Fieldtest: Transitional camouflage patterns in Winter time

It has been a while since I published a comparative review on camouflage patterns. Since it is Winter – or better said – since winter is almost over, I had another opportunity to make use of the many camo uniforms given to me by Helikon-Tex.

Some of you might remember, that I have already written two reviews about conventional camouflage patterns used in winter time. My theoretical assumption for this was born in the reality of modern armies – lacking funds. You can read all about this in my previous reviews, but long story short: Sometimes you just simply don’t have any overwhites – for whatever reason.

Now I have looked already at several temperate camo patterns in winter – even some solid colours. One thing is missing though: Transitional or semi-arid patterns. Since I see it very often in different pictures, I decided to compare these patterns, which are usually meant for arid environments and the like. Because of their brown dominant colors, lots of people do use them as “Autumn” or “Winter” camos not only in Europe, but also over the pond, in North America.

With this review I want to take a look at how much sense this actually makes.

Patterns used

Camogrom – a polish derivative of Multicam, having more contrast and more greens.
PenCott Badlands – the latest generation of the Badlands pattern with more contrast.
Kryptek Highlander – the semi-arid version of the Kryptek patterns.

More on these patterns can be found in this review on transitional patterns.

At the end you will also find a nice bonus!

Locations and photography

This time I took pictures in my usual spot, plus an additional new one, since my other alternative is not accessible anymore. The distances are between 10 and 30m, I will describe it further down below.
Another change for this review is the focal length. I only shot in 35mm to simulate human vision. No wide angle anymore. I could give you a made up reasoning for this, talking about long distance view etc, but I was under time pressure and simply forgot.

With that being said, all of you will know by now, that at a certain distance it is nearly impossible to tell the various camos apart. Also: I don’t have the need to bash a particular pattern or lobby one, so you can trust me on my remarks as far as humanly possible. As always, I have no scientific claim whatsoever – I am just trying to give you a decent comparison.

Editing Yes/No

The only editing done on the pictures was:

Lense correction to flatten the pictures
Watermark
.jpeg compression to make it web compliant
On the second location: I decreased the overall brightness a full stop, because the pictures were overexposed. This affected the whole picture but has no impact on the comparison since it was done on all of them.

Location 1 – coniferous forest with a closed foliage roof

This location should be well known by now. It is a part of a coniferous forest with a closed foliage roof, but with very little ground cover. The distance to the camera is about 15 – 20m.

Camogrom

As you all know I am not a huge fan of Multicam and its derivatives. It is an effective pattern, I have to say that, but since it is designed to work in multiple environments it has to make compromises. As a result it performs not good, but “good enough” in most environments.
With Camogrom I found out already in previous tests, that it actually is a very effective pattern for Winter environments in Europe. The higher contrast of this MC derivative breaks up the silhouette quite well and the colours match the flora quite good.

In a standing position you can see the various midi elements breaking up the silhouette, while the colours match those of the surroundings.

Camogrom – standing position. 35mm Distance: 10-15m

By lowering into a kneeling position the concealment effect becomes even more apparent since the human shape vanishes and the pattern is allowed to work more efficiently. From experience you can tell that at greater distances you would not be able to identify the shape anymore.

Camogrom – kneeling position. 35mm Distance: 10-15m

Going into the prone position makes this even more convincing. Not knowing that there is a person, you could just as much suspect a pile of mossy rocks, lying at the bottom of the tree.

Camogrom – prone position. 35mm Distance: 10-15m

In that sense the combination of midi elements and the colour choice work well in this particular environment. While the pattern breaks up any human shapes, the colours blend in with the environment, therefore confusing the picture even more.

Badlands

Considering this pattern is for “dry, upland, bushland, semi-arid and transitional terrain” and not per se a “universal” pattern like Multicam, it is far more brown dominant with less greens. Badlands underwent an adaptation in the last years to show more contrast between the midi and macro pattern, while having a stronger green color to it.

In the standing position you can clearly see the macro pattern breaking up the silhouette, but not as strongly as one is used from PenCott Greenzone. The base color is also fairly lighter than Multicam, since it is designed for the bushland.

PenCott Badlands – standing position. 35mm Distance: 10-15m

As a result Badlands does not blend in as well as Camogrom, while still maintaining considerable concealment because of the brown colors. Nevertheless in my personal opinion Greenzone performed better in a winter setting, despite being a temperate pattern.

In the kneeling position the situation changes drastically because of obvious reasons. The human shape disappears, while colors, midi and macro elements still do their job.

PenCott Badlands – kneeling position. 35mm Distance: 10-15m

The prone is just as effective as with Camogrom. Only the knowledge of a person actually lying there is giving it away.

PenCott Badlands – prone position. 35mm Distance: 10-15m

As you can see, Badlands is not a bad choice for Winter settings because of its brown dominance, at the same time it becomes apparent that it lacks more contrast to work better. It would be of interest how the new “Leatherneck” version of PenCott would do in this setting, having exactly what Badlands is missing in this particular setting: darker browns and stronger greens.

Highlander

Just as PenCott Badlands, Kryptek Highlander is designed mainly as a transitional, semi-arid pattern, and not as a universal pattern as Multicam. The pattern features almost no greens. The base color is the lightest of the three patterns here and the macro elements are standing out with high contrasts. This results in the best breaking up of the silhouette of all the three patterns here.

In the standing position you can clearly see how the macro pattern disrupt the human shape, while at the same time the light base color blends into the surroundings. The midi and macro elements look very organic in this setting.

Kryptek Highlander – standing position. 35mm Distance: 10-15m

This drastic effect is ironically minimized in the kneeling position because the macro elements are not that apparent anymore. At the same time the colours and midi elements still provide a decent concealment.

Kryptek Highlander – kneeling position. 35mm Distance: 10-15m

The prone is as effective as with the other two patterns, although Highlander looks the most natural in this setting.

Kryptek Highlander – prone position. 35mm Distance: 10-15m

In my experience, Kryptek Highlander is way more effective than Mandrake because of its higher contrast and more apparent macro elements, which break up the human shape quite well. The very light base color works well in winter and the organic look is contributing to the overall effectiveness.

Location 2 – choke point in the open

This location is new and quite interesting, since it is a small valley-like entry to a gravel pit with some cover on the ground, but also with a very bright backdrop that makes the human silhouette stand out. Quasi a worst case scenario to find concealment, which will give us a stark contrast to location one. The distance is at least 20m.