Helikon-Tex à la PenCott

From Helikon-Tex's Facebook page comes the announcement that they will be producing uniforms in the PenCott camouflage family:

"[ENG] Combat Patrol Uniform™ (CPU™) is the first to be produced in PenCott™ camo. After that Combat Shirt, Bonnie Hat and BBC Cap will come. In Q3/Q4 2013 we plan to release a new Parka. More information about our cooperation with Hyde Definition available on http://www.hydedefinition.com/latest/?p=460
CPU™ Pencott™ will make its debut on IWA 2013."

No word on what variants will be released initially, but it's a fair bet (supposition) it will (hopefully) be the triad of GreenZone SandStorm and Badlands.

You can also read about the news here on Hyde Definition's website.

PENCOTT-SNOWDRIFT Fabric now Available

I've been long anticipating the release of PenCott's Snowdrift, and am super pumped to see people start making awesome clothing suited for Canucks in the pattern now that it has been released! Here's the press release from Hyde Definition:

We are very pleased to announce that our PenCott-Snowdrift camouflage pattern is now available to order on the first of three planned fabric types. 

PenCott and More PenCott

PenCott is popping up in more and more places, firstly in Slovenian UFPRO's Sniper Garment system (press release below).

Peek at Hyde Definition's Metropolis

If you remember this post, you may find the below picture interesting:

This is a mock-up of the PenCott urban pattern now known as Metropolis. Lawrence Holsworth states that "It will work best in dim-light, built-up environments."Head on over to this Facebook post to make your opinion known, or as always feel free to fawn/smack/trash in the comment section below.

PenCott Metropolis - An Urban PenCott?

If you're hoping for pictures of the tantalized pattern, you're out of luck, all I have is a name and even then it's not corroborated. But, in Sabre's (see this post) .pdf catalogue, the company lists a pattern called PenCott Metropolis. Here's the excerpt:

Interesting? I'd say so.

Specops PenCott Update

Info courtesy of Lawrence Holsworth.

Specops, of Poland, has developed some pretty awesome PenCott enpatterned (it's a word cause I say so, deal with it) clothing. On another note, apparently Polish forces have been testing clothing made by Specops in PenCott patterns in Afghanistan.

SABRE® Introduces PenCott Camouflage Clothing and Gear

Non-blog-related workload has temporarily waned, so time to get back on track and catch up on some posting. Hyde Definition has some interesting news for those interested in PenCott BDUs, check it out:

"SABRE® is the tactical clothing and equipment line brand from renowned German defence and law enforcement solution provider, JK Defence & Security Products GmbH. The SABRE brand offers military and law enforcement customeres a full range of operationally-proven products for all climates, environments, and duties.

4 Finalists for the Camouflage Improvement Effort

Soldier Systems has announced the 4 companies selected by the US Army as finalists in their camouflage improvement effort. Click here for the full article.

Guy Cramer is on the list (if one of his CUEPAT design goes into production, and he's awarded a contract with the US Army, I may very well just stop blogging), as is Crye Precision (not a huge surprise there), and two companies I had not heard of until now: "Brookwood Companies" and "Kryptek". I'm very interested to see what the two latter selections have produced, as one would appear to me a garment manufacturer with no previously publicized camouflage designs, and the other seems to be a primarily hunting camouflage-oriented designer.

This announcement does mean bad news for another one of my favourite camouflage manufacturers, Hyde Definition. Sorry that you were passed over guys!

More PenCott Products - Combat XII-MEC Pack from PredatorBDU.com

If you haven't checked out Predatorbdu.com before, or their linked blog, be sure you do, as they carry a great range of products for very fair prices (particularly Propper products, which you'll be hard-pressed to find better prices for).

One of their relatively newly rolled out products is their Combat XIII-MEC Pack, having the distinction of being one of the first commercial products available to come in all three released PenCott patterns (GreenZone, Badlands and Sandstorm).

News Release: PenCott Snowdrift Enters Production

Here's an interesting press release from Hyde Definition:

PenCott-Snowdrift™ camouflage enters production - see it at SHOT 2012 

You know that good personal concealment is not a fashion statement or a popularity contest. Its about reducing your risk of being detected.  And that can mean the difference between mission success or mission failure. This is why PenCott is being adopted by a growing number of military and law enforcement special operations units.   

A-TACS FG and PenCott GreenZone at Crypsis

A-TACS FG and PenCott GreenZone M4 Chest Rigs

If you're already planning a new spring loadout, Crypsis (read here for details about Crypsis) will soon have both A-TACS FG and PenCott GreenZone tactical gear in stock. More eye candy to follow on Crypsis' Facebook page as it becomes available.

PenCott Production News - 1st Update

Continuing the stream of PenCott-related production news, Canadian tactical gear manufacturer ICE Tactical will be producing PenCott BDUs:

Photos courtesy of Lawrence Holsworth

What's more, the first test print of Snowdrift has been printed (and viewed by Hyde Definition staff).

PenCott Badlands Pictures

If you're like me, you've been waiting to see more pics of PenCott gear for quite some time, so I was pretty excited to be directed to these pics this afternoon. Badlands is the semi-arid PenCott pattern, and certainly looks effective. Stay tuned for more PenCott updates in the coming weeks, as it looks like they're gaining quite a bit of momentum. 

Hyde Definition Website Revamp + New Info

From the media arm of Hyde Definition:

"Hyde Definition have completely revamped their website; making it easier to navigate and providing more information about their growing network of production partners. Also included is detailed information about the full range of fabrics now available featuring the PenCott family of camouflage patterns (NyCo and Poly-Cotton ripstop for clothing, and 500D and 1000D nylon for gear).

Clothing and gear manufacturers interested in adding PenCott to their portfolio can also now request fabric samples through their new samples@hydedefinition.com email address. Unfortunately, fabric samples cannot be provided to individual consumers. www.hydedefinition.com "

PenCott GreenZone Rears Its Head

About a week late on this one as I'm just now going through my very backlogged inbox, but for those of you that haven't already seen it:

Photo of UFPRO's Sniper Garment System in PenCott-GreenZone at the MiliPol exhibition in Paris.

Now all you moaners can stuff it, yes PenCott is out there! Not only that but it's looking awesome, and there's going to be some really cool Pencott products coming from several different manufacturers in the near future. Keep your ears and eyes peeled and I'll post more pics and info as it becomes available.

An Interesting Winter for Camouflage

This was recently posted to Facebook by Lawrence Holsworth of Strike-Hold!, and it paints an interesting picture of things to come this Winter:

Grey Ghost Gear

With Pencott ramping up its production of various patterns, and A-TACS set to release their FG pattern in the near future, it's going to be an interesting few months for small camouflage manufacturers. In that same vein, FEAR Gear recently released a picture of their DUST pattern, check it out:

PenCott Spreads Its Leafy Tendrils

For all of you that have been waiting for PenCott to find its way into the public's hands, you're about to see the long awaited pattern pop up in a lot of places! Hyde Definition writes (via Facebook) that PenCott will be available through the following manufacturers: Drop Zone Tactical (Canada), Spec-Ops (Poland), SOD Gear (Italy), Kitanica (USA) and UfPro (Slovenia).

If you're a gear manufacturer and think PenCott would complement your lineup well, I'm sure it couldn't hurt to drop them a line!

PenCott Production News

Missed this press release in my mailbox while I was taking my little break (an apology goes out to Lawrence for me not noticing this sooner), many of you may have already read this, but those that haven't might still be interested:

PenCott™ Multi-Environment Camouflage goes in to production

“Woodland”, “Transitional” and “Desert” variants are the first colourways of a wider portfolio  

Spring Camouflage

Is your fall camouflage no longer keeping you hidden? As people head back to their local paintball and airsoft fields this spring, keep in mind how the effectiveness of your camouflage may change. Here are what I consider some prime camouflage choices for spring in non-arctic Canada and the northern United States:

SURPAT

I know, I already used SURPAT as a choice for Fall, but this is a prime camouflage for the transition backwards and forward from Summer to Winter here in Canada. In my opinion, it greatly outperforms CADPAT when you're not surrounded by lush greenery, but still have lots of sprouting foliage around.

Arctic (Snow) Camouflage From PenCott

Press release found on Strike-Hold

Lawrence, the marketing director of Hyde Definition (the creators of PenCott) has announced some interesting looking arctic camouflage through his personal blog, Strike-Hold. Here's the ad copy:

"Further showcasing the multi-environment versatility of the PenCott™ camouflage pattern, Hyde Definition announces the PenCott-Snowdrift™ colourway for snow-covered mountain, woodland and other broken- or mixed-terrain environments.

The traditional approach to “snow camouflage” has been to use a plain, solid white coloured over-garment; however, this does not take in to account the extent of shadows and other textures that actually exist in a snow-covered environment. Some historical patterns, such as the famous German “pine needles” pattern, have attempted to incorporate a disruptive element, and more recently the Finnish M/05 and USMC patterns used digital pattern geometry to improve disruption and concealment.

However, by adapting the naturalistic, complex, multi-scalar, hybrid, fractal geometry of PenCott, we believe we’ve developed a superior camouflage for a wider range of snow-covered terrain than any other pattern currently available.