Solid color tops (softshell) / camo blending? foliage green?

[MikeRarrmeh [64oz]]

Hey I have a tiny teeny obsession with camo, concealment, and just outerwear in general. I bought a condor softshell (I know, not TAD but hey, its cheap!) in foliage green and so far im loving both for airsoft and everyday use

I have a multiple part question that I hope someone out there can help with. I've been googling to the ends of the earth trying to figure out a few things, so this is a multiple question post

What are solid color tops for ? Are they decent if not just as good at blending as actual patterned camo? I see people posting that they have experience leading them to believe that just strait OD is the best camo, but the only way I can think thats true is if you put it in urban as well as woodland, where it would be better against solid walls as opposed to patterned clothing?

Also, in addition to pattern, I wanted to bring up the color factor real quick as well

I know OD blends in leafy woodsy areas, tan in desert,

But now theres newer colors coming out that are "more universal"

Coyote tan for arid, coyote brown for forest, etc

But what are the main AO for foliage green? Both Words in the name makes it sound like it was made for woods, but its on the gray/sage scale

To me it seems like its more for mountain terrain (as to match it up with UCP, being that FG is one of its main colors)

So is it meant to blend in the background as opposed to foreground when behind cover/under canopy? then at the same time blend somewhat into rocks?

Either way, if anyone has any good reads on camo, colors, and testing, post it and let me know

[Variable]

At 100+yards you can't see a pattern anyways and you may as well be wearing a solid top. The equipment and uniforms we use for under 100 yard engagements are designed for use in the real world, where bullets go a lot farther than BBs.

[VogonFord]

Basically, it's easier to make it in OD. There are softshells in MultiCam, but they're bloody expensive. I'm not sure if I've seen them in other patterns.

I'm a fan of OD, myself. Fragistan proves time and again that OD is pretty awesome stuff. Actually, we've found the best color pattern is the mix of brown-green in Soviet/Russian Gorka R/Gorka S, which is a mountaineering uniform. It blends in so well it's scary.

[Matt]

Solid colors suck for concealment. These days there's a whole lot less sneaking around and a lot more standing around lobbing shots from 200 feet away. Wonder why? Because everyone thinks they're a PMC in Afghanistan or Iraq. This is still Oregon. There's still lots of trees and everything is still green, despite the fact there's a war on.

I used to rock standard M81 woodland with everyone else back in the day and it was awesome, still is. The reason why it worked so well was the fact that people had matching gear. The LBV was camo, their helmet was camo, their face was camo, even their gun. There's no way in hell that multicam with a softshell can come anywhere close. I've had people look at me from literally 10 feet away while I'm standing up and not realize I'm there. I don't think that's happened even once since I started using a solid OD CIRAS.

If concealment is what you're after, stay away from all solid colors. The shape is a dead giveaway.

[Cap n pickles]

Spray paint!

[MikeRarrmeh [64oz]]

Solid colors suck for concealment. These days there's a whole lot less sneaking around and a lot more standing around lobbing shots from 200 feet away. Wonder why? Because everyone thinks they're a PMC in Afghanistan or Iraq. This is still Oregon. There's still lots of trees and everything is still green, despite the fact there's a war on.

I used to rock standard M81 woodland with everyone else back in the day and it was awesome, still is. The reason why it worked so well was the fact that people had matching gear. The LBV was camo, their helmet was camo, their face was camo, even their gun. There's no way in hell that multicam with a softshell can come anywhere close. I've had people look at me from literally 10 feet away while I'm standing up and not realize I'm there. I don't think that's happened even once since I started using a solid OD CIRAS.

If concealment is what you're after, stay away from all solid colors. The shape is a dead giveaway.

Yeah the only reason I bought the jacket was for hiking, camping, and well just having a cheap soft shell. Also liked the TADs alot and wanted to see how these were as a cheap alternative

And yeah I agree with the solid LBV giving you away, I had a plate carrier and now I use a RRV (with no back) and I could tell people walking by me when im prone. Frontal solid chest rig isnt that big to me due to my arms being in front of me at all times, so it covers up my rig. But when I use my tactical tailor molle belt and just wear my camos, its so easy to just stand around and have people walk pass me since I dont have anything solid on me

[Rentax]

IMO Solid tops are a kick back from the days before we began to utilize camouflage. They are a way of saying I'm into military stuff without sporting your camouflage BDU tops around and eye'd sideways on the MAX downtown. They are also a way for the PMC to look bad a$$ with his "I'm too good for camouflage" attitude. There is little or no real tactical advantage to solid color tops.

The point of camouflage is to break up the pattern of the body. The human eye see's the pattern of the human body day in and day out we can easily identify it without having to even think about it. The idea behind camouflage was to create a pattern that would blend the edges of the body in with it's surroundings so detection of that natural body shape would be harder to see. For this reason alone I would say that camouflage patterns are better than just solid colors.

OD- is for green areas,

Sand- is the original desert color a very bright tan.

Coyote tan, Tan, Mike Johnson Khaki and khaki are all essentially the same color made by different companies. They are for arid environments

Coyote Brown, is a darker brown than khaki (but still in the same family), it's color can work in arid, mountains, and woodland environments. So is considered more versatile or universal.

It is important to note here that although many of us hear arid and think desert, Arid as the military uses it could include areas similar to Bend Oregon, southern Utah, places where vegetation is sparse, but still there.

Foliage green, (sage green, smoky green) in my opinion was created to blend ACU in with the equipment. They ran into the problem of the shape of the body being given away from the obvious plate carriers being warn that didn't match the uniforms so people's chests stood out from the rest of the body making it an easy identifiable target from a distance. So they created foliage green a color still within the family of OD, but that would match the uniforms and many of the greens found in the arid mountain environment we fight in today. Does it work better than OD? Depends on where you are... Does it break up the pattern of the body? Nope, it's a solid color.

In final note, there is no such thing as a universal camouflage. No single camo pattern will work in every environment. There are some that work better than others for obvious reasons, ACU, (or UCP as it's actually called) is a pattern that helps breaks up the body on satellite images. It's color reflects and adapts to the colors and shadows around it, when using digital imaging. However they eye doesn't work the same way so the pattern is extremely distinguishable.
Multi-cam is another pattern that is now and works in "multiple" locations. But it is not as universal as everyone want's it to be. It's too light for darker wooded areas or jungle areas. It does little in non brown based urban areas.

Hope this helps...