Pouch Painting

If you've ever bought gear from more than one manufacturer, you've most likely been there: Colours don't match. Olive drab especially seems to be a complete no man's land when it comes to colour coordination. They're all supposedly the same colour, but when you place them next to each other, you will certainly notice they're not.

You can always go out in your non-matched set, or grab a can of spray paint and go to work. Here's a quick primer (yes I went there) on how to get your garb to match.

The picture above shows quite clearly just how different the concept of olive drab can be. The RRV replica underneath is from Miltec, and the various pouches are from Pantac, TMC, Condor and from an unbranded Chinese manufacturer.

Painting nylon is fairly straightforward, just apply several thin layers as you would do with any other spray paint project. The de facto brand that people enjoy using is Krylon for its consistency but I went with a camo colour series from my local car parts etc. retailer, Motonet.

Here's a great example of "do as I say, not as I do". I went a bit overboard with the spraying on this TMC radio pouch, and you can see the otherwise matte paint is starting to glisten on the lip of the pouch. Otherwise the result is pretty good. You can clearly see the difference between the painted part and the so far unpainted fastener on the top right. Do note that the paint interferes with velcro to some extent, so try to avoid spraying large quantities over such surfaces if you want to retain the stickiness.

Some parts, such as the crease on the pouch above can be a bit problematic if you want an even coat. You can, however, always spray and then rub the paint in with your fingers, for example.

You can also use gloves while doing it. Assuming you're not too dumb and/or excited to remember such things, of course.

Really getting there after only a short while. I'm sure the father-in-law doesn't mind spray paint on his lawn.

The end result after three(ish) light coats. The AK pouches were left unpainted to be used as reference. I left the paint to cure overnight before using the pouches.

Do you have experiences in painting your gear (or guns)? Let me know in the comments!