Stuff That Works — A Sharp-Dressed Man

Frontier Partisans have always prided themselves on their distinctive, functional — and badass — garb. The hunting shirt that Virginia and Pennsylvania backcountry riflemen wore when they marched to the siege of Boston in 1775 became an emblem of an elite — so much so that General George Washington sought to use it as a psyops weapon. As the Museum of the American Revolution notes:

On July 24, 1776, Washington wrote that he “earnestly encourages the use of hunting shirts,” in part because they were “justly supposed to carry no small terror to the enemy, who think every such person a complete marksman.”

Captain Samuel Brady’s Rangers — often referred to as “spies” in contemporary documents (by which was meant “scout”) — emulated native dress in their Revolutionary War-era operations in western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio. Historian Ted Franklin Belue drew from the pension memoir of Brady’s last surviving Ranger to describe their operational “uniform.”

“Eschewing regimental coats, weskits, and breeches worn by enlisted men,” Brady preferred scouts dress part-Indian, part-white, a versatile blend of woodland wear. Spy dress — a handkerchief tied around the spy’s head of any color, sometimes a capeau (shorter than a hunting shirt) of cloth or a hunting shirt and moccasins; and thick, loose woolen leggings reaching above the knee, so thick that a rattlesnake could not penetrate through with their fangs.

At least one of Brady’s spies wore a coonskin cap with hawk feathers. Brady’s spies routinely painted their faces just as their native enemy did.

The Texas Rangers no doubt enjoyed the effect their “rough habliments” and outlandish appearance had on Mexican civilians and conventional U.S. Army officers.

Pride in a wild and wooly appearance wasn’t just for warriors, either. Mountain Men reveled in their badass regalia, as reflected in Frederick Remington’s watercolor sketch titled I Took Ye for an Injin.

 

The heirs to the Frontier Partisan tradition — special operations warriors — rocked their own distinctive style in 20th century wars of frontier and empire. Nothing says “Vietnam-era badass special operations warrior” like tiger stripe camo. Special Forces and Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol (LRRP) personnel adopted it from Vietnamese troops. It was functional of course — considered the most effective camouflage for the jungles of Southeast Asia. But it also just looks badass, and quickly became, like the hunting shirt in the Revolutionary War, an emblem of an elite.

The bandana persists in woodland warfare. Brady’s Rangers approve.

The tiger stripe pattern evolved from the French lizard pattern, worn during the First Indochina War and in Algeria. Interestingly, the French lizard pattern was popular with the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan.

 

Navy SEALs in Vietnam often wore blue jeans on patrol. Here’s why:

The French lizard pattern also contributed to the other legendary camo pattern that is identified with elite bush fighters: the Rhodesian Brushstroke. From FireForceVentures.com:

The Rhodesian Brushstroke pattern is legendary, from its inception during the Rhodesian Bush War, to later service throughout Africa, a variant to this day remains the standard camouflage pattern of the Zimbabwe National Army. The pattern itself originates from the need of the Southern Rhodesian military to replace it’s aging supply of olive and khaki drill uniforms in the early 1960s. Development began with the David Whitehead Textiles production facility in Salisbury, with designer Diana Cameron creating what would become the 1st and 2nd patterns of what would become known as “Rhodesian Brushstroke”. Taking huge inspiration from earlier British Denison colors and styles, the 1st pattern was somewhat muted with an overall tan hue and relatively little contrast. Further utilizing the greens of the contemporary Portuguese and French Lizard patterns, a finalized 2nd pattern was developed. 

This is the camo pattern associated with the Rhodesian Light Infantry, the Rhodesian SAS, and the Selous Scouts, worn by such legendary figures as Selous Scout recon wizard Captain Chris Schulenburg.

The Rhodesian bush fighters were decidedly non-regulation — particularly the Selous Scouts. Some of them found the best shoe for the bush was the old-school vellie — or the modern equivalent: a pair of Converse sneakers.

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As I wandered along this sidetrail, I cut sign of the legendary John Milius and the arcane subject of the “Russian camouflage” in his movie Red Dawn. My friends and I watched that 1984 movie about high-school-kids-turned-resistance fighters over and over again. Classic Milius. The leader (Patrick Swayze) was named Jed after Jedediah Smith. Because this was Milius. As with all things Milius, the film *cough* triggered *cough* a lot of folks.

As the website Coffee or Die notes:

While it has often been critically panned as an ’80s throwback of Cold War paranoia (one reviewer called it “a Reaganite masturbatory fantasy”), Milius’ action-packed, fever-dream vision of teenage American guerrillas defending their homeland against an invading Red-commie axis of evil is actually a smart, layered anti-war film that carries a vital message about the human spirit and desire to live free.

Apparently there has long been a keen interest in the Russian camo portrayed in the film. It’s a thing.