Be careful when selecting laundry products as well. Detergents containing phosphates will leave a residue on your uniform that is reflective under IR or night vision.
@@JacobJohn-rc4sxnearly all of them. Look at detergents designed for hunting cloths as it'll usually have nearly no odor and no phosphates since deer can pick up stuff same as ir. And don't wash your cloths unless you've been sweating a lot or they get dirryt, it'll help preserve any ir absorbing properties in some camo clothing.
The M81 US Woodland outperformed everything, MARPAT I'd say was in 2nd place, everything else was just brighter and easier to spot/ see. Great stuff here brother!!!
@@Valorius Considering the risk of fire is far less (regionally dependent) in the woods than in a vehicle in the subjective urban environment (more applicable in GWOT-effect areas of the world where things like Mines and IED's are an actual risk to vics and persons rather than in the US or even places like Mexico), fireproof uniforms are not an issue of concern for most people and their needs. Also just as a side note, Cotton-blend uniforms are far less flammable than fully synthetic Nylon-Poly blend uniforms. And certain contract-provision Military issue uniforms have Permethrin-infused into the fabric, it's not permanent though, it will be removed with washes over time and has to be re-applied (that's just an insect repellent for anyone who doesn't know). The point of this whole test video is the Camouflage effectiveness under peer or near peer NVG's and IR-illumination, and in that criteria the M81 objectively outperforms all the others.
@@Valorius It's easy enough to just buy some Permethrin and treat whatever uniforms you have, again really a non-issue. Y'all definitely have it worse than use in the far north-midwest when it comes to that, which is kind of ironic lol. IF you're intending to do a lot of Urban hoodrattery, then maybe yes a more fire-protective type garb is something to consider, but it's all very subjective and situation-dependent. Yes, M81 is still one of my go-to's even long after we stopped wearing them in service, it just works-- case and point again with the intent and context of Randall's vid here. :)
I think the woodland camo was great. Multicam had a bit of shine. Marpart in the first frame didn’t seem to be working at all. Marpat with gear looked a lot better
I think, more important than pattern, is material. cotton tends to absorb ir the best, but isn't durable, which is why the DoD uses the NYCO (nylon/cotton blend). If you're wearing polyester you might as well dance a jig while holding a white light. The stuff glows like crazy. Nylon is also lighter and stronger than polyester. Nylon also meets the no melt no drip standards.
M81/BDU is just dark enough to stand out from the background. The rest looked fine, even UCP surprised me ok aside from the general way combat shirts have an unbroken swathe of one color, which is unnatural and very noticeable.
This is a great start, I think everything except UCP looked pretty good. Take home 2, combat tops without kit should be avoided. I’d like to see how a few different brands of rattle can paint look (I usually use Rustoleum, but I haven’t seen it tested). Also, common brands of gloves such as Mechanix I’m curious about. You really have to test your whole load out.
I'm quite impressed with Marpat and OG m81! The "lighter" toned next gen stuff probably has some areas where it would work FANTASTIC but in the woods the darker stuff seems to win out. Question: What laundry soap do you use?
I use hot water and air dry. Then smoke your clothes with a fire . Then air it out until it's gone .Then when we hit the field we rub down with dirt mud what ever on the ground. We do not want to smell like soap . And it can make you be seen. We want to be part of the earth. Dirtyer the better. Natural land scape. That's what we want. I hope this helps you. God bless from Glenn CATT in Massachusetts. Oh and this will help you when hunting deer. Deer love the smell of fresh dirt and earth.
@@jenniferbauman4802 Thanks for your input! For the past few years I have just used a small squirt of the clear unscented dish soap. No UV brighteners or anything, and if you use the right amount no suds problem. I'm sure there are MANY ways to handle this, and hope even more people chime in. And agree 100% on the "chicken bath!"
Marpat was the best at some point towards the end of the video the pvs 14 and the go pro lost the image as in it blended in completely from my point of view… good tuff. Thank you for the video 👍 Note: can you make a video of painted rifles vs no paint that would be great under night vision and IR. Thanks
All worked pretty well. I say that because even with my pretty good spec'ed WP tube, distance is pretty limited under NV. If it wasn't real close, all these patterns seem like they would do well enough in masking the wearer. Goes to show the important of the ir compatible treatments and dyes on all the various patterns. Beware of knockoffs though. Just because the daylight pattern looks the same doesn't mean it performs the same under nods. Case in point, I bought multicam ak mag pouches from Russia and they completely bleach out and glow under IR illumination. Fabric matters too. I have a import set of hunting camo. The softshell jacket is completely white under nods but the ripstop pants in the same pattern by the same manufacturer work great. The blocks of solid color on the combat shirts were obviously a no go as well as the exposed velcro. Testing your gear under nv is a must. Glad you did the test under passive and illuminated settings. The IR illuminator really shows any flaws.
Although I've been a multi cam guy while adding my own adjustments to the pattern (keep in mind I live in the northern high desert of Nevada) I was really taken with the OCP...I thought blended better the Marpac was 2nd
Kenneth Kramm has a video doing something similar, except (IIRC) his outfit of a black bin liner spray painted with camo paint proved the best against IR. Edited to add: the video is from about 9 years ago.
I did a Video with the same concept, but I used my Phone on a Firefield Night Vision Monocular, and a lot of recording devices do definitely suck in low light conditions. Also looking through the nightvision with a digital device is hard, because it wont ever just damn focus lol. that being said, the hands and the back of the neck do stand out on you a bit more towards the middle of the video, maybe because of sweating due to the walking and changing into new camo many times. AOR2 with no IR looked pretty good.
M81. under nods they have worked with in jungle and several areas in FL, NC, LA, Ark, TN, KY. Also, it could be used as gray man clothing, since the proliferation of civilian camouflage clothing in that pattern.
M81 and Multi. Wonder how M81 vs Multi tropical in the woods would look with nvgs. But day time multi cam even in the woods, also Kryptek highlander Summer/ Fall really does the trick.
After I got off active duty in the Navy I went into my State's Army NG. We were still wearing OD green back then. A couple years later the woodland BDUs started being issued. We were told never to starch and iron them as that broke down the IR resistance in the uniform. Don't know if that was true or not but we starched and ironed them anyway because, let's face it, what military working uniform doesn't look sharp starched and ironed? I thought the BDU worked fairly well in the video. Then the OCP. Is there a real difference in the OCP and multi-cam patterns? There is a pattern out called ASAT, I believe. Two shades; forest and arid. These patterns have no solid line differentiation between colors like the woodland BDUs. Each color fades or blurs into the other where they meet. They can be somewhat pricey but since the military hasn't contracted for them and since this video concerns mil issue, past and present, it is really just an aside..
That's not exactly how it works, most night vision technology picks up IR signatures so many materials show up differently in night vision than they do normally
Revisiting this video exercise, and topic, I've been looking at what works well etc. I've found that German Wasp 2 Camo works really well with night Optics, (Urban), I've not yet tried there other variations yet. I know that Brent has made a video about Wasp Urban which everyone should check out. Maybe Randal you could do an updated version of this exercise with some new patterns?
Thermal would be able to get all of those out due to thermal. NVG’s are great but in my opinion, if I was an enemy, and I was looking for my adversary, thermal would be my first option. NVG’s are great for movement at night. Thermal would be better. Also, every enemies has the advantage of NVG’s and thermals especially in Ukraine where both sides uses thermals, China who is the largest producer of both and even the Talibans.
Flecktarn esp with a good fade works pretty dang good under infared. I know this because i have a picture of me from my trail cam( i know its a different spectrum of IR) while i was hunting and using flecktarn as my hunting camo which after last seaosn is my go to no more mossy oak for me. If i was laying prone it would have been very hard to see me. I wish i could post picture here. Cant go wrong with m81 or flecktarn.
The combat shirts looks like a big fruit of loom coming threw the forest, , I think M-81 woodland and added camo accessories wood be the most affective
Sorry guy's i respectively disagree, the woodland stood out significantly with the black stripes the most. I would give it a fail for the exercise. This also is evident for me having serviced many years ago wearing woodland and having multiple contacts with enemy's in whom had IR optics. Great during day light hours thou.
I'm really surprise that even the worst all seem to work adequately: the big target indicators were the rifle and the bare skin, but even your hiking pants weren't terrible: as long as that fabric was only on your lower half they'd have probably been "good enough". You still have to use basic light discipline, stick to shadows, etc. regardless of what you're wearing.
Be careful when selecting laundry products as well. Detergents containing phosphates will leave a residue on your uniform that is reflective under IR or night vision.
Good point, thanks
@@garyxoom7714 Good to know. 💯💯💯
@@JacobJohn-rc4sxnearly all of them. Look at detergents designed for hunting cloths as it'll usually have nearly no odor and no phosphates since deer can pick up stuff same as ir.
And don't wash your cloths unless you've been sweating a lot or they get dirryt, it'll help preserve any ir absorbing properties in some camo clothing.
The M81 US Woodland outperformed everything, MARPAT I'd say was in 2nd place, everything else was just brighter and easier to spot/ see. Great stuff here brother!!!
@@Valorius Considering the risk of fire is far less (regionally dependent) in the woods than in a vehicle in the subjective urban environment (more applicable in GWOT-effect areas of the world where things like Mines and IED's are an actual risk to vics and persons rather than in the US or even places like Mexico), fireproof uniforms are not an issue of concern for most people and their needs.
Also just as a side note, Cotton-blend uniforms are far less flammable than fully synthetic Nylon-Poly blend uniforms.
And certain contract-provision Military issue uniforms have Permethrin-infused into the fabric, it's not permanent though, it will be removed with washes over time and has to be re-applied (that's just an insect repellent for anyone who doesn't know).
The point of this whole test video is the Camouflage effectiveness under peer or near peer NVG's and IR-illumination, and in that criteria the M81 objectively outperforms all the others.
@@Valorius It's easy enough to just buy some Permethrin and treat whatever uniforms you have, again really a non-issue. Y'all definitely have it worse than use in the far north-midwest when it comes to that, which is kind of ironic lol.
IF you're intending to do a lot of Urban hoodrattery, then maybe yes a more fire-protective type garb is something to consider, but it's all very subjective and situation-dependent.
Yes, M81 is still one of my go-to's even long after we stopped wearing them in service, it just works-- case and point again with the intent and context of Randall's vid here. :)
@@Valorius drifire makes their "cryefire" clothes in woodland im pretty sure, if you got $500 to spend on pants
@@Valorius100% agree
@@thegeth4293$500 ?!? 😵😵💫
good old Woodland camo keeps on rocking.
I think the woodland camo was great. Multicam had a bit of shine. Marpart in the first frame didn’t seem to be working at all. Marpat with gear looked a lot better
Impressed how well woodlands did, thank you so much for showing us the difference!!
Thank you Randall for this review 👍🇺🇸
Good stuff man - I have plans to do one as well - but I’m an old man, so I’ll wait till winter 😂🤣
I think, more important than pattern, is material. cotton tends to absorb ir the best, but isn't durable, which is why the DoD uses the NYCO (nylon/cotton blend).
If you're wearing polyester you might as well dance a jig while holding a white light. The stuff glows like crazy.
Nylon is also lighter and stronger than polyester. Nylon also meets the no melt no drip standards.
@@deangullberry5148 cotton not durable lol 😂
M81/BDU is just dark enough to stand out from the background. The rest looked fine, even UCP surprised me ok aside from the general way combat shirts have an unbroken swathe of one color, which is unnatural and very noticeable.
can you do straight OD green too?
its my go to color, sheeple friendly while still being decent at hiding
This is a great start, I think everything except UCP looked pretty good. Take home 2, combat tops without kit should be avoided. I’d like to see how a few different brands of rattle can paint look (I usually use Rustoleum, but I haven’t seen it tested). Also, common brands of gloves such as Mechanix I’m curious about. You really have to test your whole load out.
@@AndrewWisler was just thinking about paint on various wearables, pouches, bags, rifles etc….
As long as you were motionless all the patterns worked well. The rifle resembling a tree trunk or Limb. 👍
Woodland and multicam works well
I'm quite impressed with Marpat and OG m81!
The "lighter" toned next gen stuff probably has some areas where it would work FANTASTIC but in the woods the darker stuff seems to win out.
Question: What laundry soap do you use?
I use hot water and air dry. Then smoke your clothes with a fire . Then air it out until it's gone .Then when we hit the field we rub down with dirt mud what ever on the ground. We do not want to smell like soap . And it can make you be seen. We want to be part of the earth. Dirtyer the better. Natural land scape. That's what we want. I hope this helps you. God bless from Glenn CATT in Massachusetts. Oh and this will help you when hunting deer. Deer love the smell of fresh dirt and earth.
@@jenniferbauman4802 Thanks for your input!
For the past few years I have just used a small squirt of the clear unscented dish soap. No UV brighteners or anything, and if you use the right amount no suds problem.
I'm sure there are MANY ways to handle this, and hope even more people chime in.
And agree 100% on the "chicken bath!"
@@jenniferbauman4802who is we?
@@RubyRidgeWacoFed boy
Baking soda
Correct me if I’m wrong, but the most highlighted sections were the face and that black rifle.
Really informative thanks for postinf
Goes to show you that the old gear still has some great use! And is still a great option! Like others have posted out I think it outdid the new stuff!
Marpat was the best at some point towards the end of the video the pvs 14 and the go pro lost the image as in it blended in completely from my point of view… good tuff. Thank you for the video 👍
Note: can you make a video of painted rifles vs no paint that would be great under night vision and IR. Thanks
All worked pretty well. I say that because even with my pretty good spec'ed WP tube, distance is pretty limited under NV. If it wasn't real close, all these patterns seem like they would do well enough in masking the wearer. Goes to show the important of the ir compatible treatments and dyes on all the various patterns. Beware of knockoffs though. Just because the daylight pattern looks the same doesn't mean it performs the same under nods. Case in point, I bought multicam ak mag pouches from Russia and they completely bleach out and glow under IR illumination. Fabric matters too. I have a import set of hunting camo. The softshell jacket is completely white under nods but the ripstop pants in the same pattern by the same manufacturer work great. The blocks of solid color on the combat shirts were obviously a no go as well as the exposed velcro. Testing your gear under nv is a must. Glad you did the test under passive and illuminated settings. The IR illuminator really shows any flaws.
Great point: fabric is more important than pattern under nods and IR.
Motion is a camo-killer, regardless of the pattern.
Old School BDU Woodland. Best night camouflage of them all.
Would like to see comparisons for desert pattern uniforms, including multicam arid - if that's possible for you, Randall.
Although I've been a multi cam guy while adding my own adjustments to the pattern (keep in mind I live in the northern high desert of Nevada) I was really taken with the OCP...I thought blended better the Marpac was 2nd
Kenneth Kramm has a video doing something similar, except (IIRC) his outfit of a black bin liner spray painted with camo paint proved the best against IR.
Edited to add: the video is from about 9 years ago.
I did a Video with the same concept, but I used my Phone on a Firefield Night Vision Monocular, and a lot of recording devices do definitely suck in low light conditions. Also looking through the nightvision with a digital device is hard, because it wont ever just damn focus lol. that being said, the hands and the back of the neck do stand out on you a bit more towards the middle of the video, maybe because of sweating due to the walking and changing into new camo many times. AOR2 with no IR looked pretty good.
I found this to be very interesting and educational.
M81. under nods they have worked with in jungle and several areas in FL, NC, LA, Ark, TN, KY. Also, it could be used as gray man clothing, since the proliferation of civilian camouflage clothing in that pattern.
This video would've been a lot better if you showed what the camo patterns looked like in the daylight so people could know what they look like.
Good video, definitely some stuff glow really bright 😮
M81 and Multi. Wonder how M81 vs Multi tropical in the woods would look with nvgs. But day time multi cam even in the woods, also Kryptek highlander Summer/ Fall really does the trick.
My mistake. The pattern I was referring to to is ATACS vice ASAT. ASAT was a stupid pattern beck in the '80s.
Interesting results!
This was cool. Thank you
You can camo your rifle, your boots and other equipment as well.
After I got off active duty in the Navy I went into my State's Army NG. We were still wearing OD green back then. A couple years later the woodland BDUs started being issued. We were told never to starch and iron them as that broke down the IR resistance in the uniform. Don't know if that was true or not but we starched and ironed them anyway because, let's face it, what military working uniform doesn't look sharp starched and ironed? I thought the BDU worked fairly well in the video. Then the OCP. Is there a real difference in the OCP and multi-cam patterns? There is a pattern out called ASAT, I believe. Two shades; forest and arid. These patterns have no solid line differentiation between colors like the woodland BDUs. Each color fades or blurs into the other where they meet. They can be somewhat pricey but since the military hasn't contracted for them and since this video concerns mil issue, past and present, it is really just an aside..
Whatever works in the day still works at night because night vision has even less contrast
That's not exactly how it works, most night vision technology picks up IR signatures so many materials show up differently in night vision than they do normally
I think Marpat definitely took it, followed by M81, then AOR 2.
US4CES Woodland is the best................ but can you get your hands on it ? Look for it.
Revisiting this video exercise, and topic, I've been looking at what works well etc. I've found that German Wasp 2 Camo works really well with night Optics, (Urban), I've not yet tried there other variations yet. I know that Brent has made a video about Wasp Urban which everyone should check out. Maybe Randal you could do an updated version of this exercise with some new patterns?
ANY one that hasn't been washed in detergents containing phophates.
Thermal would be able to get all of those out due to thermal. NVG’s are great but in my opinion, if I was an enemy, and I was looking for my adversary, thermal would be my first option. NVG’s are great for movement at night. Thermal would be better. Also, every enemies has the advantage of NVG’s and thermals especially in Ukraine where both sides uses thermals, China who is the largest producer of both and even the Talibans.
Not sure if M81 actually performed the best or if it’s just my bias towards my favorite pattern
Flecktarn esp with a good fade works pretty dang good under infared. I know this because i have a picture of me from my trail cam( i know its a different spectrum of IR) while i was hunting and using flecktarn as my hunting camo which after last seaosn is my go to no more mossy oak for me. If i was laying prone it would have been very hard to see me. I wish i could post picture here. Cant go wrong with m81 or flecktarn.
Could you do a video on night ops or "How to fight at night" etc video(s) without NVGs?
Wearing a soft ponchos that has a hood down past knees and in torn rag. Patterns of twigs. Drawn in.
The combat shirts looks like a big fruit of loom coming threw the forest, , I think M-81 woodland and added camo accessories wood be the most affective
Sorry guy's i respectively disagree, the woodland stood out significantly with the black stripes the most. I would give it a fail for the exercise. This also is evident for me having serviced many years ago wearing woodland and having multiple contacts with enemy's in whom had IR optics. Great during day light hours thou.
No flecktarn?!! lol. Keep up the great work my brother
Anything with elastane will glow. Some plastics can be too absorbent and look super dark.
Now do a one with a starched BDU uniform. Lol
I'm sure that I'll get flak about this but I've found out that so much stuff doesn't matter under NODS. Cool video though!
"Is next, evening vear."
Had MARPAT been full camo i would choose it first. JMO
Excellent video, woodland the best.
Multicam and Woodland seemed to be the best all-around...
atacs is better
Really wish you had done some multicam black so I can show my gf how useless it is under nods
😂the non rambo load out 😂 you just so for real dude!
How bout a ghillie suit!
woodland cammies and marpat seem best ....stay frosty brother
Question brother, would this work for your rifle if it was painted camo? So it wouldn't stick out so much?
I understand I am a combat vet.
Great video!
I'm usually in bed by 2130 so I don't need to worry about this.
This is the cool shit I wanna see...
No UCP!
The hands better get some dirt on them
no flektarn?
@yat9779 what are you talking about?
m81 best
👍
🐉
👍
Canteen gear give out line
I'm really surprise that even the worst all seem to work adequately: the big target indicators were the rifle and the bare skin, but even your hiking pants weren't terrible: as long as that fabric was only on your lower half they'd have probably been "good enough". You still have to use basic light discipline, stick to shadows, etc. regardless of what you're wearing.
no german flecktarn 😂😉🤘