Rain

The term "rain" pattern refers to a camouflage design that incorporates a heavy percentage of vertically-aligned "straits" or "flecks" which suggest an image of falling rain. During the Second World War, the German Wehrmacht utilized this feature on several camouflage patterns, primarily the Splittermuster (splinter) and Sumpfmuster (marsh) designs. These patterns were later modified and reproduced by the West German Bundeswehr and Border Guards, but the "falling rain" concept also influenced camouflage design in the Warsaw Pact countries of Eastern Europe. Interestingly, quite a number of designs fall into this category, some incoporating only the rain strait design on a solid color background, while others having the feature only as an overprint on top of a much more textured design.

Some patterns in this category have earned other nicknames, including "falling rain," "tan and water" and even "rice fleck."

Rain Pattern Camouflage Designs

• Some of the original WW2 German camouflage patterns incoporating the "rain" feature are seen here.

• One of the earliest postwar patterns to incorporate the "rain" design emerged out of Czechoslovakia; it is based on the German Sumpfmuster design. Still later (1963) a much more simplified version was produced with very prominent rain straits over a subtle water-stain underprint, called oblacky.

• Poland was probably the first Warsaw Pact nation to produce a simplified "rain pattern" design such the Czech oblacky pattern, consisting of thin brown rain straits on a field grey background. It is this pattern that is likely to have influenced the other Warsaw Pact designs.

• East Germany introduced its own "rain pattern" camouflage, called Strichmuster (line pattern) in 1965, and continued to issue the pattern until 1990.

• Bulgaria has issued several camouflage designs with the "rain" feature, including patterns based on the WW2 German Splittermuster, on the original Polish "rain" design, and yet another with unique characteristics.

• The photo shows the rain/needle patterns worn by (top left) Poland, (top right) East Germany, (bottom left) Bulgaria, and (bottom right) Czechoslovakia: