A camouflage pattern serves a simple purpose – it should make the wearer harder to spot. Knowing this, militaries have designed a lot of camouflage. But what about airsoft?
Developing a camouflage meant for airsoft has some specifics. The most important being:
Airsoft-specific camouflage should conceal you well in your environment while not being connected to any active military.
The reason is simple: you can go anywhere and play any team. Thus, there is no “good guy in a bad team” problem.
Introducing Kreuzotter
Kreuzotter, roughly translated into English as Viper camouflage, is a new camo pattern explicitly made for airsoft by the Novritsch Textile department.
It combines the best in camouflage with a lot of airsoft experience:
- A modern disruptive effects combined with actual vegetation used for the pattern.
- Most common European natural colors.
- No black parts, as it’s unnatural.
- Brown and green disrupt the form of the wearer.
- No political connection. Pure airsoft.
- Works when still or on the move.
How was it developed?
We choose the classic Vietnam-era tigerstripe pattern. That is known for its effectiveness in deep jungles and prolific use by special operation forces. Now, it is mostly used in training and as an OPFOR camouflage in military exercises.
The old, original pattern had 4 colors, one of which was black. We have replaced that as black is not a natural color, and It would not work well for camouflaging in European forests. So, instead, the pattern got new colors that resemble a natural approach.
💡 Black is not a natural color – that’s why we removed it.
Brown stripes are actually vectorized tree bark from pictures we have taken. The background layer was done using macro photos of leaves, where we zoomed in on the leaf veins and vectorized them so that both levels included different natural vegetation.
In a world where every other pattern is now pixelated (Digi-camos like the UCP), we wanted to make our pattern look more authentic by choosing actual vegetation without looking too much like a “Realtree “or hunter camo pattern. In addition, it had to have a military feeling.
We decided to exclude black on purpose so that only the contrast between brown and green would disrupt the form of the wearer.
What does Vectorized Camo mean?
Vectorize in camouflage refers to patterns made up of geometric shapes and lines rather than smooth, organic forms. This style uses sharp angles and digital-like designs to help blend in with the environment more effectively, disrupting visual perception and making it harder to spot the wearer. Think of it like digital pixelation in video games but applied to real-life clothing or gear to create concealment.
Macro photography of leaves captures details like textures and colors, aiding in the design of effective camouflage patterns. These patterns mimic natural environments to enhance concealment for military and wildlife photography applications. See the photo below for a reference:
Go more Indepth on Kreuzotter
Do you want to go more in-depth and see an independent field test of the Kreuzotter Camouflage, be sure to check out Pine Survey‘s blog for more:
Conclusion: Kreuzotter – Yes or No?
As with all camouflages, Kreuzotter is not an Invisibility cloak. It won’t conceal you everywhere. It is made for European Airsoft fields & Woodlands. However, it will disrupt your form. And the extra second this often buys you is all it takes.
If you play in woodland areas similar to those in Europe, this modern camouflage will cover you up while standing out amongst those ever-so-popular Multicams. For us, that is a Yes… If it weren’t, we wouldn’t develop it.
