Has anyone painted their gear, other than their firearms?

I've thought about buying some cheap gear (think Condor level) and trying it out to see if it's viable. I know they make fabric spray paint (have used it, before). But I was just wondering if anyone here has ever done anything like that.

Lots of guys here have

Yep some of that ACU crap I dyed it O.D. and put a mesh net over it and sprayed it black. They Dye really didnt do much.

I tend to run whatever color surplus gear that meets my needs and paint it to suit.

There's quite a few techniques. There's just directly spraying it. There's making little stencils. There's using natural foliage as a stencil. You can use a sponge or paintbrush and dab it on. You can use a drip on/splash on method as well.

None of these techniques provide the sharp edges between colors of actual camouflage material. If you can find a tape that sticks well to your material, you may be able to, but I've yet to find a tape that doesn't leave a residue.

I don't have access to my photos due to technical issues or I'd show you most of these techniques.

Another issue is the infrared reflective properties of some of the paints. I don't have NVG's because I'm a poor so I have no info on that other than to mention it.

That's something that interests me. IMO, that would be better than using a pre-cut stencil as I think it would blend in more naturally with what's around you already.

That and the fact it would be ridiculous to pay another person to cut thin cardboard for you.

I've spray painted some black slings and binocular straps with Krylon camo paints. Takes a few coats as the fabric absorbs a lot, but it's well worth it and has held up nicely.

Anyone have any pics?

Check out venture surplus on YouTube or Instagram.

1.  Dyeing last ALOT longer.  Dyeing gear is an art.  Each kind of material is different.  I'd attempt to dye your gear before painting it to try to get the overall base color closer to what you want.  There are alot of videos on youtube walking you through it.  It's easier than it seems.

2.  I'm a fan of spraypainting gear, with or without dye.  Surplus Desert, ACU, etc. gear is cheap and does alot of jobs well.

I keep it simple.  I lay them out outside in the sun, on scrapwood or paper or hanging from a tree.  I spray a few quick passes of a primary base color with krylon or whatever camo paint.  Walmart and Lowes / Home Depot usually have them.  I'm in the Appalachian Mountains, and this is what I do for a down and dirty color job.  A few quick passes with something like Coyote brownish color.  You don't want a thick, heavy coat.  You don't even want a complete covering.  You just want to change the 'tone' of the base color.  I usually let that dry for 15-20 minutes.  Then I come back and do a series of quick, thin coated short stripes, usually diagonal, of that same coyote.  You don't want them perfectly straight or evenly spaced or anything.  Go for random.  

I immediately follow up with similar stripes, but a SLIGHTLY different angle, of a darker green color.  You want the stripes to sometimes overlap, sometimes not.   If you do it when the two paints are both on there wet, they will mix up into a cool muddy swamp color.  This gives it another color tone than changes depending on where it is and how well they mixed.

I then follow up with little random spurts of a brighter green camo color.  Especially if you have a piece or two of netting - think laundry bag netting.  Put that over where you will painting, and hit up spots with the brighter green.

It doesn't matter if it's perfect or not, because paint on gear will wear quickly, and it tends to actually create better camo then, as it wear randomly.  You can occasionally touch up the gear, especially with a thin overspray.

Here is a dye formula I came up with using Rit Dye to change my UCP to OD Green.

Rit-Dye OD Green Formula

Okay, here is the formula. If you follow the instructions to the letter, you will get OD Green. If you have questions feel free to ask. I did this formula about two or three years ago using liquid Rit-Dye.

This formula works for OD Green 100% color Match (Original formula is Moss Green. I used Taupe)

Step 1 The pouches were dyed using Rit liquid dye’s, three quarts of water and one cup of vinegar. I boiled the water until it bubbled (as if I was making pasta) and then I placed my liquid dye mix in and stirred it around and then placed the pouches into the dye bath for six minutes. I agitated them the entire six minutes. Once they were done, I placed them into a bucket of cold water (straight from the tap). I then wrung them out by hand until there was no bleeding of the dye. I let them dry in the sun. The Formula used - 3 Tablespoons of Sandstone. 6 Minute dye bath.

Step 2 I used three quarts of water and one cup of vinegar. I boiled my water and the placed the vinegar into it and then my liquid color mix and stirred it. I then placed the pouches into the dye bath and agitated them for 6 minutes. I placed them into a cold-water bath and wrung them out and let dry in the sun. 4 Tablespoons Apple Green 1 Tablespoon of Dark Green 2 Tablespoons of Taupe 6-minute dye bath.

This formula works for OD Green 97% color Match (Original formula is Moss Green. I used Taupe)

Step 1 The pouches were dyed using Rit liquid dye’s, three quarts of water and one cup of vinegar. I boiled the water until it bubbled (as if I was making pasta) and then I placed my dye mix in and stirred it around and then placed the pouches into the dye bath for six minutes. I agitated them the entire six minutes. Once they were done, I placed them into a bucket of cold water (straight from the tap). I then wrung them out by hand until there was no bleeding of the dye. I let them dry in the sun. The Formula used - 4 Tablespoons of Taupe. 6 Minute dye bath.

Step 2 I used three quarters of water and one cup of vinegar. I boiled my water and the placed the vinegar into it and then my color mix and stirred it. I then placed the pouches into the dye bath and agitated them for 6 minutes. I placed them into a cold-water bath and wrung them out and let dry in the sun. 4 Tablespoons Apple Green 1 Tablespoon of Dark Green 2 Tablespoons of Taupe 6-minute dye bath.

Link to the pouches I dyed using these two formulas. The one that is more brownish I believe was a bit stained when I dyed it.

Here are some pics. The chest rig is Condor OD Green.

Awesome.  Those turned out great.

Krylon. Their line of camo paints work. Doesn't have to be fancy.

Hush. I like watching things made way more difficult than necessary.

EXactly.

Do both.

Have seen vids of folks using various sizes of sponge material to daub their rifles.  Don't see why it wouldn't work for gear, perhaps in conjunction with other paint application methods.

A colleague of mine once said to another regarding the same question "you don't have to be Picasso, you just need a can of spray paint and a finger".

I never dyed anything, i sprayed something. Also painted something with a large brush and a can of yellowish automotive paint.

The only advice i can say is that small camouflage patterns not always come out well, you may be better with larger shapes.
Like this

Not all spray paint cover the same, some brands may be for a lack of better term "soaked" by the material. Some will be more resistant, some will look worn in a few days.

Something i always suggest is that you may cover the whole rig with a layer of covering light tan spray paint and the paint over it the camouflage or color you want and it will become better than painting over a darker color.

This was a black color blackhawk chest rig at the time painted with a tan color.


Then it was repainted OD and from a few meters is similar to other Olive items. It would not have been the case if spraying OD directly over the black color.

this guy with a base layer of spray paint and bunched q-tips dabbed in paint does wonders. This was originally ABU

That's awesome. And basically what I was talking about (I wasn't clear about that in my original post). I was thinking more along the lines of painting some gear to match a rifle or something similar. So just buying some gear in black then doing a quick and dirty paint job on it. Or maybe something in green (like the pack) and doing the same thing but with a different look due to the green. That way, you'd get the exact camo pattern you want instead of trying to hunt something down.

I’ve been painting field gear since the mid 1980s.

Don’t buy Condor crap.  Buy quality gear in Satan’s camo (UCP) because most manufacturers are basically giving it away.  RIT dye and/or rattle can it.

I actually have a piece of Condor gear I was planning on using for testing of different patterns and colors. The base color is FDE/tan/coyote, so I'll probably stay with that color scheme. But if it works like I want it to, then I might do some other, better, gear.

Here are some more results. I used the 3 quart water, 1 cup vinegar, 1 bottle of rit dye on stovetop method, with varying temperature.  After each item squeeze out excess and put aside for later color fixing. Followed with stove top color fix for about 20, dump all into washer for a run, then a second run with detergent.

Attached File


2 x shorts, 2 x waist pouch, 1 x IFAK and a non camo shirt.

Dark green for 1 set, Taupe for the other.

20 minute dark green.  Oops too much
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10 minutes dark green
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6-8 minutes taupe
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8-10 minutes taupe
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10 minutes Taupe
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10-20 minutes dark green
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This is a sweet ripstop Eddie Bauer shirt I had a bleach accident with. I tried before, but not stovetop, prob warm water and salt. It helped a bit.  I tried again after the camo items, negligible effect.

After I finished one item, I would heat back up to 180 or so before adding the next. Some stirring halfway through each session, items kept under surface with lid and stuff.

Really happy with the Taupe results overall.  Pretty negligible effect on the IFAK, but it was pristine.  Obviously the dark green was a bit too dark, but anything over ACU is acceptable.

It's easy to "over-dye" some items, especially items that have some underlying camo patterns, such as UCP and ABU camo patterns.  Maintaining underlying camo pattern while dyeing nylon field gear is fairly easy to do: What you see is what you get.  "Pulling" nylon gear from the dye bath as soon as desired color is obtained is essential.  IMHO, maintaining some sort of camo "pixelation" with UCP and even ABU items is essential to their being useful as "camo" items.  Too much dye, and/or too long immersion wipes out the underlying camo patterns, and dyes the item to a uniform, and dark color.  Sometimes Less is More.

With NYCO clothing, things are much different, including applying salt to the mix in lieu of vinegar for purely Nylon field gear.  Suggest a "light" initial application of dye.  One can always dye darker, if need be.

I have some UCP and ABU uniforms which I've managed to dye (with common Rit Dye) into items which are actually useful.  It's a "different" process from dyeing Nylon Field Gear.

3 color desert with some more brown, black, and gray Krylon breaks up outlines in pretty much any terrain. Attached File

I've never tried dyeing, before. I was always afraid I'd wind up with purple, somehow, lol.



I like those. Simple...practical...effective.

I think the paint I have is Rustoleum (not 100% sure, it's out in the shop). But I might just try something on that piece of cheap-ass Condor gear I have. And if I screw it up, no worries as it didn't cost very much.

The paint I used could have very well been Rustoleum.
I use the word Krylon generically when referring to spray paint anymore.
The paint was labeled as “extra flat”, I DO remember that much.
I tried to mimic the old ASAT camouflage pattern, but with a little more space between the lines.

I think a misting with OD would mute the harshness of the black and the lightest colors. I like it, though. Very reminiscent of SOG guys painting their fatigues.

I tried it once and it worked for its intended purpose I suppose but evertime I would heat up so too would my gear and I could smell the paint. Gave me headaches after a couple hours. Surplus gear is not below me and is cheap enough so I just bought more and let it be. I am an Inna woods uppin da hills guy so all that high speed stuff just gets me stuck in undergrowth.  Woodland flick is good enough for me. Also have an old OD 90s PLCE for longer vacations