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Kamysh or Kamush camo which roughly translates to “reed” or “cane” (as in, the plant) is a family of “urban” blue tiger stripe camo used by Russia’s OMON, OSN Vityaz, and other special police units.
Tiger stripe camos on their own are a pretty effective pattern. "Kamysh" gets its namesake from being naturally good in wetlands, tall grasses, and environments adjacent to water. It's a highly adaptable pattern meaning that in just about any built-up environment with lots of obstacles or flora it’s actually quite effective.
But… Come on, what’s with the bright blue? From the looks of it, this is the opposite of camo, it’s identifiable.
In the 90s, differently colored variants of the Russian VSR camo family were deliberately given to various MVD (Internal Security Forces) units as an identifying camo for their unit. This was also primarily the time that a tiger stripe pattern emerged in use on many of these special units. Presenting itself as an "Urban" version of tiger stripe, blue Kamysh would be a popular spinoff that would be used until MVD Police reorganization in 2016.
The most notable users of blue Kamysh were "OMON", a paramilitary police force operating within the MVD. The MVD are Russia's internal security forces — Think the FBI, DEA, IRS, Homeland Security, and a few other agencies here in the US rolled into one. These forces commonly use commercial camouflages to avoid direct association with Russia's primary military forces for better or for worse.
Involved in counter-terror and riot policing operations the paramilitary force OMON has had its hands in a litany of armed conflicts sporting their Тигр (tiger) stripes. Curiously, they even adopted the Siberian tiger as a primary symbol of their forces for its symbology of strength, agility and ferocity.
Infamously, Ukranian "Berkut" units were also seen wearing a suspiciously similar blue tiger stripe during Ukraine's revolution of dignity.
So maybe, the blue variety was never meant to be a "camo" to begin with?
To their credit, because of its garish aesthetics it’s become recognizable even here in the west, particularly from a photo that has circulated Airsoft forums for nearly a decade. Allegedly taken during a milsim west event it’s gained legendary status for the OMON outfit and Mockba shoes on the wearer who’s doing a flying jump kick door entry.
while we didn’t magically stumble upon a mythical mountain of Russian OMON surplus outfits, we did make something that you might actually wear every day — a killer tracksuit combo in Kamysh camo, made in Uzbekistan.
We consulted our favorite slavs behind the making of our gorka suits and we’ve once again achieved perfection with the all-important stripes included.
Specs
KS Sport Kamysh Blue Tigerstripe Tracksuit
Камыш Тигр (Reed/Cane Tiger) or simply "Tigr" first reared it's heads in the 1990s during the chechen wars alongside new variants of Russia's "VSR" family of camouflages.
Tigerstripe camouflages are naturally good in built-up wetlands, tall grasses, and environments adjacent to water... but why the heck is this bright blue?
Russia's "internal" security forces, the MVD, received differently colored variants of VSR and tiger stripe to identify their units likely as a means of distinction from Russia's military for better or for worse.
This "Blue" version likely emerged as an attempt to field an "Urban" version of the green/brown tiger stripe — naturally being given to the guys who did a lot of their work in the cities...
OMON, one of Russia's MVD police forces, would widely adopt the blue patterns all the way up until their reorganization in 2016 - by far one of the longest known uses of a single camouflage by the MVD.
What does OMON do?
They serve as a paramilitary police force much in the same way the US has militarized forces within the FBI, DEA, Homeland Security, and the IRS. The MVD has historical ties to the KGB, whom were basically all of those US agencies rolled into one, and quite a bit scarier.
OMON would take part in several armed conflicts, counter-terror operations, and plenty of riot policing, all while sporting blue "Kamysh" tiger stripes and their cosmonaut-esque headwear.
Curiously, they'd even adopt the siberian tiger as a symbol of their forces for it's symbolism of strength, agility, and ferocity.
Infamously, Ukrainian "Berkut" units were also seen wearing a suspiciously similar blue tiger stripe camo during Ukraine's revolution if dignity...
Safe to say, there's no hiding from anyone wearing this camo.
Mockba Shoes, homages to slavic sports, & more eastern European aesthetics
I'm very happy with it. Another item of excellent quality.
I'm 6' 2", 220lbs and the XL fits quite well (even when worn over the Sasha quarter zip) though I could wish the inseam of the trousers was a bit longer (for squatting)
Na, nah, na, nah.
the tracksuit is awesome and stylish. Actually ordering the KS sneakers to go with it to match. It’s a drip or drown world and this tracksuit makes it flood.
Walked about 2 miles with this suit on, can definitely say it is very suitable for wear in the outdoors, and the indoors. Considering that the camo is a colorful urban camo, I can say that you're unlikely to get weird looks for wearing it, which was likely not a concern for most of you.
I really love this setup, it goes perfectly with my Mockbas and Gold Elektronika watch.
The only constructive criticism i have would be to either add a 4xl or oversize it just a bit. Im normally a 2xl but this one is very form-fitting at 3xl
