Original US issue Trousers, Night Camouflage, Desert, in the two color grid pattern, on contract DLA100-81-C-2396 to Clifford Industries, Inc. Medium Regular, 50 percent cotton and 50 percent nylon. Instruction label intact and fully legible.

The contract number is the thing to notice. Desert night camouflage went into issue in limited quantities in 1981, which makes a 1981 dated contract a first year example of a pattern that only ever had a short and unhappy service life. Most surviving pairs come from the mid 1980s runs or from the panic buying of 1990. This one is from the beginning.

The grid itself was the answer to a specific problem. American research into it goes back to 1972, with field trials in 1976, and the object was to hide a soldier from Soviet built night vision devices. A light green ground carries a dark green grid and rubble print, and the theory was that the cross hatching and blotches would break up a man’s outline under image intensification rather than to the naked eye. The parka and overpants were never meant to be worn alone. They went on over the six color chocolate chip Desert Battle Dress Uniform for night work, which is exactly what the label instructs: wear as outer garment in desert areas for night camouflage, adjust waist by drawcord, wear leg bottoms outside footgear and secure drawcords.

Then the theory met the war. Issue expanded sharply for Desert Shield and Desert Storm and the pattern went to the Gulf in quantity. A Marine Corps scout sniper section tested it against an AN/PVS-5 and found it performed worse than the standard day desert uniform and worse than winter overwhites. Troops found the sets hot and bulky and a great many were stuffed to the bottom of a duffel bag and never worn. Within a decade the whole concept was dead. Foreign night vision outran the grid, and infrared reflective treatment built into the uniform cloth itself removed any need for a separate night garment at all.

That is why it is worth having. Desert night camouflage is one of the few American patterns designed against a named technological threat, fielded at scale into a real war, measured against that threat, and found wanting. It belongs in a Gulf War display beside the chocolate chip DBDU it was cut to cover, and in any collection tracing the long contest between concealment and the sensors built to defeat it. The pattern’s later life as a streetwear curiosity and a reproduction staple has thinned the supply of honest early contract originals like this one.

CONDITION AND DETAILS

Size Medium Regular per the label
Waist 31 to 35 inches, adjustable by internal drawcord
Inseam 29 1/2 to 32 1/2 inches
NSN 8415-01-102-6292
Contract DLA100-81-C-2396, Clifford Industries, Inc.
50 percent cotton, 50 percent nylon
Fabric sound throughout with strong color and a crisp print
Scattered light staining, most noticeable on the front of the left leg and at the cuffs
Waist drawcord present and functional
Both leg bottom drawcords present with tips intact
Hook and loop fly closure present and functional
Cargo pockets, hip pockets and all flaps present and sound
Instruction and size label present and fully legible, with a period blue ink size mark
No insignia, markings or name to the garment
No holes, tears or repairs noted

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