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Posted: 1/11/2006 8:17:40 PM EDT
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I have heard rumors that there are various generations in-service ARPAT/ACU, the 'old' one was had a lighter shade of green, while the 'new' has a darker, more-sage like shade of green. I havn't been able to confirm this with anyone, and I can't tell from photos (I don't own any ACU gear). Or maybe this is all nonsense. Is there anyone more in the know about this who wouldn't mind shedding some light? |
Huh, well, I have found some photos on a forum site called Militaryphotos.net, this one in particular: The left is 100% cotton made by Tru-Spec, not an issue uniform but I would expect the fabric to come from the same source. The right is mil-spec (I think) 50/50 NYCO. But, otherwise, would this account for the generation difference you mentioned? I doubt either of these coats are from Propper. I can't find any close-up photos of Propper ACU. |
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That one on the left looks like it's already faded some from washing. One of the big problems with 100% cotten. There hasn't been a 100% cotten uniform issued in years. The hot weather BDU was replaced with the enhanced hot weather BDU, the same thing but in 50/50 nylon/cotten for better fade and wear resistance. Didn't start fading after the first wash. Both of the pics look grayer than some of the ones I've seen at Ft. Lewis, but the one on the right looks like the ones that the Guard is issuing to it's recruiters. A good way to get rid of the first generation ones actually. |
Well convince the Army and Congress to budget enough so that every soldier can be issued two sets of uniforms and gear so that we never have to go to war in the wrong camo again. Especially for units like the 101st and 82nd that have to have a batallion on the ground anywhere in the world in 48 hours, and a brigade in less than 96. No time for a complete issue of equipmentin the "proper" color. Yeah, Marines can often get to places quicker and they are able to issue the right uniforms beforehand, but don't they usually know where they will be going ahead of time? I mean the general location? If they are going to be off the coast of a desert region they probably will know that and can pack accordingly. A bit different when your stuff is packed, sealed and sitting at the airfield and you have to be wheels up in under 18 hours from notification. |
Switch to decaf. It works wonders. I guess I'm just a dumb country hick, but I don't like the thought of our guys running around in the desert with the same fatigues they would wear in the jungle or the mountains. I know the color scheme is supposed to work....but from what I've seen, you look like a green GI when ur in the desert and a moldy-tanish GI in anything else. |
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cowboy7242001: Well Unicorn is right: I think ACU is really a compromise. Ideally, I would think a uniform tailored to every specific environment would be ideal. I have no doubts that ACU (as of now) will be terrible in woodland environments. From photos, it looks decent in Iraq (though not as effective as Tricolor or MARPAT), but have you seen this stuff in urban environments (ie, in buildings, over pavement, in cities)? It works wonders! |
Got photos? I wonder which gen fabric all the gearmakers and such are using. |
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Just yesterday at lunch 3 Army guys (for some reason we appear to have every colonel in the Army in my area cause that's all I ever see!) came in to eat. 2 of them had that really light colored UCP and 1 had a MUCH more green/tan set on. I'm glad they turned up the green and tan because those light colored ones would absolutely suck everywhere but NYC. All of the UCP gear that I have in stock is the newer style cordura. It has the more pronounced green and tan. |
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I believe there are some pics of the Propper ACU's at BDU.com [ETA] Direct link to ACU jacket: www.bdu.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=394-545921 The Porpper ACU's have coloring much closer to the stuff on the "right" in the pic up above. Dawg |
Well, understand my point. Find a way to get every soldier in a batallion the proper gear (to include the stuff that is already palletised and at the airfield) in the 18 hours they have to get in the air. Even with the two separate color we have now, I was wearing a woodland IBA with a woodland ruck and MOLLE vest. We didn't even get the desert GoreTex parkas. That stuff in desert didn't start getting issued until months later. I deployed in Feb '04. Gear came from either the CIF or the RFI people at Ft. Lewis, same exact stuff the Active component was receiving at the time. It may be a little too light in the desert, but hopefully getting dusty and sandy will help if the need to hide is there. And in the woods, hopefully mud, grass stains, etc will help with that too. And it's close to the coloration of some animals use to hide from predators. It's not a perfect solution by far, but I'd rather be the guy with some universal system that works ok in the environment I'm in, than the ones that are in completely useless uniforms because there wasn't time to give them the "right" ones. Sort of like the 3rd ID, and 4th ID at the beginning, when many were in woodland BDU's and JSLIST (chem suits). The 187th INF (3rd brigade of the 101st) did have time to get desert BDU's issued to them before they invaded Afganistan, but the rest of their stuff, rucks, armor, rain gear, well everything, was still OD green or woodland. It's taken years to get the right colored gear to most everyone. At least the sorta kinda, universal pattern will keep that from happening and will work better than od green or woodland in the desertsof Irak (Iran/syria maybe?) and Afganistan, and still allow them to have some sort of camo in the mountain regions. |
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I was just over at Ebay and one ACU auction was interesting. The seller was a soldier and came right out and said "these are not military issue; they are made by Tru-Spec. I bought them and wore them in the field and kept my issue ACUs for garrison wear". From the pics they are the darker green/tan ones. 
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Unicorn makes a really good point- better to have marginally effective gear 'now' than perfect gear never. Too bad they don't have enough room to let each guy both woodland and desert cammies, ruck cover, and helmet and vest cover onto the pallets. But I imagine that every pound counts in that sort of loading, and bullets are more important than spare clothing. |
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I'd really like to get a set of this gear but I won't buy it sight unseen. I dropped into the local surplus store yesterday; they had Propper ACUs...they were well made but the color was the old "grey" variety and was totally unsat. Useless for anything but a concrete jungle. They also had regular Propper made old style BDUs in ACU fabric. To sum this discussion up, here is an ACU set made by Tru-Spec: And here is an issue jacket by American Aparrel:  Compare with the old color scheme: So you can see they replaced the Dark Grey with a real Green and the Light Grey with Tan; the medium Grey remains the same but that's okay.. |
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http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/RacerXFD/IMG_0732.jpg There's me. No, the uniform is a good uniform for various enviornments. Whether you like them or not , the Army is moving toward these new uniforms. I personally have been having issues with them myself because they're not stiched as well as the old BDU/DCUs. My DCUs have been worn to crap and still standing while my ACUs have strings hanging out of every stitching... The Universal Army Cammo is what the new cammo pattern is called BTW. The uniforms are good, and excellent for a combat environment because of the location of the pockets. This uniform is very comfortable with or without a IBA. Anyways, I rarely wear my ACUs in fear of wearing them out, but I'll move back to them as soon as the rainy season over here in Iraq is over. Later. |
SO would you describe yours as the old or the new colors? Either way, stay safe! -K |
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If you're talking about shades for the ACUs, it's a greyish olive color AKA Olive Drab. It's more greyish than green though to be honest with you. The only problem that I've been having with is the stitching. The material is great because it's wrinkle bomb proof... I've managed to stuff four uniforms into a duffle bag, pull them out, then just put them on and look like I just ironed them. But from what I've been hearing, the uniform hasn't been finalized yet. They're fielding them in country right now, but the problems with them prematurely ripping is making them make modifications to it. Another complaint I have is the amount of velcro on the uniform. I like the velcro pockets, but it's too easy to get the velcro that's exposed on the outside to get snagged with someone else's uniform. Otherwise, it's a very functional uniform... |
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