Those tricksters over at Digital Concealment Systems launched a countdown clock for their new A-TACS FG (Forest Green) pattern designed for greener pastures. Unfortunately, a full unveiling is still three-and-a-half months off although the background for the clock gives you a hint of things to come.
Tags: A-TACS
So, they are only taking two years to follow up on their plan to release additional supporting color and design variants, which they announced in Oct. 2009.
Likely used too get atacs up and running find a good color base test it, compete in phase 4 for the army and start negotiations with the venders.
Lets not forget we STILL have not see the crye woodland or desert pattern the fact that DCS Is letting us even see this much is a pretty good omen of sucsess.
Crye is working on a woodland and desert pattern?
Blah, they’re just trying to create some buzz prior to launch by making us curious. Works on me, though :).
I guess one has to be happy that they actually do have different color schemes for different environments. Unlike some competitors, whose camouflage really does not work in, say, temperate forests. Universal, multi, and transitional are just compromises for saving money on logistics.
That said, a forest color scheme can by no means universal either. Different vegetation zones are significantly different in color. And, seasonal differences can be huge. There are camouflage color schemes that *are* designed for a specific vegetation zone, like Cadpat Temperate Wooldand. And even for a specific season. Already in WWII the Germans came up with spring, summer and autumn versions of some of their patterns, typically with reversible clothing (eg, summer-autumn, summer-winter etc). Finnish m/05 is a more modern example of seasonal specific camouflage (summer, non-summer and snow schemes of the same pattern).
That’s a very interesting piece of camouflage right there. It looks so simple but it may just work. No matter who wins this competition of camo the US Army is getting a great pattern.
The Army Camouflage Improvement Effort pattens are already submitted regardless of who made them.
THIS pattern was not submitted to the Army. This is solely a commercial pattern just like A-TACS.
Cool. Once that comes out people can easily portray Rebel Alliance troops on Endor!
Looks nice…and as far as camo is concerned. 3 REI wears woodland tiger stripe in Guyana, depending on the product run and fade from washing I’ve seen it pretty dark and pretty light.
P.S. Looks like they took some color hints from PenCott – which has already been out for 2 years…
Looks like Woodland Camo.
So other than the micropattern we’ve come full circle.
Starting to feel like this experimentation is just to pump volume into the industry.
I guess well-funded LE agencies with finite AOs (are there any of those left?), top tier military entities with deep pockets and airsofters with wealthy parents (be sure to make plenty of large-short pants & shirts) can benefit.
I just finally got my new kit in all ATACS and now they have to go make a new color that is even better. It is pretty cool looking from the small picture but I am very curious how it looks on an actual uniform. My two favorite are Atacs and Multicam. This new one seems to be best of both.
Too bad I just got my Atacs kit that I have been waiting 4 months for. Doh…
@Straps: as you were saying….
Straps, =), good points. This is about business. A-tacs is so far just another commercial camouflage scheme, as it has (afaik) yet to be adopted by any military. Even if there are soldier-like figures posing with A-tacs on the webpages of the company. But, but, this was very much the case with Crye, and their Scropion camoflage, later known as Multicam.
But, no, A-tacs FG doesn’t look much like woodland. Not US woodland anyway. The color palette is significantly different, if the banner pic is any indication. Most notably, there seem to be no brown in A-tacs FG. The colors seem a lot like Swedish M/90, and reasonably close to Danish M/84 and its Russian copies.
So, the crucial questions for the top tier elite airsofters, with a limited AO and unlimited pockets, is for which area (if any) the color palette is optimized.
Very cool!
I’m really looking forward to the seeing the full pattern in November, as I have a HECK of a time getting patterns to work up here in the boreal forests of Canada!
CADPAT TW works well in coniferous forests, but is too dark for deciduous or mixedwood forests and brushy areas. MARPAT Woodland works wonders up here in leafless seasons (and in conifer understories) but, again, is too dark for deciduous areas and brushy areas. All of the patterns I’ve tested to date have either had excellent blending properties (with poor form disruption performance) or good form disruption properties (with poor blending performance), because it’s a heck of a thing to create a pattern that truly balances both necessary camouflage properties.
…now, if CADPAT TW had switched the leaf green and olive green colours, so the pattern had a greater component of leaf green, then I think the pattern would perform as well as MARPAT Woodland.
All that said, this pattern appears to balance blending and form disruption, and also uses the right shade of greens! Far too many patterns use a bluish green instead of a yellowish green, which nearly all leafy vegetation has (with the exception of some grasses), so I expect this pattern will blend FAR better than it’s peers.
WELL DONE A-TACS!
Kurt.
Kurt, sounds like we have exactly what you need. Come over to http://www.hydedefinition.com/pencott.htm and find the camouflage that does all you want it to do.
You won’t be disappointed.