by A Country Gentleman | November 30th, 2009
Under pressure from Congress, and complaints from those on the pointy end of things, Natick Soldier Systems undertook a study to evaluate current camouflage patterns and the results have just been published. The results may shock a few of you.
Please Click to Enlarge:
The stunningly obvious comment, via Soldier Systems, from a retired SF Warrant:
“Nothing earth shattering; desert s@&* works great in the desert and green s@&* works great in the green area.”
Practically speaking, and this report is sure to generate a lot of lathering in the preparedness and gun-o-spheres, what does this mean to me? I would suggest the following salient points, from particular to camo to more general in nature:
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Universal camo is a jack of all trades and master of none. It does “well enough”, but it shouldn’t be shocking that it doesn’t lead the pack for a specific environment.
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Evaluate where you reside- If you live in a woodland environment, and your retreat, hunting cabin, etc is in a woodland environment, do you really need a universal pattern? Or would a surplus set of woodland BDUs (currently dirt cheap) suffice?
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Most importantly of all- evaluate potential kit based on your needs and not how well your purchase will go over on the gun boards. We’re human, most of us have a “status” need, whether you care to acknowledge it or not. Far too often one eschews practicality and what works for the “latest and greatest”. Develop a “needs assessment” and base the assessment on your required capabilities for the conditions you will most likely encounter.
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Start with your needs and required capabilities, then select your tools. It is far more expensive, and a waste of a finite resource (your time and money) to do the reverse.