Meet The Camo Competitors
Camo World Cup 2022 Entrants
Meet the camouflage patterns that will be battling it out over the next five weeks in our Camo World Cup 2022 competition. Some of these patterns you may know, some may be a bit more obscure. Who's going to come out on top? The competition kicked off on Monday the 28th of February with the final on the 31st March and winner announced on April 1st. head over and place your vote on today's matches!
Splinter - One of the early pioneers in military camouflage, Germany issued this pattern in 1931 initially as zeltbahns. Even at WW2's end, splinter pattern evolved slightly and saw extensive use for decades afterwards in the new West German army. (Note: we didn't use the correct national flag intentionally).
Telo Mimetico is believed to be the first ever mass-produced camouflage. In service with minor changes well over 60 years, it might not be relevant now but set a standard way ahead of its time.
Swedish M90 was originally designed for hiding vehicles from satellite imagery and was later downscaled for infantry use. Unlike its many small pattern competitors, M90 focuses on breaking up shapes at longer ranges around the 1km mark instead of close quarters.
M05 Maastokuvio - A truly innovative and unique pattern, M05 camo works awesome in woodland environments. Employed as the current uniform for the Finnish Defense Forces, even Russia has cloned it for use in 'similar' environments.
Wz89 Zaba - The 'Puma' camouflage was the last Polish design of the communist era and no less unique in pattern. Also known as 'reptile' pattern by some English collectors, it has a striking reptile like scale pattern.
Digital Tiger Stripe We don’t even think the US Air Force had any idea what they were trying to achieve with this 'camo.' Based on the tiger stripe pattern but modernized with jagged edges, complete in UCP colouring. Is it cool enough to shake off any camo effectiveness?.
British Desert DPM (DDPM) Needless to say, the British Army needed a DPM variant more suitable for desert environments that came about in the 1980's. Although now retired by the UK, it saw decades of service. Definitely a classic military desert pattern.
German Tropentarn is the desert version that has primarily seen use on deployments in Afghanistan. Consisting of tan, green & brown specs it bridges the gap between full blown desert and semi-arid areas.
M1994 Fleck is perhaps the unlikeliest wild card on here - Romanian 'fleck' had a pretty short service life. Although it might not win a beauty pageant, the shapes and colours can be utilized effectively in certain temperate environments. Don't underestimate an underdog!
Turkish Pattern Turkey is a huge country with varying terrain, but this pattern is well suited to the majority of the dry colour palette you would find over there. Small jagged lines combined with 3 colours give this camo a good amount of contrasting.
Tiger Stripe came about through ARVN forces and was picked up by US & her allies during the Vietnam Wars. Heavy contrasting colours, the pattern was designed to break up the shape in dense tropical jungle. Definitely a pattern with some big fans out there-but is it your favourite?
Wz93 Pantera is the current Polish issue camouflage in service since 1993. It also has the honour of being the first Polish Republic camo. Loosely part of the 'woodland' family, Pantera has more of a brown hue to suit its Eastern European forests. An often underrated camo pattern.
Vz95 Leaf Pattern - A pretty nifty take based on a woodland style pattern, Vz95 uses 3 layers of green & black instead. Excels in woodland/grassland environments, definitely an underrated military camouflage.
Auscam Colloquially known as 'jelly bean' camo, Australia sure came up with a pattern that screams outback! Although semi-retired, Auscam has had a great innings with the ADF over nearly 40 years.
Austrian Pea Dot The first camo the Austrian Army fielded - and yet they went back to Olive Drab afterwards! A great pattern in pine woodland areas. Hey, even Arnie Schwarzenegger donned this camo during his time in service!
Nord M98 Over 20 years in Norwegian Army service and still the current uniform. M98 performs solidly in the fields, mountains & fiords of Norway. It features reasonably large shapes in a pattern unique to itself.
Urban Camo - The stereo-typical bad guy camo in all of your 80/90's flicks! Ironically the US military unofficially used it for their training OPFOR during the 90's. Russia, Poland and others have produced similar patterns and seen limited internal use. A striking pattern if nothing else!
Mimetico Deserto is loosely based on the common woodland pattern, Mimetico deserto utilizes arid colours for Italian soldiers deployed to desert environments. First deployed in Somalia, it saw use for the next 15 years mainly through the 1990's.
3 Colour - Coming in right at the tail end of the Persian Gulf War and semi-retiring during the invasions of Iraq/Afghanistan, US 3 colour camouflage still serves today with many nations. Synonymous with movies such as 'Black Hawk Down,' 3 colour certainly has its fans!
6 Colour Choc Chip - An iconic pattern well known for its use in 80's action flicks. 'Chocolate-chip' was the first dedicated desert camo/uniform for the US military. Although long retired by the US, it lives on in many variants mainly in middle eastern countries. Yum!
NWU-1 (Blueberry) - If the US Navy intended to hide its sailors in the ocean, 'blueberry' as it became affectionately known, would do a good job. Fortunately, its intended job is more for hiding grease/oil stains.
Type 07 Universal is China's main camo pattern which also happens to be produced in numerous other colours. 'Universal' pattern does pretty well in urban settings as well as rocky, mountainous backdrops.
ATACS FG is a popular commercial camo for semi-green environments, ATACS has seen some unofficial military use and ironically been copied by countries such as Russia where it's quite popular.
Kryptek Mandrake was designed by veterans based on shadows camo nets cast. Made commercially, it was submitted for US Army field trials and met DOD requirements but went no further. Well suited to woodland and tropical environments.
Brushstroke owes its origins to the British denison pattern. There are dozens of versions of 'Brushstroke' fielded by various nations such as France, Belgium, Vietnam, India and notably Rhodesia/Zimbabwe. Despite its many forms and owners, brushstroke is definitely an old school classic.
Realtree - Made from humble beginnings, Real Tree became the world's number 1 commercial hunting camo. Although not officially adopted military wise, it has seen unofficial use in certain warzones with guerrilla or special forces units in part. It may not be military, but if it works, it works right?
MCU - Designed more with Afghanistan deployments in mind rather than New Zealand, MCU got quite a hard rap during its service life. Uniform issues aside, the pattern itself works notably well in arid environments.
UCP - What can we say, US generals ticked some boxes and their soldiers hated it. In the right urban or mountain environment, UCP can still be effective, just definitely not as a universal camo.
Pencott Greenzone - has established itself as a fantastic camouflage in any lush green environments. Utilizing a digital pattern with even smaller pixelated segments gives it a good amount of depth and texture for up close concealment.
Type 03 Flecktarn - Like many countries, someone in China appreciated the Flecktarn pattern also. The Type 03 has changed the pattern into predominantly brown colours. Unofficially labelled 'Tibet' camo due to its use (and effectiveness) in the brown rocky outcrops of Tibet.
Kryptek Typhon - A striking urban pattern designed visually for identifying law enforcement rather than a practical camo. In use by various SWAT departments and South Korean special force units, it has also seen some screen time in movies such as the Expendables & Jurassic Park. Rule of cool or rule of get spotted?
Black Multicam - Designed primarily for use with law enforcement, Multicam black is immediately identifiable. In use with various US & AU LEO units, it has also seen very limited unofficial use with SF teams in Iraq to better blend in Iraqi army allies rather than terrain.
DPM British A combat proven camo pattern. Dating from the 1960s right up to the present. Designed for lush green temperate climates. DPM is a heavy weight in the world of military camos.
French CE Camo CE camo leans more to browns instead of greens making it ideal for more dry woodland environments. With nearly three decades of active service, CE camo is a worthy contender in the military camo world.
MTP (Multi Terrain Pattern) Based on the DPM pattern but using Multicam colours, MTP was designed to bridge the gap of its previous temperate & desert DPM patterns. A great pick across various dry environments.
Rain Pattern - Originally designed in Poland, Warsaw Pact countries followed suit with closely related rain patterns, including East Germany. There it became iconic due to its Cold War flashpoint.
Flecktarn - The German military surprised everyone after reunification by designing a new camouflage pattern based on patterns from WW2. Stigma aside, Flecktarn has proven to be a very effective camo pattern in woodland environments.
Alpenflage TAZ 83 or better known as 'Alpenflage' owes its design to a late war German experimental pattern called 'Leibermuster'. The Swiss remodeled it and issued it in the late 1950's where it still sees limited use today. Definitely a hot take, but certainly with its merits in Autumn!
NZ DPM - Still considered by many as the ultimate NZ bush camouflage, NZ DPM deserves its own slot. Coloured with more red-brown hues compared to British versions, NZDPM served the NZDF over a solid 33 years.
Aus AMCU combines 'Jellybean' colours with the Multicam pattern and remains the ADF's current camo. A strong performer in the dry outback environment with a well proven small pattern to break up shape.
Jigsaw Belgium came up with this unique camouflage way back in the 1950s, where it still serves today. Can't be too bad if it's still in service after almost 70 years? You decide.
Desert MARPAT The USMC needed a desert version of MARPAT. Forged in the invasions of Iraq & Afghanistan primarily, US Marines while within visual range are definitely identifiable with their separate uniform to the Army.
Vegetato - Italy has been unique in its camo history and Vegetato is no exemption. It stands mostly alone in design with a small, tightly knit pattern with light temperate colours designed for the Italian countryside.
MARPAT The US Marine Corps liked Canada's CADPAT camo idea so much they copied it and tweaked its colours. Definitely a pattern for modern warfare where elements more than just the naked eye were considered.
Woodland - The Woodland pattern owes its origins to its older brother ERDL spawning from the Vietnam conflict. Widely copied by many countries, it is one of the most common military camouflages you can came across in service today.
CADPAT sets the bar for being the first digital camouflage issued operationally. With a solid 20 years in service, this is an awesome camo in the pine forested alpines of Canada.
Danish M84 - Unsurprisingly Denmark got its M84 design produced by a German firm, basing it off Flecktarn. A strong contender for lush green countryside.
Multicam - 'The camo of the future' that has fast been taking over militaries worldwide. An interesting woodlandesq pattern that's currently dominating real world operations. A decent jack of all trades or overrated?
