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The Daily Insight

What is the most effective camo?

Author

James Stevens

Updated on March 01, 2026

MARPAT, as the camo pattern is known, is widely viewed as one of the best concealment patterns because of the small, digitized pixels.

Is Woodland Camo effective?

Being designed for temperate woodland environments, both patterns are quite effective and one might wonder why M81 Woodland was disbanded by the regular US military forces in the first place (it is still being used by certain branches of the US military though), while it is still being used by other forces worldwide.

Is M81 Woodland obsolete?

It is also known unofficially by its colloquial moniker of “M81”, though this term was not officially used by the U.S. military….

U.S. Woodland
Produced1981–present

When was ERDL used?

1948

ERDL pattern
In service1948–2007 (U.S. military service)
Used byU.S. Marine Corps (former) U.S. Navy (former) U.S. Air Force (former) U.S. Army (former) See Users (for other non-U.S. users)
WarsVietnam War Syrian Civil War
Production history

When was ERDL camo made?

ERDL pattern is a camouflage pattern developed by the United States Army at its Engineer Research & Development Laboratories (ERDL) in 1948. It was not issued to elite reconnaissance and special operations units until early 1967,during the Vietnam War.

What camo does Delta Force?

ACU-pattern camo
Here we see a Delta operator who is clearly a hipster among hipsters. He chose to wear the ACU-pattern camo even though he has access to much more high-end patterns, and he paired it with an old-school tactical vest.

What is the ERDL pattern in the military?

The ERDL pattern, also known as the Leaf pattern, is a camouflage pattern developed by the United States Army at its Engineer Research & Development Laboratories (ERDL) in 1948. It was not used until the Vietnam War, when it was issued to elite reconnaissance and special operations units until early 1967.

Is there an ERDL pattern Marine-style utility cap?

As there was never an ERDL pattern Marine-style utility cap, the Marines continued to wear the solid OG utility hat until the adoption of the BDU pattern.

Do they still make ERDL coveralls for the military?

The USAF ERDL coveralls saw some use in SEA from 1967–69, until replaced by Nomex coveralls in 1970. The U.S. Navy also produced an official ERDL aviation garment in their MIL-C-5390G pattern, produced in a cotton twill textile.

What is the best camo pattern ever?

US Woodland is probably the first pattern that pops into your head when you think of camo as it’s easily the most duplicated and modified pattern ever invented. The four-colour design simply took ERDL and enlarged the pattern by 60%.