The technology traps odors, wicks moisture, and keeps the body close to 37.5 degrees Celsius temperatures, which is considered the ideal body temperature. First Lite Specter Apparelīeyond the Specter camo pattern, First Lite built its apparel with stealth in mind by choosing quiet outer fabrics that could resist light rain and snow.įirst Lite also incorporates 37.5 technology into its whitetail outwear and base layers. Specter met these demands from Alberta, Canada, to Texas in a variety of hunting scenarios (field and stand). “Each time you change the coloration, you have to change the ratios again,” Farrel explained. This is where the 2 years of field testing went well in one area and not another, sending early designs back to the drawing board. Whitetail range agnostic: This fifth element tested all of the above through all seasons in different landscapes. Specter adds more depth so the deer can’t focus on you, giving cover to basic motions like getting into a shooting position or drawing a bow.
When deer are looking through you, that’s them looking for motion. This breaks up the human shape from different ranges throughout hunting seasons.ĭisguising slight movement: They have a wide field of view that excels at detecting movement. Specter uses tones that won’t do that, using a ratio of tones that maintain distinct patterns at various distances. These are the shapes that confuse the eye in the kill zone (about 50 yards), so the ratio of micro to small to medium is needed.ĭisruptive coloration: Old-school sticks-and-leaves camo patterns tend to blob from farther away. Micro breakups: When the deer is within bow range, that’s the close-range pattern breakup. This is for edge-of-field hunting when the deer is 100-300 yards away. The darker background, large shape disruption kicks in more (macro) from longer distances. Large shape disruption: Specter has two veins of distinct colors throughout the pattern. However, we’ll run through the “five major elements” Farrell had to balance to develop a camouflage that works across seasons and terrain. (Photo/First Lite) First Lite Specter Pattern Camoįirst Lite’s Specter explainer page has a great summary with visualizations we won’t try to replicate here. To meet that optimization, Farrell described four visual elements at play, with a fifth element being how those work in conjunction and in different geographies.
“Specter is optimized for the whitetail hunter and the situations in which they find themselves hunting game.” “I’ve killed a lot of deer using Cipher and Fusion, and so have others,” Farrell said. Partly because they tend to live in more wooded areas, whitetail deer see a bit differently than mule deer and elk. “And you always have a lighter background behind you, regardless of the time of season.” “It changes the angle of engagement,” Farrell said. Likewise, treestand hunting adds another element of hunting and disguise. He pointed out that whitetail hunting usually happens at closer distances than Western hunting. Those laid the foundation for what the brand knew and how it measured effectiveness.įarrell added more inputs to that algorithm to include the wider array of tones and patterns that reflected the different environments and seasonal backdrops where whitetail deer live. In recent years, hunters have learned to move away from sticks-and-leaves patterns that trick the human eye to more contrasting patterns and tones that work at different distances.īefore the Specter camo pattern, First Lite created the proprietary patterns of Fusion and Cipher based on a nature-based algorithm. This prioritization likely comes from detecting the movement of predators, especially at night, in wooded areas.Įffective camo doesn’t need to look good to the human eye. They also see in a more limited spectrum of color - blues are great, but red, orange, and green are bad - and they’re basically farsighted.
Research on how whitetail deer see is still nascent, but there’s strong evidence that deer see better at night than the day (and best at dusk and dawn). Shop First Lite Specter Camo Apparel (Photo/First Lite) First Lite Specter: Making Whitetail Camo We talked with Gregg Farrell, First Lite’s whitetail product line manager, about how the brand developed the pattern and used it in hunting apparel.Īnd, of course, we got a rundown of the latest Specter apparel. The brand says the pattern disrupts the depth perception and peripheral vision of deer to obscure the human shape in a field or treestand. The First Lite Specter camo design takes multiple approaches to obscure a hunter’s form in the eyes of whitetail deer.Īfter 3 years of research and field testing, First Lite dialed in its Specter camo specifically to deceive the eyes of whitetail deer. Home » Outdoor » Hunt / Fish » Through Deer’s Eyes: How First Lite’s Whitetail Camouflage Pattern Works
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