Commercial Camouflage Patterns

5.11 Tactical

• A series of three digital camouflage designs were created by the US-based 5.11, Inc. with the primary target audience being law enforcement and military personnel. Categorized as Woodland Digital, Desert Digital, and Urban Digital patterns, they have seen some usage by US Federal Agencies, and may have also seen limited use with (primarily ex-military) contractors serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Seen below is the Woodland variant.

A-TACS

A-TACS® was developed by Digtal Concealment Systems (DCS) and has been designed as a universal pattern for a wide range of operational environments. Adopting a design philosophy at variance with typical modern digital or pixelated patterns, A-TACS replaces traditional square pixels with more organically-shaped pixels, utilizing a patented process. This design has been tested by some US special operations personnel, and is also being fielded by special forces units of Afghanistan. A second variation called A-TACS FG (Forest Green) is designed for employment in heavier vegetated environments, but does not appear to have (as yet) been adopted by military personnel to any great degree.

Brookwood

Brookwook Companies Incoporated, an integrated textile and product company, has submitted three camouflage designs for consideration in the US Army Camouflage Improvement Effort Field Trials of 2012. The patterns are designed to perform in desert, temperate and transitional environments.

Kryptek

Kryptek™ L.E.A.F. camouflage features a bi-level layering design that incorporates background transitional shading and sharp random geometrical foregrounds to create a three dimensional effect that ensures concealment at both close and long ranges. Several variations of the pattern exist, all of which are based on mimicry of foliage, animal, marine and geographic visual qualities. Three of its designs were submitted as part of the US Army Camouflage Improvement Effort Field Trials of 2012, meeting the US DOD's requirement for patterns capable of performing in desert (Nomad), temperate (Mandrake) and transitional (Highlander) environments.

PenCott

PenCott™ Multi-Environment Camouflage was developed by UK-based Hyde Definition and has been available commercially since 2009. The PenCott family of designs offers a range of camouflage designs for various terrain types, including desert and semi-desert, grasslands and jungle, mountains and highlands, urban, and snow and subdued (low-light). The design prides itself on being omni-directional and achieves excellent camouflage results using just four colours, making it more cost effective than other types of "multi-terrain" camouflage on the market today. There are currently three designs available (seen below, from L to R): GreenZone (Temperate); Badlands (Semi-Arid); Sandstorm (Arid), with a four design - Snowdrift (Arctic) - to be available soon.

South African Commercial Patterns

South African companies produced a large number of varied camouflage patterns during the apartheid era, in part to provide some legitimate hunting designs for commercial purposes in an era when it was illegal to own or even wear camouflage uniforms in public that had been adopted by any military or paramilitary organization. Seen below are two such patterns produced by the South African firm Adro (or Adder):

• A commercial copy of the Rhoesian Brushstroke camouflage design was developed in South Africa and originally produced by the Adder/Adro company. Although the design resembles the Rhodesian pattern, it was not copied directly from the original screns and varies considerably in the size and shapes of the brush strokes, as well as the overall coloration. The original screens from this pattern were later sold or licensed outside of South Africa, where they were utilized by companies in both the USA and Asia to produce additional fabrics in poly-cotton twill and ripstop fabrics.

• Another pattern produced by Adder/Adro specifically for civilian distribution (although often attributed to "special forces" or "special police urban operations" is this two-color pattern derived from British DPM designs. Consisting of black disruptive shapes on a grey background, this pattern seems to have been produced exclusively in South Africa and does not appear to have been exported like the Rhodesian version.

Spanish "Sahara" Pattern

Marketed as a design worn by the Spanish Armed Forces operating in the Sahara, this pattern does not appear to have any connection at all to Spain, nor is it likely to have been military issue at any time. Rather, the design seems to have been influenced by WW2 German patterns and produced strictly for the collector or commercial market. Uniforms sold in this pattern were clearly commercial in nature and marked "Made in West Germany."