Repurposing Gear: the Power of Dye

[patriotman]

I think many will find this useful.

https://www.americanpartisan.org/2019/05/repurposing-gear-the-power-of-dye

[Kbop]

everything old is new again.

one old trick that will 'dun' the item - or darken it and remove the shine.
it has been used by hunters, military and actors alike.
tea and coffee dying.  it won't change the color much - but it will dull it and remove that shine you get on cotton prints for camo.

i know the coffee dying works on nylon too.  Ok, it was by accident, but it works.

[patriotman]

everything old is new again.

one old trick that will 'dun' the item - or darken it and remove the shine.
it has been used by hunters, military and actors alike.
tea and coffee dying.  it won't change the color much - but it will dull it and remove that shine you get on cotton prints for camo.

i know the coffee dying works on nylon too.  Ok, it was by accident, but it works.

Lol sometimes you learn from accidents. Thanks for the tip!

[Deathstyle]

I knew of a guy who spray painted his OD Rhodesian Recon Vest and OD Kifaru EMR pack for a deployment to the sandbox. He loved the results so much he sprayed painted some tan onto another OD Green Kifaru pack he used for overnight trips back here in the states. Said he loved the results so much, he couldn't decide whether or not it was better than multicam.

[SemperParatus]

I have spray painted many military UPC pieces of gear and back packs with good results using Krylon cammo paint, tan, dark green, light green and dark brown.  I usualy start with the light green and cover the item completely, then I use the dark green and brown for sploches and irregular shapes.  I then use the tan as a light fog and try to blend it all together.

[patriotman]

Wow I did not realize spray painting gear was so common. Thanks for the anecdotes all - I am definitely going to have to try it out

[Deathstyle]

Wow I did not realize spray painting gear was so common. Thanks for the anecdotes all - I am definitely going to have to try it out

Yea, its weird alot of people seem reluctant to do it and opt for RIT-DYE but generally when people do use spray paint they turn out to like it and don't go back. They usually become addicted and the only thing that'll spare kit from being painted is if it already has a killer pattern like multicam. But if you wanna save $30 when purchasing kit, just buy a plain color or ACU option at a bargain and spray paint it later.

[Erick]

This is great!

[gadget99]

We used to spray paint our ghilli suits to match the terrain in we would be operating in. Usually we had a few different ones premade and ready to select for the areas we would be going to.

The only concern that needs to be paid attention too. Is that after spraying up the suit. We needed to air it out in the sun for a good while to remove the small of drying paint.

That smell can travel a good distance and give you away easily.

I caught a few students during a stalk one by following the smell of the Copenhagen dip they were using as they moved.

[JohnyMac]

Gadget wrote, "I  caught a few students during a stalk one by following the smell of the Copenhagen dip they were using as they moved." LOL....

More times then I can count, I have followed the smell of cigarette smoke to find a trespasser on our property. Mostly during the two week center fire deer season.

It is well known on and around our mountain that all are allowed to hunt our property the second week of the season. By the second week the deer are hunkered down and the additional hunters in the field help to kick 'em up. The only rule is the hunter (s) have to check-in and give me an idea of where they are going to be hunting. Cigarette smoke coming from a part of our property where there should be no cigarette smoke emanating from, typically it is someone that hasn't checked-in. 

During the other 50 weeks of the year, cigarette and cigar smoke have alerted me to folks around the redoubt. Typically I do not investigate unless I hear shooting.

Good stuff!