Frag Out! Magazine

F or a while now Helikon-Tex's lineup has been laced with straight-up nods to the classics — think the ever-popular M81 Woodland, Desert Night Camouage and the Rhodesian pattern. Lately the Wrocław-based business even tipped its cap to ERDL fans and added that Brushstroke across its tactical clothing range. The cut of some Helikon-Tex pieces also bor- rows from "classic" uniform solutions and even outright cult icons. Those references are some- times direct (for example, raid-style jackets) and sometimes awink-and-a-nod ("Who Needs To Know, Knows"), like with the MCDU trousers that echo US uniform cuts — basically airborne/ military camo translated into street form. This time the classics roster grows with 6-Color Desert Camo, called DBDU (Desert Battle Dress Uniform) or unocciialy Chocolate Chip. It was the rst camo pattern elded by the US Armed Forces (not because it was the rst camo ever developed) for desert operations. It appeared more or less alongside M81 Woodland in the early 1980s and hit peak visibility roughly adec- ade later during Operation Desert Storm (remember Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf in that uniform?). The pattern's base is a sand-colored back- ground streaked with light sand, brown and dark brown bands, plus irregular black-and-white "chips". The whole thing is meant to mimic peb- bles scattered across a sandy desert and the shadows they cast. As the description implies, the pattern suits the rocky deserts the Americans often operate in in CONUS better than the at, sandy expanses of Iraq — which is why it was soon replaced by the simpler three-color Desert Camouage (DCU). Either way, Chocolate Chip played its historical role and earned asoft spot among mil-gear a- cionados. You'll even see civilian, commercial riffs on it now and then — inspired more by form than exact copy. Helikon-Tex is launching aline aimed at classic kit lovers in the new camo — familiar clothing models in fresh colors that make slick additions to any collection. HELIKON-TEX NEW RELEASES IN 2026 YOU PROBABLY DON'T NEED AN INTRODUCTION TO HELIKON — THE NAME'S BEEN AROUND FOR OVER 40 YEARS, AND FOR AT LEAST THE LAST 15 IT'S BEEN CARVING OUT A GROWING FOLLOWING PRACTICALLY WORLDWIDE. THE POLISH MAKER IS FAMOUS FOR ITS SOFT SPOT FOR VINTAGE KIT, SO IT'S NO SURPRISE THEY KEEP DROPPING RETRO COLLECTIONS FROM TIME TO TIME. P H O T O : H E L I K O N - T E X 50 www.fragoutmag.com

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