Which camo gear? Is it worth having?

[Peter Waller]

I know Advantage gear is the fashion, and I know that one or two of you have posted pictures of Advantage clad anglers that are suitably hard to see. But put Advantage against an unsuitable background then it becomes pretty easy to see! British army DPM, and bear in mind that it is designed to protect the wearer, even save his life, never seems quite so invisable as Advantage with a suitable background. But it is probably harder to see over a wider range of backgrounds than Advantage. Perhaps plain simple olive drab is the most effective over the widest range of angling type backgrounds. I look at photographs in the angling press, I see other anglers on the bank, I'm not convinced that these photo realistic camos are the dogs! But at the end of the day, would DPM work better or worse than Shimano Tribal for example? Are we anglers kidding ouselves? Will the Advantage clad angler catch more than a DPM clad angler :confused: ?

[Newt]

Peter - to do the camo thing properly you need at least 6 sets of clothing with different color combinations and patterns. If you will be using it when there is snow on the ground, add another 4-5 sets.

 

Footwear - you can probably get by with only 3 or 4 different patterns and just get the best match you can to the main one you are wearing.

 

Headgear - must match the main clothing so you'll need quite a few hats & caps.

 

Accessories like binoculars, cell phones, etc. - depends on how spooky the fish are. Probably a general "real tree" pattern will do except in heavy snow.

 

If you are also a shooter you have to make the decision to get your guns with the camo pattern as a part of the stock or just to get a variety of socks to slide over the gun. Same with bows.

 

Bog paper and other bits - realtree is probably fine.

[rich]

a description of my DPM clothing would read as follows:-

 

Trousers, old faded with disruptive blobs of various colours of household paint, silicone, bathroom sealant, varnish, tile grout and roofing tar.

 

T-shirt, read as above.

 

Footwear, read as above

 

I think i would best blend in on a paintball range.

 

never mind eh. its all in the mind.

 

cheers,

 

rich

[RUDD]

Pete, some points to consider.

 

The British army does most of its recon / attacking at night. DPM is hard to see at night.

 

The army is also highly trained in the field craft art of camoflage. When moving through different types terrain they camoflage themselves with whatever plant life is available.

 

If a platoon of infantry appeared in the middle of a grass plain dressed in Realwood camo the enemy would be very suprised to see that a small wood had appeared, if moving as a battalion they would be very shocked to see that a forest had appeared!!!!!!!

 

DPM was designed to be used across most of Europe in the event of a war with the Warsaw pact.

DPM is designed to be used in woodland, cornfields, plains etc etc.

 

Realwood is designed to be used in areas of woodland or dense bushes, shrubs etc and for staying very still when hunting.

 

I use a DPM jacket and olive trousers and have had carp, chub, pike and several other species swimming past me less than a foot away!

 

Realwood does look good but I wonder why bivvy boys fishing at 150yards + in coloured water 5foot + think it will help them catch more fish?

 

If it does why are they not puttin camo stick on their hands and face??????????

[Jim Roper]

The newer materials, that the modern camo patterns are printed on, have been the subject of a lot of technology research, particulary as regards breathability. All this has been driven by the shooting fraternity.

I had one of the, then new, Goretex jackets for shooting about 17 years ago and within 2 years, allthough it appeared physically perfect, it leaked like a net curtain. The surplus army stuff available is, I think, of Goretex.

In most cases, a large tarten pattern, of suitable colours, will break up the outline of the body just as well as the camo stuff.

The Deerhunter range of stuff is available in both camo and plain colours and appears to be quite waterproof and breathable. I recently got their Ram jacket but haven't given it a real good rain test yet. These are the importers http://www.allweatherclothing.com/listitems.asp?cat=1

There has been a lot of discussion in the rambling circles as to whether you should wear bright colours for safety reasons or drab colours to cut down on visual pollution. We have had all anglers' vehicle parking removed on a local coastal road because the county coast officer considered they were causing visual pollution.

The rain suit from here http://www.quality-camo.co.uk will keep you dry, but as it is in PVC you won't want to do anything too strenuous in it. The trousers of the suit are very roomy but the coat is a little tight on me. It folds up fairly small.

They also do some waders.

[RUDD]

Just one more point.........

 

In the film Commando, Arnie wears dpm trousers, black boots, a string looking t shirt and a bit of cam stick on his face and over 100 blokes with automatic weapons cannot hit him.

 

In the 2nd Rambo film, Stallone wears just about the same as Arnie above and the gooks cant see him either!!!!!!!!

 

[Scott]

A plain muddy brown coloured suit would be ideal for most comercial fisheries.

 

Scott.

[Apache]

I wear DPMs when fishing for carp and I have had fish within a foot of me, besides it is not the sight of you that spooks them, but movement.

 

I have been shooting wearing a yellow t-shirt, and had a mink come to within 4 feet and as I moved to sight the rifle in,it saw the movement and turned to go and caught a .22. It would not have seen me of I hadnt moved slighty.

[Dick Dastardly]

Just one more point.........

 

In the film Commando, Arnie wears dpm trousers, black boots, a string looking t shirt and a bit of cam stick on his face and over 100 blokes with automatic weapons cannot hit him.

 

In the 2nd Rambo film, Stallone wears just about the same as Arnie above and the gooks cant see him either!!!!!!!!

 

 

 

This is all very well but can either of them run a waggler down the far bank properly?

[dogfish]

A fool and his money are soon parted!