By David Crane
defrev (at) gmail (dot) com
May 5, 2011
On the combat camouflage pattern front, Tiger Stripe Products (TSP) recently released their latest and greatest multi-environment/multi-terrain pattern (MTP) combat/tactical camo pattern called All Terrain Tiger (ATT), which combines the famous Tiger Stripe disruption camo pattern with MTP blending coloration. With the ATT pattern, TSP appears to have toned down the color contrast between the various shapes/elements in the patterns. In other words, there appears to be more fading or blurring at the edges of the various shapes/elements. While DefenseReview (DR) is just going off computer-generated conceptual mockup images on the Tiger Stripe Products U.S. Air Force Camouflage page for our visual reference, ATT’s fading/blurring aspect was confirmed by TSP owner Michael Bauer when we recently spoke with him by phone. He called it the “spray paint effect”.
When DR told him that the TSP ATT (All Terrain Tiger) MTP combat camouflage pattern’s color palette reminded us of Crye MultiCam multi-environment/multi-terrain camo (designed, developed, and marketed by Crye Precision), of which Defense Review is a fan, Mr. Bauer told us that he actually based ATT’s colors off the colors he observed in his back yard in the Denver Colorado area. Coloration is where the similarity to MultiCam ends, though, as ATT’s modified Tiger Stripe pattern is completely different from the MultiCam pattern.
If you visit TSP’s U.S. Air Force Camouflage page, you’ll notice some additional computer mock-ups (conceptual mockups) combat camo patterns on there, including TSP AT2-AFPAT Tiger digital all-terrain Tiger Stripe pattern, TSP AT2-AFPAT digital all-terrain pattern, TSP AT-AFPAT Tiger digital all-terrain pattern, and TSP AT-AFPAT digital all-terrain pattern. These four camo patterns look significantly more similar to Crye MultiCam than the TSP All-Terrain Tiger camo pattern, with the AT-AFPAT and AT2-AFPAT patterns looking perhaps the most similar to MultiCam. However, these patterns may not look so similar to MultiCam once they’re actually printed on fabric.
Logic would of course dictate that any multi-terrain/multi-environment camouflage pattern is going to utilize a similar color palette to Crye MultiCam, since it would be difficult to accomplish the same task as MultiCam using different colors. MultiCam’s coloration was developed for the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Center Scorpion program–which subsequently became the Objective Force Warrior (OFW) and then the Future Force Warrior (FFW) program– after a lot of research was conducted, so there’s really no need to reinvent the wheel, so to speak.
In our recent article on SSFN ExtremePro LandCamo combat camo patterns, Defense Review mentioned the interesting A-TACS Advanced Tactical Concealment System camo pattern(s), which, like TSP ATT, also appears to be more of a disruptive camouflage pattern than MultiCam. DR would like to see A-TACS’ designer/developer, Digital Concealment Systems, LLC. (DCS), develop a multi-terrain version of ATACS with similar coloration to MultiCam and TSP All-Terrain Tiger. That would be interesting.
DR is curious to know whether or not all of the above-mentioned combat camo patterns can be printed on Blucher Ghost and Spectraflage anti-thermal/IR (infrared)-detection fabrics, or onto a competing fabric. DefenseReview believes that thermal/IR-spectrum camouflage, night vision (near-IR) camouflage capabilities, and perhaps even synthetic aperture radar (SAR)-defeating camouflage capabilities will be just as important as visible-light-spectrum camouflage in future warfare environments and applications, including both future large-scale nation-state warfare and future military Special Operations (SPECOPS) missions. Defeating thermal/IR imagers, night vision sensors, and synthetic aperture radar will most likely, at some point, be the difference between life and death on the battlefield.
Defense Review will try to obatin additional information on and images of the TSP All Terrain Tiger camouflage pattern as soon as possible, as well as updates on tactical products being manufactured in it, particularly tactical clothing. We’d really like to acquire either a piece of clothing, or at least a decent-size swath of fabric for examination and comparison with MultiCam, if possible. At the moment, we have no idea how TSP ATT stacks up against MultiCam with regard to tactical/combat efficacy. Hopefully some U.S. military Special Operations Forces (SOF) personnel will test it at some point, and let us know how it performs.
Image Credit: Tiger Stripe Products (TSP)
Company Contact Info:
Michael Bauer
Founder/Owner
Tiger Stripe Products
9249 S Broadway 200, #379
Littleton, CO 80129
Email: mbtsp@comcast.net
Website: http://www.tigerstripeproducts.com
The Supply Sergeant
Attn: Order Processing
845 Brenkman Drive
Pekin, IL. 61554
Toll Free: 800-336-5225
Email: customerservice@militaryclothing.com
Website: http://www.militaryclothing.com
T.W.N. Industries, Inc.
25400 S.W. 141 Avenue
Princeton, FL 33032
Office Phone: 305-258-9622
Email: jmetallo@watertransferprinting.com
Website: http://www.watertransferprinting.com
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