Tactical Gear: Camo or No Camo?

[Gutshot John]

Should you buy tactical gear in a camo pattern that matches your primary underlying camo pattern? Or

Is it more versatile to chose a neutral solid color (OD, Ranger, Coyote) that can be worn over a variety of underlayers, camo or otherwise?

Does wearing solid color tactical gear over camouflage BDUs eliminate what the camo was intended to do in terms of breaking up shapes?

[Dave L.]

First, what is the purpose of your question? Are you wondering from a military or LE point of view?
I'll say this:
The Army seems to like everything in ACU which doesn't matter because it doesn't really blend with anything- it only helps uniformity overall.
In an urban environment I don't think it really matters all that much.
If you have all Multi-Cam from top to bottom that might help in multiple terrain backgrounds when camo/concealment are "important" to say the least.

You can always paint your nylon to somewhat resemble your camies.

[Gutshot John]

The need would be minuteman and a mix between urban/rural.

Actually I have three types of Camo: Woodland, Digital Woodland and multicam. I like the first and the third best and have more of these than the digital which I'm considering ditching altogether.

I use the multicam quite a bit while bowhunting, and it's done well in the Ohio Valley as well as Canada/Maine.

[Dave L.]

Honestly unless you are conducting surveillance it doesn't matter, just stay with earth-tones or Multi-cam if you have the money and ability to wait for stuff in that color.

[Gutshot John]

Honestly unless you are conducting surveillance it doesn't matter, just stay with earth-tones or Multi-cam if you have the money and ability to wait for stuff in that color.

So you don't see any reason not to go with camo/multi-cam outside of cost? but that ultimately any difference is negligible?

Thanks for the info.

[El Cid]

I don't think it will matter, unless you have to worry about looking like your buddies. By that I mean, if a tactical team wants everyone wearing X color uniforms, and X color gear so you can quickly ID each other. If that isn't a concern buy what you prefer for your surroundings. I suspect it's not or you wouldn't be asking the question.

I decided last year that any gear I buy will either be Multicam or brown (there's dirt everywhere and it works great for animals). If I recall, having camo clothing/gear is more about breaking up your outline and making it less obvious there is a person there, than about actually making you "disappear." If you want to disappear, then you need 3D camo (i.e. something like a ghillie suit) IMO.

And I agree with Dave. ACU only blends in with anything else that is covered in ACU. I can't stand it. Not that my old service did much better with digital tiger stripes...

[Gutshot John]

If I recall, having camo clothing/gear is more about breaking up your outline and making it less obvious there is a person there, than about actually making you "disappear."

No you're absolutely right about breaking up the silhouette, the question that occurs to me is whether a solid color LBE actually creates a silhouette wearing camoflage if that makes sense.

[NCPatrolAR]

No you're absolutely right about breaking up the silhouette, the question that occurs to me is whether a solid color LBE actually creates a silhouette wearing camoflage if that makes sense.

I think large patches of solid colors would stand out more than smaller sections. For example, when I was on active duty it could be hard to spot guys that were wearing normal BDUs and issue LCE. When guys started trying out vests, they became a bit easier to spot.

My recommendation; get a solid base layer and then add pouches in whichever color/pattern you feel is most appropriate.

[czydj]

I was watching a .mil sniper school on the Military Channel and one of the senior instructors said a patch of black in a woodland environment is a dead giveaway. He was able to use binoc's to pick out a fully camouflaged, sniper-trainee in full stalk mode because he left a 1" by 1" square of black showing on his mono-pod setup. Based on this, my woodland camo gear will be anything but black. IMHO, in a neighborhood / urban setting I don't believe I want to stand out. Based upon what I've read, the more I look like the "average joe", the less attention I will get. What do y'all think?

[Lagadelphia]

I was watching a .mil sniper school on the Military Channel and one of the senior instructors said a patch of black in a woodland environment is a dead giveaway. He was able to use binoc's to pick out a fully camouflaged, sniper-trainee in full stalk mode because he left a 1" by 1" square of black showing on his mono-pod setup. Based on this, my woodland camo gear will be anything but black. IMHO, in a neighborhood / urban setting I don't believe I want to stand out. Based upon what I've read, the more I look like the "average joe", the less attention I will get. What do y'all think?

I would think that in an urban/neighborhood setting with a rifle in hand, the color/camo pattern of any gear you are wearing won't matter