica's cost anywhere from 35-120 dollars.
Protec offers a lightweight, easily affordable bump helmet to the tactical community. They differ only slightly from their recreational models, and usually come with a rail system. They are very breathable, which makes them good for hot summer games.
OPS CORE FAST Helmets are relatively new. Although their are no replica models currently, Opscore does offer a lightweight, polymer bump helmet available to buyers for about 250 USD, while the Actual ballistic helmet retails for around 1,000 USD. Fast Helmets are lightweight, low profile helmets that come with rails and a VAS shroud as an NVG mount. The bump models however, come with an integrated NVG mount. Like the IBH, they also feature cutouts for communication headsets. These helmets are highly favored by the Special Forces community, and other Specialty units around the world.
NEXT TIME WE TALK ABOUT BOOTS!
Last edited by Twitch on 23.07.11 18:38; edited 1 time in total
