Camo Cargo Pants

Camo cargo pants, sorted by pattern and by pocket count

Camo cargo pants are working trousers with thigh pockets and a printed disruptive pattern. The range covers straight and tapered legs, six and eight pocket layouts, and prints from woodland green through desert tan to pixelated designs. It is new production, not surplus stock, so the pattern on the cloth is a print choice rather than a unit marking. Two questions settle most of it: which pattern you want to look at every day, and how many pockets you will genuinely use. The wider camouflage trousers range shows the same prints on other cuts.

What do the different camouflage patterns do?

All of them break up the outline of a body by fighting the eye with contrast and edge rather than by matching a colour. Woodland prints use large irregular shapes in green and brown and read well against hedgerow and treeline. Desert and tan prints go paler and lower in contrast for dry, open ground. Pixelated and digital prints use small blocks that blend at distance while still disrupting up close. Against the wrong background any of them simply looks like a pattern, which is worth knowing before choosing for function rather than for looks.

How many pockets does a cargo cut need?

Six is the common layout: two hand, two rear, two thigh. Eight adds a pair at the calf or a second set on the thigh. Loaded cargo pockets swing and pull the waistband down, so the useful rule is to carry weight high and flat, keeping the thigh pockets for things that are flat rather than heavy. Check whether the pockets have flaps, hook and loop or a zip, since an open bellows pocket empties itself when you crouch.

What separates one pair from another?

• Fabric blend: cotton feels better and creases, polyester cotton dries faster and holds print colour longer.
• Weave: ripstop carries a grid of thicker threads that stops a small tear running, at the cost of a slightly rougher hand.
• Pattern scale: large shapes suit tall frames and outdoor use, smaller repeats read cleaner in town.
• Leg opening: a wide hem sits over a boot, a tapered or drawcorded hem gathers at the ankle.
• Belt loops: wide loops take a webbing belt, narrow ones only accept a dress belt.

Do they work away from the field?

A tapered leg with the pockets sewn flat passes for ordinary trousers, and the print does the rest. The combination that draws attention is a second camouflage piece on top, so keep the print on one half of the outfit; a plain top lets the trousers carry it, while the prints in camo t-shirt are better kept for days the legs stay plain. Plain field cuts live in combat trousers. The rest of the range sits in military clothings.

How is camouflage washed without fading it?

Print sits on the surface of the cloth, so it goes pale where the fabric is abraded and where the wash is hot. Turn the trousers inside out, wash cool, skip the tumble dryer and dry them in shade rather than direct sun. Fabric softener coats the fibres and dulls a print faster than the washing itself does.