Since we’ve last reported on MilSpec Monkey’s attempt at finding a true Urban Grey, he’s made some notable progress. Testing various greys from various manufacturers, Monkey eventually found a shirt and pant combination that seems to closely mirror what he’s looking for in an urban grey. Monkey’s next goal is to start producing fabric samples in Greys that mirror what he’s researched, as well as possibly involve some interested manufacturers. As before, we’re eager to see where his efforts lead.
For the full story, and more images, visit milspecmonkey.com/index.php/articles-page/63-articles/455-a-real-urban-grey-part-2
Tags: MilSpec Monkey
By my calculations in two weeks he will ascertain that OD Green is the best uniform color for urban ops, available in two shades, brand new OD, and Vietnam jacket worn by a bum for 30 years OD.
I actually really dig what he’s doing, the industry can create vacuums and areas of curiosity that lead to the greatest innovation.
Jon, OPT
What about denim?
as a fabric or color? blue jeans are too….blue.
Bum camo is the best kind
OD Bum camo and all equipment in rough handled cardboard brown. It’s science.
Jon, OPT
He’s got the perfect colors…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BNgRpRuWGs
What’s hilarious is that, and Pookie from New Jack City were what I was thinking of.
Wouldn’t be hard to find some here to compare to in Oakland!
I always thought you were in LA? Next time I go see family in the Bay Area I’ll drop you a line.
Jon, OPT
Awesome, hell yea the shop is in San Jose, but I’m in Emeryville most of the time. Touching da durty durty Oakland
dear mil spec monkey have you thought about including east german rain drop camo in your tests. I just got two shirts and the colors play tricks on my eyes. Granted they are used surplus however they give off a greyish to brown hue depending on the light. The Pictures online don’t give it justice. Plus they do not really look like camo up close. On sportmans guide you can get Czech rain drop camo field shirts or east german rain drop tanker shirts for cheap. I also have an extra small east german field shirt I can loan you. Just a suggestion keep up the hard work I am really interested in these results.
Thanks for the suggestion, I’ll see if I can score some cheap. Although the rain effects do some color blending, it looks like the core color could be in the ballpark.
Way to go MilSpec!
His experiment is probably more “scientific” than the Army’s camo quest!
Keep up the great work!
I am really liking his evaluations so far. While not exactly scientific, it’s providing a lot of nice insight to the matter, using known color swatches that we as consumers are already familiar with.
I am a MAS grey guy through and through, and I would be interested in seeing this shade brought back for common use.
IT’s RAL7013 he’s looking for 😉
It appears that was the color UF-PRO was aiming for with their Brown Grey products, although the base of the shirt is closer to what I’m looking for http://ufpro.si/uf_pro_gear_in_brown_grey_ral_7013/
Might I suggest some Austrian surplus clothing for real RAL 7013 gear.
You can find it on ebay fairly often. Otherwise http://army-warehouse.com/ or Steinadler have surplus and new Bundesheer items
oh, and check out this site, too.
http://sklep.orkan-tactical.pl/webpage/en/porownanie-kolorystyki.html
Thanks! Will see if I can score some. Any idea why the orkan tactical ranger green looks like tan449 on their pics though?
LA police gear has a color called sierra that seams close to RAL7013 for it’s operator tactical pant (a rip off of the TAD gear force pant) speaking of TAD, they also have several greys in their colorways, they don’t seem to have enough brown in them for my tastes though.
I have some LAPG sierra, a nice color, but not grey enough for urban, looks like 511 Tundra is similar
The pics are taken with a flash, the colors are not faithful. I have the same samples on hand.
Remember, he’s going for urban grey, not maritime grey, woods grey, mountain gray, christian grey.
I am leaning more to RAL 7013 aka UF PRO Brown Grey.
Still, the mis-matching of the pants, shirts, gear, headcover serve a point, too. Uniformity isn’t really found in urban areas, right? (not talking about Soviet tenement buildings).
What would be next is what it looks like at night? I think perhaps that is why so many commerical ninja greys look so dark/blue….because they are made with night time in mind.
Is there a grey that works better at day than night?
He should get out a sony nightshot or something later on in hos trials to get NIR performance.
As for Tan499, FG and the UCP Urban Grey they perform well in NIR.
I have a level 5 and a lv 4 PCU jackets in alpha green (FG). The level 4 is more towards grey than the lv5. I cannot have the lv4 while biking, as it blends really well in Urban environment.
I have a North face jacket which is grey but as monkey says these civilan greys have a lot of blue in them.
Blue is not good not only because it does not blend as well but also because it reflects more light (incl. NIR and especially UV)
As for the nightshot trails he can only use prestine materails or wash them with Sportwash as that brand claim to have a product which can remove brighteners.
I recall that MARPAT Desert outperformed UCP in the Urban environment per an older Army camo test.
I believe that was due to exactly what MSM is finding.
Grey in a dirty/dusty environment is usually tinted brown, not to mention local building materials are rarely of Portland Cement.
Has anyone found a Flora-hued “Foliage” Green, or is green so ubiquitous in civilian/tactical/outdoors clothing that COTS is preferred?
So their new model is that prisoner from abu ghraib?
No, it’s The Elephant Man, I think?
Quick suggestion and splashes of a lighter grey and a sandy grey.
How is he doing this without a multi-million dollar camouflage improvement program?
LMAO at that comment. Good one.
5.11 used to make a brown called tundra that looked a lot like the pics after a few washings. Really like to see those two side by side.
http://www.511tactical.com/taclite-m65-jacket.html
There it is, looks a little darker and more red brown, but a few washes mutes it some.
I’m holding out for the free standing pop-up ‘tactical refrigerator box surrounded by trash bags’ pattern on an ‘urban recon blind’. gen two features a bonus 90degree rotation into a chest freezer box to support extended mostly-prone operations.
I’ve tried the cardboard box flaps and trash bag remnants gillie suite. ingress/egress was overly complicated (TTP required a cameraman holding a smartphone who’d announce to all interested passerby’s that this was just a youtube video thing). key AAR was that, while in position, any movement gets you beat with a broom by a very surprised, very angry, random older asian woman.
Lighten up, Francis. You were an unnecessary dick in the first post when he started, and you still are now.
SSD found it interesting enough to post, so there has to be some interest in it; be it scientific or just curiosity. Nothing forced you to read it.