Blake Hall
In ‘The Hunger Games,’ District 12 champion Peeta Mellark uses camouflage to elude capture and death. Sure his talent for painting is somehow tied to his love of cake decoration, but the point is that all it takes to vanish into thin air is some good face paint.
The problem is that the miraculous rock-mimicking paint Peeta wears in this scene doesn’t exist outside the realm of film and fantasy. Real face paint chips and rubs off after a few hours of wear under the sun, and the skin underneath is left completely exposed to harmful ultraviolet rays.
Veteran-owned company Predator Warpaint is changing the camouflage game.
No one understands the problem of lackluster camouflage better than Nick Norris, a former Navy SEAL who spent a decade using the stuff to carry out special operations. From the deserts of Iraq to the jungles of southeast Asia, Norris constantly applied, sweated off and reapplied face paint during his military service. He also suffered from burns and skin damage because the paint didn’t offer any sun protection.
The face paint provided by the military wasn’t up to snuff. Norris set about changing that.
In January, Norris launched a Kickstarter campaign for Predator Warpaint, an SPF 50, waterproof face paint and camouflage product available to both hunters and service members. The campaign raised $29,031 in 45 days.
“Predator Warpaint was born out of a glaring need to make a better product in an industry that has failed to innovate,” Norris wrote on his Kickstarter. “Current camo products leaves you exposed to the sun. They do nothing to protect your skin from harmful UV rays. You get burned which can lead to skin cancer down the line. The problem was obvious, camo face paint should do more than just conceal.”
According to DNAInfo, the first order of 4,500 canisters was sold out. Norris and his campaign backers are also working to donate free waterproof face paint to active-duty service members.