Clothing

[Legend]

What color of clothing would be the most useful at night in a suburban area? I'm thinking of olive drab, navy blue, or dark gray. Would black be effective or would it stand out unless in nearly total darkness? I've done one night op before in woodland BDU which suited my area of ops well which has a lot of foliage. I have gloves and a balaclava but that might be too much unless I can be concealed at all times in which case it would help.
Would dark clothing double as social camo just in case there is an area which can't be stealthily traversed or would it look suspicious? Would wearing a bright T-shirt underneath my shirt work for changing my appearance and looking less suspicious?

[Psychlonic]

Wear whatever helps you blend in the best. The whole point is to go for 100% concealment. If this is woodland camo, then wear woodland camo. Wear the gloves and balaclava. You're not supposed to be seen in the first place, and if you fuck up, they allow you to escape without them being able to ever ID you. Later, when you are proficient to sneak into frequented buildings, the mask and gloves save you in the event you're caught on camera without realizing it or just happen to bump into someone. My mask has saved me twice now.

The method has it's advantages and disadvantages, but it's the night ops discipline.

[Legend]

Sounds good. Thanks for your help.

[The Soldier]

black is good but there is no "pitch black" in nature. i would stick with your woodland as it is one of the most versitile camo's availible. if you have money however look into getting some urban digital, ABU, or maybe even some 60/40 tigerstripe.

[stealththief]

Black should be your all around color, it works everywhere ('cept maybe a desert) but it's not the best anywhere, as it can silhouette you. Woodland (either digital or blotches) works well in the suburbs because it works fine as general darkness camo. I used to advocate dark blue but I don't like it anymore because of being hit with light. If you're not doing good with woodland or black, try some grey if you're hiding under stairs or near houses, another good color that I feel is often overlooked is brown, get a darker shade and it works in woods, against bricks, against dark walls and in regular darkness. Experiment with a friend.

[Psychlonic]

-cleaned-

[Legend]

I went out last night taking a walk after setting off some fireworks since it was Independence Day and it would be normal for people to be out. I got a better idea of what my neighborhood looks like during late night since my first op was in another, but similar area. There was nearly a full moon so I might have to plan ops around lunar cycles. Unfortunately there were also many street lights. I noticed police cars pass me a few times. The neighborhood is layed out so there aren't many spaces without houses. I studied the colors and shadows of my AO. Charcoal gray looks effective as well as olive drab.
Thanks for the help. That digital urban camo looks very effective.

[Dethkreep]

For what it's worth, my "I don't know what the hell to expect" pattern is this:

http://www.nexternal.com/armynavy/image ... n-camo.gif

Pretty much blends into anything unless there's bright light, and even then it holds it's own as long as I'm not somewhere obvious like a lawn.

I actually just bought these and used them on two ops. They aren't bad, and break your outline up in many situations.
But after one time through the wash they are considerably lighter. Every color. It really pissed me off. They still work pretty well but it's about 2 shades lighter than anything I would reccomend using on an op.

They definately still work well at night in many suburban backgrounds ( Foliage, mulch, decorative rocks, white/grey bricks) but I think that at night they can catch a little to much attention.

All in all they are not bad pants but after experimentally comparing them to my charcoal grey pajama pants I think the charcoal grey won out.

The charcoal grey works brilliantly on lawns, in foliage, and most everything I've encountered. They're weird to see in light if you have some cover given the little pattern they have, and they aren't as abhorrently dark as pure black. So you're well concealed in semi-darkness almost everywhere.

What you described sounds just like my neighborhood (suburban with a lot of foliage). Right now my entire outfit save my hat and gloves and shoes(which are black) are charcoal grey. I have a scarf, two shirts, and pants that are all charcoal grey.

But really after all the thinking I've done about this, I dont worry so much about my outfit anymore. As long as you're not wearing super-bright white or brightly colored clothes you'll be fine. The exact patterns and such only really matter when someone is looking for you, but even then it's still not as great in importance as you might think. Just wear dark clothes and be smart, That's really all there is to remaining undetected.

EDIT:

http://www.drysdales.com/Mens/Shirts/T- ... fp=3W710CH

Minus the pocket, this is pretty much the shirt I wear.

http://www.wholesaleforeveryone.com/Mer ... 0C0431.jpg

And the scarf.

Can't find the pants. But same color, super light-weight/thin pajama pants. I wear the BDU under them.