Dyeing old ACU/UCP gear

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Dyeing old ACU/UCP gear

Postby Skirita » Fri Dec 13, 2013 7:44 pm

"Universal Camo Pattern" (UCP) is that godawful sand/grey/"foliage green" digital pattern the Army adopted in 2003, only to find that it didn't really blend into anything outside of a gravel quarry in Iraq.

For those of you who, like me, have a ton of otherwise-unwanted UCP gear from your Army days, there's hope. Dharma Trading Co. makes acid dyes that bind to nylon (which RIT dye does not). I used their "Olive" dye on an old Blackhawk UCP ruck to what I think are pretty excellent results:

ACU_overdye.jpg
ACU_overdye.jpg (78.67 KiB) Viewed 15469 times


I actually really like the color. The nylon came out a sort of a "coyote olive" color, not to far off from coyote brown, and the digital pattern is barely noticeable. The velcro and some of the straps are a darker brown like in the old woodland pattern. I'm the sort who doesn't like to contribute to visual pollution when I'm outdoors, so I'm happy.

Has anyone else tried this?
"The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity." - W.B. Yeats
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Re: Dyeing old ACU/UCP gear

Postby nowonmai » Fri Dec 13, 2013 11:03 pm

Skirita wrote:Has anyone else tried this?


Going to the bother of dyeing old army gear? Er...no. That's what skips are for.
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Re: Dyeing old ACU/UCP gear

Postby Skirita » Fri Dec 13, 2013 11:11 pm

It's a matter of principle. Do not underestimate the American Soldier's hatred of UCP.
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Re: Dyeing old ACU/UCP gear

Postby AztecDave » Fri Feb 07, 2014 6:49 am

it's the "one size fits none" of camo.
The real Army, composed entirely of young enthusiasts in camouflage uniforms, from whom impossible efforts would be demanded and to whom all sorts of tricks would be taught. That's the army in which I should like to fight.”
― Jean Lartéguy
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Re: Dyeing old ACU/UCP gear

Postby Phobus » Fri Jul 08, 2016 10:14 pm

Skirita,

I signed up for the Black Flag Cafe just so I could ask you about this post (and resurrecting it from the dead in the process!). Can you give some more details about exactly how you cooked this up? Do you remember how long you soaked the pack? Did you use this dye ( http://www.dharmatrading.com/dyes/jacqu ... =dyes.html ) in Olive? Anything you would do different now, or anything you've since learned to make it even better?

Really appreciate it. I've been doing a good bit of searching for how best to dye UCP and yours looks better than anything else I've seen out there, thanks!
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