What do you get when you combine military camouflage and hunter-proven patterns? Well, two combat veterans – Butch Whiting and Josh Cleghorn – put their noggins together to come up with the unique Kryptek Camo. Whether you are hunting high in the mountains of Alaska or defending our country in the hills of Afghanistan, Kryptek is possibly the most effective camouflage to date.
Pronounced crip-tek, Kryptek offers the user unparalleled concealment in various environments around the world. In order to effectively camouflage your person, you need to have two things working together: color and pattern. Color should work with the surrounding environment that you plan to be hiding in. When you want to hide in the desert, light browns and tans are useful. However, you may be surprised the effect some colors have on the human eye. During WWII, the British special forces in Africa painted their vehicles a light pink. Although it may have been funny to see a bunch of military vehicles painted pink, it was some of the best concealment for vehicles in desert environments at the time. Camouflage is about working with your surroundings no matter how different or goofy the colors may be.
Of course, you could have a spot on color to match your environment, but if the pattern is off, you might as well be a walking billboard advertising your position. Quite a lot of science goes into camouflage patterns. The human eye and brain attempt to automatically draw a solid outline around objects. This is great for helping us quickly recognize where, for example, a tree stops and another one begins. It is the job of camouflage to break up the outline of your body and blend into your surroundings.
Kryptek breaks all the rules set by standard camo patterns. Instead of having a recognizable repeating pattern of shapes and colors, Kryptek uses not only multi-layered but also multi-directional patterns. These combinations create what seems like a 3D effect to the eye, kind of like the stereogram pictures that you stare at and eventually see an image. The blending of dead on colors and random layered patterns truly makes this camouflage awesome.
You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to realize that good camo has many uses. It doesn’t matter if you’re fighting in Kabul or taking down a predator that’s been terrorizing your livestock; camouflage is a necessity. The ability to go undetected in the outdoors is an amazing capability. Kryptek was created by soldiers that love to hunt, which makes this camouflage perfect for either tactical operations or hunting.
The most popular Kryptek colorways are Mandrake, Nomad, Typhon, and my personal favorite, Highlander. I am a fiend for multi-cam and in my eyes, Kryptek Highlander is multi-cam at its finest. According to the Kryptek Outdoor guys that license the patterns, Highlander is designed to be used in varying terrain. The Mandrake pattern works well in a lush green environment, like the woods or jungle. If you find yourself in mostly arid dry desert like conditions, then the Nomad pattern is your best friend. When the only jungle around you is the concrete jungle, the Typhon pattern will help you stay hidden.
The Kryptek camo pattern is so effective and in demand that as of right now there are few quality brands that do it well. One of the brands that I highly recommend not only for Kryptek camo but gear in general is Vertx. Their Gunfighter BDU shirt in Kryptek is built in a nice 50 percent cotton and 50 percent ripstop. Along with a comfortable stand up collar, the shirt features articulating elbow areas to give you a huge range of motion. Assuming you want to have your pants match your shirt, Vertx has some of the best tactical pants on the market. Their VTX1000 pants in Kryptek offer low profile pockets and a huge expanding cargo pocket. Made of the same 50/50 material as the Gunfighter shirt, the pants have a gusseted crotch and articulated double reinforced knees. No matter what you’re doing in the outdoors, Vertx’s line of Kryptek is by far one of the best options.
Remember, picking the wrong camouflage could be life or death. Don’t stick out like a sore thumb, get yourself some Kryptek camo.
Thanks for letting me give you the in’s and out’s of Kryptek camouflage. Don’t forget to post your comment and questions in the box below. As always guys, shoot em straight and be safe!
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