Tiger stripe camo.

[housecarl]

I'm a little confused as to which is the correct camo worn in Vietnam. this is off Wiki. But the box art shows a different style, namely the black outlined in a pale brown, with a random reddish brown dot interspersed allover. Any assistance greatly appreciated, Carl.

 

[jcichon]

From what I have been told and read, tiger stripe was not an official issue of the U.S. Army during Vietnam. These uniforms were bought on the civilian market so you would have stripe variations in the pattern but the pic you have looks to be correct. Anyone, correct me if I am wrong on this.

 

[Steve]

Jason hit it on the head. I am not so sure that there was not some tiger stripe issued, but the vast majority was produced in-theater, if not in country; therefore a wide variety of different styles and colors is possible. I bet Iron Mike knows for certain but I am pretty comfortable with this as fact.--

 

[Einion]

According to Osprey Elite #4, tiger-stripes were an issue camo (perhaps only to Special Forces?) from the early 60s, replacing the spotted type fully by the middle of the decade.

There was more than one series, the second being darker than the first but they of course faded with washing and use.

Colour-wise, in some examples the black is noted for going toward violet at it washed out.

Einion

 

[dinovision79]

Hi Carl,

there have been around 25 versions of the pattern used and the colour faded extremely, sometimes to a degree, when the pattern nearly disappeard.
Here are 2 sites with photos: http://www.vietnamgear.com/equipment.aspx?cat=2 - go to Tig.S. uniforms section; http://www.lcompanyranger.com/ - click on the icons and on the photo logs, IMO the best site on the net with original photos, well woth going through all!

Do you have a photo of the box-art?

Hope this helps!
Denes

 

[housecarl]

Thanks to everyone I found the website especially helpful. I didn't realise that the pattern repeats it self, or they simply inverted it. This is the box art.

 

[sd0324]

Here is one I did in 54mm the stripe pattern is fun to paint.

 

[tonydawe]

Hi Carl,

If I remember correctly, the box art picture is of a Navy Seal.

As Denes mentioned, more than two dozen different varieties of Tiger Stripe cam were produced during the Vietnam War, many of them produced for the US by local South Vietnamese contractors. They were originally designed for use by ARVN Rangers.

US and allied Special Forces were the only units to "officially" wear Tiger Stripe cam in theatre, however they were highly collectible items of clothing and sought after by other soliders who would "unofficially" wear their Tiger Stripes in the field.

 

[Chrisr]

My recollection at the time (late 1960's) is that they were an ARVN issue uniform. They were primarily worn by some of the US MACV and Australian AATTV when posted with ARVN Rangers, etc but not every one wore them. Australian and NZ SAS were issued with the US cam uniform although I can recall one or two people wearing tiger suits in our squadron but they were not popular. Generally too small for us. They certainly weren't official issue and had to be scrounged if one wanted them.