Complete List of Pecoc Patterns

When discussing the different PECOC patterns in the past i've often wondered how many there actually were, and how were we to know? Then it hit me, the Freedom of Information Act, lo and behold it worked, below is the main excerpt from the FOI response, the original document can be viewed at the link below. The challenge now is to work out what ones we've seen or not! I think there might be a few more FOI requests submitted in the near future...

'Between 1 January 2007 and 31 December 2008 the trials that took place were building a knowledge base of colours, spectral reflectance and luminance data using visual assessment and computer modelling. 20 patterns were used which are identified in the table below:

DF1001 Desert 1 - terracotta 262/364281 Cam 1a Terra
DF1002 Desert 2 - brown 262/364271 Cam 1a New Cway
DF1003 all terrain 4 262/364311 Grey New 2
DF1004 all terrain 1 262/364921 1a Grey
DF1005 all terrain 2 262/364291 Cam 1a Grey Sand
DF1006 all terrain 3 262/364301 Grey New 262/364241 RS 2773 OP1
DF1007 woodland 3 Offs
DF1008 woodland 2 262/364241 2773 Op1
DF1009 woodland 1 262/364261 roll 2 opt std 2773
DF1010 woodland 4 262/364251 RS2773 Op2
DF1011 desert 3 - grey 262/389931 cam 1a nc
DF1012 woodland 5 262/391561 RS 2773 reduced depth
DF1013 desert 4 (2 com+SDB) 262/394001
DF1014 desert 5 (2 com +LDB) 262/394011
DF1015 desert 6 (2 common) 262/393991 RS2630 USMC digital
DF1017 woodland 6 262/403531 (19/07)
DF1018 woodland 7 262/403532 (20/07)
DF1019 Hybrid 1 - wrong rotation - green not grey 262/403533 (21/07)
DF1020 Hybrid 2 262/407791 (25/07)


https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/299112/response/730904/attach/3/Mr%20G%20Sobota%20Freedom%20of%20Information%20Request.pdf

WHOA!  Now there is some solid thinking  I don't have time right now, but your list can be compared to the one we have going here:

https://iacmc.forumotion.com/t10281p50-pecoc-review-please-add-your-patterns-etc

Here's the last summary I made of the submissions in that thread. Unfortunately there is very little information to directly tie your list to the labels we have on hand:

Desert
2 color Standard (traditional colors)
3 color Orange (DES 1)
3 color Brown (DES 2, most common type)
3 color Gray (DES 3)
3 color Burgundy (DES 5)
3 color Digital

Woodland
4 color Standard (traditional colors)
4 color Green
4 color Gray
4 color Digital

All Terrain
4 color Beige (AllT 3)
4 color Olive (AllT 4)

Hybrid
4 color Brown (as seen on various field kits kit)
4 color Gray ("Hybrid 2" - one background shape is light gray instead of rust brown)
4 color Digital

Steve

Awe heck, I can't get back to work knowing this puzzle is sitting here!  

The desert lines up beautifully with our list, except we have not seen DES 4 yet and there doesn't appear to be a designation (at least from this list) for the standard issue 2 color desert:

Desert
DF1001 - 3 color Orange  (DES 1)
DF1002 - 3 color Brown (DES 2, most common type)
DF1011 - 3 color Gray (DES 3)
DF1013 - 3 color (DES 4).  Unidentified as of yet, however two colors are the same as DES 5 and DES 6
DF1014 - 3 color Burgundy (DES 5)
DF1015 - 2 color Standard (DES 6, but oddly says USMC Digital as well)

The description for DF1015 seems to indicate the "2 common" color pattern, which we know exists, but it also mentions "USMC digital".  I don't know what to make of that.  Some sort of USMC desert example was surplussed, but IIRC it was a standard US production model without tags?  Something like that because it was uninteresting enough that I passed up several opportunities to grab a set.

The All Terrain looks fairly logical to line up.  In this case we have 2 of the 4 examples documented:

All Terrain
DF1004 - 4 color Beige (AllT 1)
DF1003 - 4 color Olive (AllT 2)
DF1006 - 4 color Beige (AllT 3)
DF1003 - 4 color Olive (AllT 4)

Hybrid seems to be 100% documented.  They called DF1019 "Green" whereas I called it "Brown", so I've changed the nomenclature to match the MoD's:

Hybrid
DF1019 - 4 color Green (as seen on various field kits kit)
DF1020 - 4 color Gray ("Hybrid 2" - one background shape is light gray instead of rust brown)

Woodland seems to be the odd duck of the bunch.  It looks like we haven't scratched the surface of this one yet as we have only identified 3 out of 7 patterns.  Unfortunately there's not much info to go on as to which of the other two is which on the FOI list.  I made a guess as follows:

Woodland
DF1009 - 4 color Standard (Woodland 1)
DF1008? - 4 color Green (Woodland 2)
DF1007 - Woodland 3 (not yet identified)
DF1010? - 4 color Gray (Woodland 4)
DF1012 - Woodland 5 (not yet identified)
DF1017 - Woodland 6 (not yet identified)
DF1018 - Woodland 7 (not yet identified)

Working theories based on this information:

1.  We have identified 14 out of 20 patterns.  We're missing 2 All Terrain, 4 Woodland.

2.  It appears that the labels and pen marks on cloth which specify a pattern style (Desert, Woodland, All Terrain, Hybrid) match the numbers on the official list.  DES2 = Dessert 2, ALLT 2 = All Terrain 2, Hybrid 1 = Hybrid 1.

3.  The list appears to be concerned with patterns only, not construction.  Construction codes appear to be the "CD" numbers.

4.  The CD labels often have a "Buy" detail with a number that follows.  The number corresponds nicely with the variant code (e.g. Desert 2 = Buy 2).  

5.  The items that have a number inside a circle do not appear to correspond with the variant codes.

6.  My guess is that some, if not all, of the unidentified Woodland patterns were cloth only or at least nothing in large numbers.  The purpose of these was to test various reflective properties, which was mentioned in the FOI inquiry text.  It makes sense to test a single pattern for different pigments and/or printing techniques so as to have a common frame of reference with as few variables as possible.

7.  The digital variant tests appear to be separate from PECOC as they are not mentioned at all.  Therefore the Digital ones have been removed from my PECOC list.

8.  I have one picture of a body armor cover with pen writing that says it is "Wood 7".  However, the pattern appears to be "Hybrid 2".  As there are no known covers in anything other than Hybrid I think someone wrote the wrong designation on it.

Steve

I extensively edited the above post after looking at some more pictures and relating it to the FOI text.

To summarize, here are the official numbers and names.  They are organized roughly into four bits of info; DF code, a Family and variant number, a nickname (not all have them), and a description.  I put the latter in parenthesis.  There is also a unique code that is associated with the description and all start out "262/" followed by 6 numbers.  I omitted these as they don't appear very useful:

DF1001 Desert 1 - Terracotta (Cam 1a Terra)
DF1002 Desert 2 - Brown (Cam 1a New Cway)
DF1003 All Terrain 4 - (Grey New 2)
DF1004 All Terrain 1 - (1a Grey)
DF1005 All Terrain 2 - (Cam 1a Grey Sand)
DF1006 All Terrain 3 - (Grey New)
DF1007 Woodland 3 - (RS2773 OP1 Offs)
DF1008 Woodland 2 - (RS2773 OP1)
DF1009 Woodland 1 - (RS2773 Opt Std)
DF1010 Woodland 4 - (Op2)
DF1011 Desert 3 - Grey (Cam 1a NC)
DF1012 Woodland 5 - (RS2773 Reduced Depth)
DF1013 Desert 4 - (2 Com+ SDB)
DF1014 Desert 5 - (2 Com + LDB)
DF1015 Desert 6 - (RS2630 2 Common )
DF1017 Woodland 6 - (19/07)
DF1018 Woodland 7 - (20/07)
DF1019 Hybrid 1 - Wrong Rotation - Green Not Grey (21/07)
DF1020 Hybrid 2 - (25/07)

Slightly cleaned up and terminology expanded/standardized, plus some speculation as to what the abbreviations mean:

DF1001 Desert 1 - Terracotta (Camouflage 1a Terra)
DF1002 Desert 2 - Brown (Camouflage 1a New Colourway)
DF1011 Desert 3 - Grey (Camouflage 1a New Colourway)
DF1013 Desert 4 - (2 Common + Small Dark Brown)
DF1014 Desert 5 - (2 Common + Large Dark Brown)
DF1015 Desert 6 - (RS2630 2 Common)

DF1004 All Terrain 1 - (1a Grey)
DF1005 All Terrain 2 - (1a Grey Sand)
DF1006 All Terrain 3 - (Grey New Colourway)
DF1003 All Terrain 4 - (Grey New Colourway 2)

DF1009 Woodland 1 - (RS2773 Option Standard)
DF1008 Woodland 2 - (RS2773 Option 1)
DF1007 Woodland 3 - (RS2773 Option 1 Offset)
DF1010 Woodland 4 - (RS2773 Option 2)
DF1012 Woodland 5 - (RS2773 Reduced Depth)
DF1017 Woodland 6 - (19/07)
DF1018 Woodland 7 - (20/07)

DF1019 Hybrid 1 - Green (21/07)
DF1020 Hybrid 2 - Grey (25/07)

Notice that the third description in parenthesis is unique except for Desert 2 and Desert 3.

I'm positive that Desert 4 has the same colors as Desert 5, but the dark brown is the smallest shape instead of the largest.

RS2773 appears to represent standard 4 color temperate DPM, RS2630 represents standard 2 color desert.

Based on this info I'd say Woodland starts to look a little more sensible:

1. Woodlands 1-5 appear to use the standard temperate colors, Woodlands 6 and 7 are the two that we know of that have Grey in them.  

2. Woodland 3 (Offset) probably looks similar to Hybrid 2, which is similar to Bundeswehr Splittertarn and Belgian Jigsaw in that one color is deliberately offset printed so the cloth color is visible.

Steve

Bravo George!!! Looks like there are still some pieces out there!!!

An interesting cross examination Steve! it certainly is a puzzle, if only there weren't so many pieces missing!

Thanks Lee, the hunt continues!

It is possible that some of these never made it outside of the lab. If there's only a couple to start with, that would explain why we haven't seen them

Steve

Interesting view Steve, could also be, we have missed them and some other collector has obtained them but do not know of the forum