2D camouflage: Picking a BDU

08/08/2004

Picking your first battle dress uniform (BDU, also known as Disruptive Pattern Material (DPM)), can be a real daunting task for a newbie. A BDU is one of the first things you might like to buy if you're getting into bushball/woodsball. There are literally hundreds upon hundreds of patterns out there, and if you're not careful... you might end up picking something you'll regret later on. That said, there are several factors you need to consider before you choose.

So what does camo do? how does it work? Faded US Woodland

Camo doesn't make you invisible. Generally speaking... it makes your body harder for your opponents to recognise, and helps you blend in with your surroundings. There are also several kinds of camo. There's 2D and 3D camo. There's active and passive camo. If you look around the internet, you will find many many in depth explainations on how it works. But that's not what this article is about. This article will tell you a bit about some of the patterns available, and how to pick one right for you.

Cotton or Polyester?

Oftentimes when you buy a new bdu, what it's actually made of is very much overlooked. Most bdus are available in 100% cotton, or a 65/35% blend of cotton and polyester. In my experience, cotton is lighter and softer to wear, however it can rip easily if caught on something sharp. Whereas the blend is stronger, heavier, tougher material... and less comfortable to wear.

Washing and fading

Another thing people do not realise, is the colour fading of a BDU. Yes... like ordinary clothes, they will fade with use and age. The usual rule of thumb is to avoid washing them with powder or liquid soap (just use water) to help minimise fading. However I applied this to my favourite pair of bdus, and they still faded. So when picking a bdu... consider how the colours will look upon becoming subdued. Will this still be as effective as you want it to be? will you still like wearing it?

Sizing & Ordering

If you are buying a bdu from a local army surplus store, you are in luck... because chances are you can try it on. If you order one online, BEWARE. I have been stung from buying clothes that end up being a bad fit. Most good online stores have a size chart, this will tell you the measurements for waist/chest etc, USE THIS. And make sure you know how big or small YOU really are. If you don't know... buy or borrow a measuring tape, and find out what your size actually is. You may be surprised.

But take it from me, nothing is worse than spending a hundred dollars on an item of clothing and finding out it doesn't fit right. At the end of the day, if you are still unsure... order 1 size too big. This way if it's a bit baggy by the time you get it, you can still actually wear it... plus you can put more layers on underneath, when playing in winter.

2D patterns: Categorising them Tiger stripe and British DPM

There are of course 3 basic categories of 2D camo bdus. Woodland, desert and urban. This should be a no brainer. Your bdu should reflect what kind of environment you are playing in. For NZ recball... 99% of what people wear is going to be some kind of woodland camo. Oh yes... those 6 colour desert storm camo bdus may LOOK snazzy, but while everyone else is busy blending in, your light tan desert BDU allows your opponents to see you for miles as you walk though the woods.

Urban is for urban environments. Urban camo is usually black, white and grey splotches. Urban camo is very limited in it's usefulness. You'll find very few special forces around the world actually wear the stuff.

Assuming you're not opting for Desert or Urban camo for NZ recball, then you really only need to look at woodland styles. Now it gets complicated because you have a LOT to choose from.

2D patterns: Types of Woodland camo

Are you ready for some google searching? becuase there are too many types of woodland camo to describe here. I'll list some for you, and tell you a little bit about some of the most popular styles.

US Woodland, Dutch Woodland, Belgian Woodland, US Olive Drab, Swedish Olive Drab, Belgian Olive Drab, MARPAT, CADPAT, Digital Woodland, Jungle Stalker, Flectarn (and variants), Updated Tiger Stripe, Advisor Tiger Stripe, Malaysian Woodland, British DPM, Kiwi DPM, Portuguese Lizard Camo.

US Woodland:

This is the style "every man and his dog" has. You can see it worn by the extras on "Stargate SG1", and in the prison movie "The Last Castle". It's very much a generic camo, splotches of black, green and tan. It's usefullness is somewhat limited being that a well trained eye learns to recognise it's pattern.

British and Kiwi DPM:

These patterns are very similar. They are a "brush stroke" pattern. Both are ideal generic camo for NZ environments, however I would opt more for the Kiwi DPM as NZ terrain has a lot of grassland (which is sometimes the case at paintball fields)... and Kiwi DPM is a lighter shade than the british variant.

Tiger Stripe:

Introduced in the Vietnam war, worn by Special Forces & Marines. The idea is the horizontal stripes encourage the eye to pass over it. However... once again, the pattern and colour can easily be recognised to the trained eye.

Olive Drab:

If you really can't be bothered with patterns, consider "ODs". Oftentimes, nothing beats plain green. However, before buying any ODS, consider what colour greens you see at your local fields, and match that up with an appropriate shade of OD. You can see ODs being worn in most Vietnam war movies.

Flectarn:

This was worn by german troops. It's a dotty design of greens, browns and reds. Very good generic camo, along the vein of newer digital camo.

Digital Camo:

CADPAT, MARPAT, Digital Woodland and Jungle Stalker are all digital camo. There are however other types of digital camo, and many new digital patterns emerging. Digital camo reduces the pattern to a series of pixels, when viewed from a distance, the eye has a hard time recognising it. This is a similar effect to Flectar. The US Marines currently use MARPAT, and the Canadian army uses CADPAT.

How to pick the right one for me?

Firstly, you need to understand why you want camo in the first place. Some people buy camo for "the look". They want to "look the part" of thier favourite soldier or special forces. For example... Army, Army Rangers, Deltas, Navy SEALS, US Marines. If you want to emulate your favourite solder, simply pick the pattern they wear.

On the other hand, some people pick camo based on what they find visually appealing. Some people will pick Pattern X, to wear in Environment Z, when clearly Pattern Z is more suitable for Environment Z. SO you need to realise what your priorities are.

Lastly... there are the people that pick camo for it's function. Simply... this means picking something you think will blend the best with the field(s) you play on. To do this, take a long hard look at your field from every angle.

What colours can you see? which colours do you see together? (ie- treebark and grass) how do the colours differ from midday to evening? what kind of patterns can you see? (ie- branches, bushes, gorse etc). Then put all these factors together and pick a style of camo.

Conclusion

Ultimately, there are no right or wrong answers. Environments change, and you will never find a pattern suitable for all play areas. You will always make some kind of compromise when picking a BDU. Happy shopping!

Jamie Innes

Bushball.co.nz
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