Each morning like clock work, we start our day standing mindlessly in our closet; whining about how we have nothing to wear, as we rake our hands through the mounds of clothes all aligned like obedient tin soldiers; some sorted in ROYGBIV fashion (like mine- the color of the rainbow), some just glad to have made it onto a hanger, period.  

For some of you, it is one of the most critical decision you will make the whole day (scary huh?).  And, one that alone can actually make or break how the day goes from that point forward.   Ladies, the same will hold true in a survival situation.

In preparedness, you have to put just as much thought into your clothing as you would the items you put in your BOB bag. 

And, thus the topic of camouflage clothing.

“Army clothes!” you scream in horror.  “I look horrible in green!!” 

No, I actually said c-a-m-o-u-f-l-a-g-e clothing. Oh, and for the record not everyone who wears camouflage clothing is in the Army!

Let’s discuss the premise behind camouflage clothing or ‘camo’ for short.  Bottom line –the reason people wear camouflage is to become undetectable, to hide or blend in. 

Let me give you a little history on camo - okay, okay, I hear the groans. 

People have been using some form of camouflage since the beginning of human civilization (which for some of you … that’s back to caveman times).  By observing animals they learned to adapt and blend in with their environment to avoid detection by predators (remember that word) or bad guys.

And, the fact of the matter is, ladies, we use camo every morning.  We apply face paint (okay make-up) trying to hide and conceal imperfections – tricking the eye into thinking we have higher cheek bones, longer lashes and big pouty lips.  And, our clothing?  We wear body hugging panty hose to make our hips look slimmer, push-up bras, dark colors and small patterns on our “bigger parts” and light colors and big patterns on our not so big parts.  All along, we have been applying the camouflage theory using two basic elements: color and pattern.

The reason for the digital patterns or abstract or squiggly patterns in camo is it makes it visually disruptive, or in other words when wearing the twisty-wavy lines of camouflage pattern it helps hide the contour of our body (oh for the day when every piece of clothing were camouflage, right?)

We tend to recognize something as a separate object if it has one continuous color (remember this word).   A person is much more likely to stand out when wearing a single color than when wearing a jumble of colors.  Notice how the woman in the red dress walks into a room and heads turn?  Or, the red car on the highway?   Put that same woman in a neutral (remember this word too) or patterns and you don’t give a second thought.

Animals use techniques such as surrounding themselves in the same coloring as the environment; breaking up their outline so they do not stick out; disguise or blending in with their surroundings (the most commonly used camo by humans); and, mimicry or looking like other dangerous animals to survive (yet another word to remember).

Wouldn’t it seem to reason that we too would want to use these techniques in a survival situation – avoid detection from predators, i.e., those who want what we have?

It is important to think neutrals for your BOB bag and clothing in a “get-outta-town” situation.  Simply put, you want to make yourself undetectable.  Instead of wearing colors, and when I say colors – think color wheel or rainbow (red, orange, yellow, blue, etc.), wear neutrals, tan, beige, drab olive, brown, black – earthy tones.  Neutrals – not colors will always be a safer bet to wear for your survival.

Darling you will look fabulous!!

 – Survivor Jane

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