We were pretty excited when our friends over at Helikon-Tex told us about introducing the iconic Tigerstripe pattern into their range of clothing, and the garments we’ve seen thus far have been excellent!
It seems however, that Tigerstripe was the first of many new “camo” projects they have in the pipeline, as “Tiger” has now been joined by classic US M81!
On their website Helikon-Tex tell us;
“Military camouflage clothing was introduced years ago to bypass the flaws of natural materials and environmental elements historically used to disguise from the enemies’ sight. These clothes enabled anyone to wear a disguise and move freely instead of hiding in the static bushes. The idea of wearing camouflage field jackets and pants evolved quickly to provide us with many completely different camo patterns, designed for specific conditions and military forces. There was a parallel evolution going on at the same time though – with years going by the clothes made for and used by military professionals became available for civilians and started to get recognition as an everyday fashion. Helikon-Tex acknowledges these changes, and so we want to present you with a whole variety of camouflage patterns used to produce clothes and gear for different purposes. No matter your passion, profession or hobby, you’ll find here a great piece of camo-product to use every day.”
And their choice of M81 is a cool one as far as we’re concerned; the guys in Red Cell chose M81 as their “pattern of choice”, and we know that a lot of you love it too! Along with the “modern” BDU (Battle Dress Uniform), itself, the U.S. Woodland camouflage pattern was introduced in 1981 and used for almost 20 years by the US military forces. Prefaced by the ERDL patterns of the 1970’s, M81, a four-colour camo, marked the change in the battle environment from close-range operations, like in Vietnam, to modern, longer-range ones.
To check out the latest items available do check out the Helikon-Tex-Website, and from what we see there’s more news yet to come! As they say in their own words;
“STAY TUNED! More updates on our new camouflages will soon be revealed. Meanwhile, you can let us know on our social media, which of Helikon-Tex products would you like to see in new camos.”
Sounds like a great invitation to us to have your say in the future development of the gear that you really, really want to see made!
