MTP, Multicam, DPM, CCE and BTP: telling the patterns apart
Five patterns turn up constantly in surplus, two of them look almost identical in a photograph, and the names get used interchangeably by the people selling them. Here is what each one is and how to tell them apart.
DPM
Disruptive Pattern Material: the British pattern from the 1960s until MTP replaced it. Four colours in hard-edged brush strokes. If the edges look painted on with a decorator's brush and the greens are flat, it is DPM.
It had gone from British service by 2013, so DPM kit is now genuinely old stock rather than recent issue.
MTP, and why it looks like Multicam
Multi-Terrain Pattern was adopted in 2010, after an urgent operational requirement for Afghanistan. Crye Precision's Multicam had done well in the trials, so MTP was built on it: the same colour palette, but with shapes closer to the DPM it was replacing.
British forces were wearing it from March 2010 and it had replaced all DPM by 2013. Genuine British issue kit of the last fifteen years is MTP.
Multicam
Crye Precision's own commercial pattern, and the source of MTP's colours. That shared palette is why the two are hard to separate at arm's length.
Up close they are obviously different, and the difference is edges. Multicam blends: the shapes are soft and rounded and fade into one another. MTP keeps DPM's brush-stroke outlines, so its shapes have definite edges. If you can see exactly where one colour stops, you are looking at MTP.
The other tell is the label. Genuine British issue kit normally carries a stores label with a NATO stock number on it, where commercial Multicam gear carries a brand label instead.
CCE
Camouflage Centre Europe, the French pattern. Introduced in 1991 and in service by 1994, replacing TAP 47 camouflage and the plain khaki F2 uniform. It is being replaced from 2020 by Scorpion.
Its colouring is close to US M81 Woodland, which is why it gets mislabelled as American woodland, but the French striping is thicker and heavier. Side by side, CCE looks like woodland drawn with a broader pen.
One naming trap: F2 is the cut of the uniform, not the pattern. An F2 CCE jacket means an F2 jacket in CCE.
BTP
British Terrain Pattern, Kombat UK's commercial pattern. It is designed to sit alongside MTP, and at a distance it does.
It is not issue and it is not Multicam. Worth knowing, because BTP kit is usually markedly cheaper than either - and for airsoft, where what matters is blending into a treeline rather than matching a stores contract, that is often the sensible buy.
Mixing patterns
MTP, Multicam and BTP share enough of a palette to mix without looking odd, and a carrier in one with pouches in another is entirely normal on a game site.
CCE and DPM are the two that fight with the rest. Both are greener and flatter than the Multicam family, so a CCE jacket under an MTP carrier reads as two separate pieces of kit rather than one outfit.
Questions
- What is the difference between MTP and Multicam?
- MTP uses Multicam's colour palette with shapes derived from British DPM, so the two look alike at a distance. Up close, Multicam's shapes blend softly while MTP's have definite brush-stroke edges. MTP is British issue; Multicam is Crye Precision's commercial pattern.
- When did the British Army replace DPM with MTP?
- MTP was adopted in 2010 after an urgent operational requirement for Afghanistan, was in use from March 2010, and had replaced all DPM by 2013.
- What is CCE camouflage?
- Camouflage Centre Europe, the French Army pattern introduced in 1991 and in service by 1994. Its colours are close to US M81 Woodland but the striping is thicker and heavier. It is being replaced from 2020 by Scorpion.
- Is BTP the same as MTP?
- No. BTP is British Terrain Pattern, a commercial pattern from Kombat UK designed to work alongside MTP. It is not military issue, and it is usually cheaper.
- Can I mix MTP and Multicam kit?
- Yes. They share a colour palette, so a carrier in one and pouches in the other read as one outfit. DPM and CCE are the two that clash with the Multicam family.
Sources
Written by the person who sorts the stock, not by a copywriter. Corrections are welcome at [email protected].