Some people like to bird-watch, peering through binoculars to spot rare avian species. Now, there's nothing wrong with bird-watching, as it's a great way to understand the wildlife in your surrounding area, but we prefer to apply this skill set to a different hobby: military vehicle spotting. It's fun to be able to quickly identify various pieces of hardware we come across, whether that's a Humvee, APC, tank, or even a helicopter. Driving by Camp Pendleton in southern California, we practice this skill frequently.

Here's an easy one. Can you identify this helicopter? Photo: Wikipedia

Bird watchers often use a guide book or chart to determine the species they've spotted. So, as military gear spotters, we also see the usefulness of a reference chart. Browsing the internet recently, we came across this cool chart from Pop Chart Lab, called “Combat Vehicles of the US Military”. It shows illustrations of almost every vehicle currently in use by the US military—land, sea, and air.

For a larger version, click here to view it, or click the image below and hit “Download” in the top right corner.

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If you like this guide, you can buy a large poster of it from Pop Chart Lab. We'd say it could make a cool addition to an office or man cave, and can help you memorize these vehicles each time you glance at it. Knowing the difference between an Apache and a Super Cobra might seem geeky to some, but we think it's a useful skill and a fun hobby.

Written by Patrick McCarthy