On their Facebook page, Canada’s Hyperstealth Biotechnology Corporation wondered if their Quantum Stealth (Light Bending Material) might have offered better protection to the first responders and security personnel during last week’s terror attack in Ottawa. What do you think?
During a recent trip to Phoenix, Arizona we had the chance to stop by Tactical Concealment Manufacturing where they showed us a couple of their products. One that stood out is the Boomslang.
Think of the Boomslang as a Ghillie foundation for your weapon. Offered in Alpha, Bravo and Charlie models, the pre-cut fabric modules are designed to allow full use of the weapon even when draped with garnish.
The kits consist of four components: Barrel Extension Cover, Barrel Shroud Cover, Scope Objective Cover and Scope Ocular Strap. All components are secured via elastic cord and barrel lock and some sticky Velcro. Additionally, the kits are offered in a variety of different color schemes and integrate 550 cord to attach scrim.
The Army is wrapping up the woodland portion of the bookend camo test at Ft Polk, LA. Hopefully, we’ll see an announcement regarding the results soon.
Yesterday, the Dutch Telegraph released a special edition of their newspaper, regarding the 200 year anniversary of the Dutch Army. Below, you can see a photo of the report which claims that the Dutch Army has adopted Netherlands Fractal Pattern (NFP) as their official new camouflage. The story does not mention the Dutch Royal Marines who continue to wear M81 Woodland camouflage. However, they may well make the transition to NFP as well. Although the article states that no one has been chosen to manufacture the uniforms yet, they will feature FR and insect repellant properties.
The article goes on to state that another feature of NFP, which took one-and-a-half years to develop by a collaborative effort between TNO and Dutch MoD, is that it’s recognizable. Ben Vlasman, head of the Joint Soldier Systems Knowledge Centre (joint kenniscentrum militair & uitrusting), says it’s not just to camouflage, but also offers something recognizable for other troops and civilians.
NFP is currently offered in two variants; Green aka Woodland and Tan aka Arid. To develop the colorways, they sent soldiers to the area of operations with a camera and a color card in ordeer to determine the dominant colors in each area.
The article did not mention which pattern would be adopted for use with camouflage pattern for equipment such as plate carriers. What’s more, the Dutch Army must still determine a way ahead for armor (ie plate carrier or armor vest). Considering the current state of the art it is probable that the vest will be modular is probable. The article mentions two scenarios in particular; worn lightly for a patrol in the jungle, or worn heavily when at a roadblock.
Thanks Robert!
According to Tactical Fanboy, 5.11 Tactical came up with their own ‘gun camo’, which is a camouflage-inspired design that uses the silhouettes of more than a few popular and/or iconic firearms. This cap in particular, which features the pattern, is made from polyester fabric with a dobby mesh six panel design, adjustable fit, and integrated sweatband.
The 5.11 Gun Camo Cap seems to be the only product currently available on the official 5.11 Tactical website that uses the Gun Camo, however they’ve also done a line of beanies, also available in Brown and Grey, that are available from numerous online retailers.
www.511tactical.com/gun-camo-cap.html
In addition to the new Operational Camouflage Pattern, the US Army has long envisioned a family of camouflage patterns with OCP serving as a general issue, transitional pattern, and special Woodland and Arid variants, color tuned for use in those environments, to support contingency operations via limited issue.
When we originally mentioned the planned bookend camouflage test in late May, we framed it as “analog vs digital” and it appears that our information was correct. SSD has obtained photos of testing being conducted at Fort Polk, Louisiana.
The testing at Ft Polk, comprised of OCP (Scorpion W2), M81 Woodland and MARPAT Woodland, is naturally geared toward the woodland environment.
While these photos only depict the MARPAT Woodland uniforms and the Soldiers are carrying UCP MOLLE and helmets, we do know that TA-50 has also been provided in the range of test patterns. You may also notice that the Soldiers in these photos are mixing it up, wearing Sand T-shirts and USMC issue Coyote (Olive Mojave) boots complete with Eagle Globe & Anchor marking. Interestingly, one Soldier has rolled his sleeves. At first it struck us odd that he had rolled his sleeves like a Marine until it dawned on us that currently serving Soldiers wouldn’t know how they would had done it in BDUs, as the Army no longer rolls its sleeves.
While we don’t have any photos of the M81 Woodland or OCP uniforms, we did score a photo of an example of the Green PALS webbing that has been paired with the OCP MOLLE. We are still unsure what this might indicate.
So far, we do no have any information on the Desert Bookend test which is said to feature OCP, 3-color Desert and MARPAT Desert.
WESTLAKE, OHIO, USA, OCTOBER 7, 2014 – MMI Textiles introduces Hyde Definition’s PenCott™ family of patterns into its strong portfolio of military textile products. The PenCott™ inventory will initially consist of the BadLands™, GreenZone™, SandStorm™ and SnowDrift™ patterns on 500D Cordura, Nylon-Cotton Ripstop, and 50D Polyester fabrics – all printed and finished to meet US milspec nIR standards. Future production will also expand to include Asia for delivery to our customers who manufacture their end products in the Far East. Additional fabric and fabric-based substrates will be added to the portfolio as well – some of which will also leverage new printing technologies.
Increased availability of PenCott™ patterns, with commitment from the MMI Team
MMI has always had a strong commitment to the US armed forces, and many of our international customers also seek quality products that have been manufactured to US standards. We have over 30 years of experience in the military market producing cotton, nylon, polyester and blended fabrics. The PenCott™ family of camouflage patterns greatly enhances our existing product offering and we are excited to have this opportunity to increase sales and marketing efforts for this newly created partnership. For further information about the PenCott™ patterns, please visit www.HydeDefinition.com and/or the PenCott™ Facebook page at: www.Facebook.com/PenCottcamouflage.
PenCott™ – Mission Critical Camouflage: the science behind the solution
The development of the PenCott™ pattern began in 2005 as a result of Dom Hyde noting that virtually all current-issue military camouflage patterns for clothing were ineffective in many environments and missions in a post 9/11 world. Dom’s decades of studying and experimenting with thousands of camouflage designs and the direct result of several years of independent research and development has gone into the creation of PenCott™.
The 360° pattern geometry – with the inclusion of large, medium and small fractal shapes – makes the PenCott™ patterns effective at close, mid and long range; and because of its non-linear orientation, the full effectiveness of the pattern is retained whether the wearer is standing, kneeling or prone.
