The Desert Night Vision Camo pattern was developed in the early 1970’s and issued only in Parkas, overpants and boonie hats. (Boonies one of the most rare) This camo would be used as a oversuit type concept so that the wearer could switch between Night and “Day” camo. Mass production started in the early 1980’s to the early 1990’s. The design consisted of cross hatches and blotches, with colors of Axolotl and Laurel Green with the interior made of OD Green fabric. The theory of the practicality of the design goes as follows: Breaking up the wearer’s image through various Russian NVGs. In 1990 the camo would be put to the test in the First Gulf War. Testing conducted by deployed troops concluded that the camouflage was so ineffective that it actually made the wearer stand out even more, tested with the PVS-5’s at the time. It is thought that the pattern was to replicate the grid pattern in Soviet NVGs but we have yet to test that theory (No access to Soviet equipment) With that being said, the camo has just a cool pattern in general, and actually blends in pretty well in the woods. So at least it's not totally useless.