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Desert Night Camouflage


Littleguy
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The Desert Night Camouflage pattern was used in DS. It is kind of cool looking, well not really, but it is a good piece of history. Anyone have a picture of a set of DNC's?

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I like the way they look, but there was no pockets in them (I had mine added)...I still wear mine...with a liner they are toasty warm!

 

Mark sends

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I have the night parka that was initially issued to me at SOCCENT in early Aug 1990. It's not reversible but has a quilted button-in liner that is very similar to a field jacket liner. In fact, until they got the night parka liners in stock, I actually had a field jacket liner in it. About the only difference is in the length. The night over-trousers were never issued to us during DESERT SHIELD/STORM. I have a pair but I acquired them later. I also have a SOCCENT-issued gor-TeX parka. It's not much longer than waist-length and is reversible between day and night desert camo.

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I still have the trousers, but not sure KFC happened to my parka. The over trousers were used as "pajamas" when we had the rare opportunity to actually sleep on a cot, in a tent, and in our bags. They still serve as the "work" pants around the house/yard at times.

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Cpl Punishment

We used to use the jacket as robes when we went to the showers...WHEN we got a shower. Turned the trousers into shorts when I came back to the states.

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About a year ago I saw a North Face-manufactured prototype uniform that was said to be for night use in snow conditions. The outer shell color reminded me of a black/grey/white night desert camo "grid" type color scheme. It had an insulated jacket and bib-style trousers. I thought my agency would be testing them since someone else in the area was, but that was the last I ever saw or heard of it until this thread jogged my mind. Each component was in a plastic bag as shipped, and the box only contained the top and bottom, no additional accessories. Does anyone recall this? I can try to get more info from a friend in the agency that tested it. I am simply curious.

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I have at least four of the parkas but I have never seen the pants. Are they hard to find?

 

 

No, they are fairly easy to come by. I stopped by one of my surplus haunts while home on leave and they had at least half dozen pair of them, mint condition.

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there are also a ton of commercial items in this pattern so be careful , Patrol cap, Boonie hat , Anorak , and BDU's , I even saw a Flight helmet cover in this pattern .

 

The only 2 official issue items I have heard of are the parka and over pants , although I have talked to a couple vets who swore BDU's were made for the Brightstar Exercises in Egypt in 1983-1984 BTW , they called it "Tron" Camo

 

NightgridBDU8.JPG

USniteANORAK1.JPG

NightgridBDUcap1.JPG

Nightheadwrap1.JPG

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No, they are fairly easy to come by. I stopped by one of my surplus haunts while home on leave and they had at least half dozen pair of them, mint condition.

I wish it was like that here! I think I remember reading that when tested in the field this pattern ended up being even more visible than the chocolate chips were at night.

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The general response you will get is that the grids were designed to mess with the optics of 1st generation Soviet night sights- But then it did not work on t he later versions.

 

Now I am still kind of wondering about that as I recall talking to guys who played with this in the US desert in the 90's and they said it was really good (for eyeballs). But then, as the story goes, when it was tested in DS the troops found it was no good at all against the later night vision gear.

 

Now, that very well may be true, but I have asked around and have yet to find an official document on this. Given the grid arrangement (which is kind of a reverse digital pattern) it should have a funky effect on human vision from an optical effect- which the name escapes me now but it had to do with squares on a contracting background.

 

It was an ingenious idea to realize the desert gets cold at night, so on the insulated night garment have a different pattern.

 

One guy I spoke to (who really had no credibility) said the night vision excuse was just that, an excuse to cover the fact that the Army did not have enough of these ins tock, and in DS had to run everything non-stop to get enough regular desert pattern uniforms.

 

So the question is: does anyone have an official report, or has anyone used these extensively in a desert environment and able to comment on their value at night?

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I distinctly remember being issued the night desert camo parka and trousers prior to deploying to Saudi Arabia for ODS. The parkas came with the button in nylon liner. We had an odd green colored US Army and name tapes sewn to the parka at CIF on Custer Hill at Ft. Riley.

 

The first night we were in the field, most of the troops put on the night camo stuff, but after that, they weren't worn as a part of the uniform. I laughed when I read Cpl Punishment's recollection that the parkas were worn as robes when people were heading to the showers, as that happened with my unit also. The trousers were worn by many of us as pajamas! many times you would see troops going through the chow line at breakfast either wearing a PT uniform or the night desert camo pants.

 

One other thing- nights in Saudi from November through February were COLD! Those parkas were widely worn as many of our soldiers hadn't packed a field jacket (woodland BDU) because they were heading to the desert. I actually liked the parka better than the field jacket as it was just more comfortable as far as I was concerned. I never wore the night parka without the liner buttoned into it.

 

Allan

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Thank you all. Anyone know where to find the trousers and parka and how much they cost? I'm interested in asking for it for christmas (I'm only 14).

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Thank you all. Anyone know where to find the trousers and parka and how much they cost? I'm interested in asking for it for christmas (I'm only 14).

 

Many surplus stores or even ebay have it. About $20 for top and $15 for pants, I think.

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Manchu Warrior
No, they are fairly easy to come by. I stopped by one of my surplus haunts while home on leave and they had at least half dozen pair of them, mint condition.

Thanks! :thumbsup:

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frederik.geudens

These are mine:

nightdesert.jpg

As you can see there's a huge difference in shade between the vest and overpants. However, both appear to be in new condition. Anyone knows how to explain this?

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These are mine:

nightdesert.jpg

As you can see there's a huge difference in shade between the vest and overpants. However, both appear to be in new condition. Anyone knows how to explain this?

 

Very true. My surplus store has four or five night camo parka for sale. They all appeared to be in excellent conditions however they have different shades (some lighter, some darker).

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I have the parka, liner and trousers. They are contract dated 84, 84 and 83 respectively

 

I also have a boonie hat which is a commercial made but dates from DS.

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