Behind the camo

How the new species was born

The Ambition

To hunt as nature intended

We made it our mission to bring you the most advanced, most technical, stealth camouflage range available to elite hunters. Here is how this new species of camouflage was born.

Defying the odds

For 200 Million Years

The Tuatara

(TOO·UH·TAA·RUH)
Our camouflage range was inspired by New Zealand’s very own Tuatara, one of the greatest survival stories on earth. It has survived for over 200 million years, since the time of dinosaurs. In the unforgiving animal kingdom, natural camouflage is what separates the hunters from the hunted, and the survivors from the extinct. The tuatara survived from the Jurassic period against all odds, using its natural camouflage to evade predators and hunt its prey. If you can defy the odds and survive for over 200 million years, you must be doing something right.

We were inspired by this living dinosaur and spent four years working with experts to develop a technical camouflage pattern that embraces the natural stealth ability of this mysterious creature.

"We’re forever on the hunt for innovative new ways to offer our customers cutting edge fabrics and innovative purpose-built designs. When it came to offering the market a really technical high end camouflage pattern, we weren’t happy with where things were at. Flat patterns, photo mimicry – even the recent digital camo trends were ok – but we wanted more than ok. We didn’t want to make just a small change to the game, we wanted to raise the bar to an entire new level and challenge not just the industry, but ourselves as hunters: To hunt as nature intended, and get closer to our target than ever before. So we set out on a journey to build the world’s best camouflage for hunters."

Brent McConnell

CEO - Stoney Creek

4 YEARS IN THE MAKING

The Mission

To meet our bold ambition, Stoney Creek began with months of research and consultation with the experts – hunters, graphic designers, zoologists and experienced wildlife photographers.

Animal Insights
What they discovered, was that the Tuatara – one of the great survivors in the animal kingdom, had four remarkable factors that helped with their evasive and predatory uses of natural camouflage, and ultimately what separated the hunters from the hunted, and the survivors from the extinct.
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Design and Application
Armed with these four animal insights, Stoney Creek then needed to perfect the design and application across a wide range of technical hunting clothing and gear. Something you just can’t rush. Countless hours were spent by the production and design teams working with a wide range of cutting edge performance fabrics to perfect the colour matching across garments and layering systems. Something that may sound simple, but it’s not an easy task.
2 Years in the Field
Once the technical team had their first Tuatara Camo prototypes, they then set about the toughest part and discretely field-tested the camouflage for over 24 months with their trusted test team in New Zealand’s forests, the Southern Alps, the high plains and tussocks. ​

"Keeping the camo a secret wasn't easy. We had to find a balance between keeping the project under wraps, and getting our test team out there as much as possible. We even had some of the guys needing to take another set of gear out with them just in case anyone saw them on the track walking out. In all fairness, we shouldn’t have been so worried... they probably wouldn’t have seen them anyway."

Brendon Li

Chief Marketing Officer - Stoney Creek

Designed, Tested and Proven

And we're reaping the rewards
Since the Tuatara® Camo range was launched, it has been continuously put through its paces and tested out in the wild, and hunters are getting the results to prove it! Over the two years prior to launch, we refined and tested our patterns with our elite test team. People were stoked to see a new player out in the field and the Tuatara® Camo range took off!
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Julian Danby comments on Tuatara® Camo: Rotorua, New Zealand

Kadin Willis on the depth deception of Tuatara® Camo: Canterbury, New Zealand

Master bow hunter, Kadin Willis is out hunting every weekend. He sees it as a way to escape the concrete jungle and be in the 'zone' with just nature and his bow. It also provides the opportunity to place food on the table for his family. Since testing out the new Tuatara® Camo patterns, Kadin has been in as close as four yards on tahr in the Southern Alps. His gear needs to be extremely tough, silent, lightweight and reliable, which is why he chooses Tuatara® Camo to give him the edge.
Kadin Willis
Kadin Willis
Anto is a passionate hunter and fisherman who spends most of his time in the mountains and valleys surrounding his home town. With access to stunning rainbow and brown trout fishing, and a wide variety of big game animals at his doorstep, Anto is constantly putting our gear to the test in the rugged and mountainous alpine country of the deep south. Tuatara® Camo Alpine range is Anto's favourite weapon of choice.
Anto Hall
Anto Hall
Born and raised in the cold depths of the south island, Sarah's passion for the outdoors comes from a childhood out following in her Dad's footsteps – hunting, fishing and exploring the hills around Otago. With a clothing design background, Sarah heads up the product design at Stoney Creek and spends most of her weekends out in the wild, putting our purpose-built designs and technical fabrics to the test.
Sarah MacDonald
Sarah MacDonald
CEO of Stoney Creek, Brent has years of experience hunting and within the outdoor clothing industry. Four years ago Brent put together a team of experts in all fields, to help him create a camouflage that would give elite hunters, like himself, the edge. Two years later, after receiving the first prototype, Brent has been testing the Tuatara® Camo patterns in the New Zealand wilderness, and the results have been incredible.
Brent McConnell
Brent McConnell
When it comes to using technical gear, they don't come more discerning than Simon. With a science degree background, he has a meticulous eye for detail and demands quality, performance and innovation that gives him the upper hand when out chasing big game across the country. Simon's go to garments are his Fast Hunt Shirt and Fast Hunt Trousers in the new Tuatara® Camo Forest pattern, which has helped him deceive plenty of Reds, Sika and pigs during the past two seasons of testing out in the wild.​
Simon Ward
Simon Ward
Hunting is about testing the mind and body against the elements and the elusive quarry. With a need to push the limits in all weather conditions, for Julian, the Tuatara® Camo range comes into this equation. It's the persistence and patience that he believes is the difference between failure and success when hunting. When stalking the North Island's elusive Sika and Rusa Deer, Julian trusts the new Tuatara® Camo Forest pattern to conceal his presence. ​
Julian Danby
Julian Danby
Hunting is in Ella's blood. As the fourth generation of hunters in her family it's not surprising that she's grown up with an unquenchable passion for hunting. Perfecting her stalking techniques throughout the year, Ella eagerly awaits the Roar to chase Red Stags across the country. Always one to see each hunting experience as an opportunity to learn, challenge her skills and pursue an ever-expanding hunting bucket list, she backs her Tuatara® Camo to give her the edge, and has the results to prove it.​
Ella McConnell
Ella McConnell
Having hunted Wapiti Deer in Fiordland for 30+ years, and more than 25 years chasing Whitetail in Stewart Island, Roy knows a thing or two when it comes to having gear that performs in the steepest, wettest and coldest hunting environments in New Zealand. Roy works extremely closely with our team of technical design experts, to continue our dedication towards building purpose-built hunting gear, specifically designed to perform in Fiordland's most extreme, rugged and remote environments.​
Roy Sloan
Roy Sloan
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How was it received?

What people said when Tuatara® camo was launched
People were stoked to see a new player out in the field and the Tuatara® Camo range took off!

"It's confusing the deer. They just don't know what they are looking at. We were exposed, the deer looked up at us, it couldn't work out what was going on, and then it put its head back down and continued grazing."

"This camo is unbelievable. The colours seem to change and reflect the colours of the bush and vegetation around me. Anything from grass, tussocks, grey rock faces, muddy sand, in the bush... it adapts to any environment."

"Fuck that's cool bro, I need some of that shit."