What are the differences in the FR-ACU and ACU uniforms?

I was wondering if there were any differences in the Flame Retardant Army Combat Uniform (aka "Defender") and the original Army Combat Uniform.

Do you think one would last longer than than the other in general garrison use?

The fabric is different and the Defender M FRACU's are a little bit more yellow than the standard issue ACU

The FRACUs have a bit of a different hue to them and they look like they are a rougher material but I don't notice it when wearing them.

Can't stand either pattern. I feel like a blueish-grey target no matter what environment. Go Multicam. (Sorry, had to get on the soap box).

Most of my unit is wearing FRACUs because that was what they were resupplied with in Afghanistan. Wear appears to be about the same, maybe a bit less on the FRACUs, but haven't put mine through the wringer yet.

tenewel wrote:
Can't stand either pattern. I feel like a blueish-grey target no matter what environment. Go Multicam. (Sorry, had to get on the soap box).

Yeah, it sucks that the ACU camo only works well on a moonlit night in the desert


TBH, I don't see that much difference in multicam over the old woodland camo ( get your your torches, tar and feathers )

I think the only difference, of any significance, id the little patches of gray ribbon that are sewn on the left sleeve cuff and left trouser pocket flap. This denotes the uniform is FR and not standard ACU.

Note that there were many small changes to the ACU over the years. I even got a pair of trousers that were pulled from inventory and updated to have the crotch seam reinforced. Nice secondary label in there saying who did the work and when. So be careful when comparing any of the ACUs together because you might think there's some sort of difference between FR and regular, for example, but it's just comparing newer FR to older ACU.

Steve