[10achik]

So a few months ago my 13 year old (who loves to play airsoft) and my 16 year old (who loves paintball) wanted to make a ghillie suit. We just kind of toyed around with the idea and I found one of my old military BDU jackets and we all decided that it would work for all of us so that's where we started today. The bottom of the jacket started off as brown twine that's why it looks like that, it will be blended more soon, after we go that far we went out for the burlap. The burlap was only $2.99 a yard, which I thought was pretty cheap, bought 2 yards of the brown and green. They also had black and I'm planning to go back and pick up a couple yards of that too

We sewed some netting on the jacket and then cut several strips of burlap and put them in the washer for 3 minutes on rinse and another 3 minutes on spin. Started tying them up and this is where we are now. I've got to work all weekend but planning to pick it back up on Monday, hopefully.

After we finish the jacket and attached hood, we are going to do a pair of pants, boots and gloves each. I guess the biggest problem is in a couple weeks (we are all three playing paintball together )

It's nowhere near finished, but I was prety proud of it so far, the boys are loving it and we've had a ball working on it together.

The pictures show it kind of shiny, it's the flash, it's very drab and looks pretty sweet. I didn't have the camera ready, but my son ran outside and laid down curled up under the tree and he looked like mulch

Enjoy!

[CMARJEEP]

Thats pretty cool. Extra points for the homemade factor.

The local surplus store has a ton of them but they are like $50 each. I was thinking about picking one up.

[Juju]

You mulched your son?

That's awesome, great family project. for your parenting skills.

[FortCollinsZJ]

Swwweeet!

A friend and I bought some ghillie suits a few years ago and have had some real fun scaring the crap out of people with them. lay down in a grassy median in a neighborhood at midnight and then slowly stand up whn a car passes by, results can be awesome! We were scaring people outside a movie theatre one night and got a gun pulled on us, an officer thought we were snipers! he just said to leave, and we got in no trouble.

Makes for great Halloween costumes too I might add.

I would really like to make my own now though, that looks really good.

[TheRo0sTer]

You know the Old BDU coats will become obsolete soon. Great job and it looks like a ton of work.

[Jones]

I can't see it.

[10achik]

Originally Posted by ZJones

I can't see it.

Originally Posted by TheRo0sTer

You know the Old BDU coats will become obsolete soon. Great job and it looks like a ton of work.

It just seems like a lot, what you see there is only a few hours work, I cheated and used the washer instead of trying to fray all that myself. That's the tricky part though, burlap really frays bad in the washer so you have to be very careful to time it on the spin cycle or you end up with green and brown hair strands I did about 6 strips to test it and it came out looking like a really bad hair piece, I guess it would be good for a bald sniper.

We plan on using that to glue to the boots and gloves, so there isn't really any loss there.

I'll post more pic's when we make some more progress. Thanks for all the complements, it's been a good project with the boys (even though we just started)

[RightyMarksman]

If you would like some pointers, for your next one.

Get a flight suit, they run about 30 dollars at your local army surplus store. Use Juite instead of burlap you can order that online in 5lb bags or a 15lb kit woodlands or desert. Ditch the white netting for black elastic netting once again online. Use crafters twine (brown) to tie on your sections leaving long ends.

You will wind up with kind what you have except less noticable, when you get to where you will use it fill in with natural vegitation and leaves (this is why you use some elastic splices in the netting) and you will dissapier if done right.

I wish I had never gotten rid of the one I made, Both my dad (Former Marine corps. Scout Sniper, and my cousin NAVSPECWAR sniper) helped me build it from nothing and it was awesome but Is topped playing paintball so I sold it with my two guns. There where several times I had people right beside me whom never knew I was even there.

[10achik]

Thanks for the tips, I was just kind of working with what I had. I wished we had a flight suit, we may make some for each of us later. This was kind of our first one and we can already see how we would do some things different. It's not really suppose to be used for sniper type activity where we will be sitting for hours on end in all kinds of weather so it didn't have to be perfect.

It's just kind of a fun project on this one, but thanks for the tips, if we do another one we will go with the different netting, but I'm really liking the way the burlap is working out so far, we may add some other colors and extra twine in there, I like the way that adds to it.

[RightyMarksman]

Yeah it looks real good for 1st run and no outside imput, another thing you can do instead of mixing in black is tiger striping across the whole thing with black spraypaint fabric dye. I cant stress this enough with Ghiles the suite breaks up your outline what makes you dissapear is the vegitation you add in when you get to where you will play.

I would definately make one for each of you, just means more time with your kids. Just make sure you wind up with the best one if your going to play with them or you will regret it...lol

[5-90]

Making ghillies is fairly easy - making effective ghillies, not so much. Looks like you're off to a good start.

The easiest way to go about it is to use some base fabric (I prefer cotton - it's lighter and more breathable than burlap) in a neutral colour to make a cape anywhere between mid-thigh and knee length. Tack-stitch a fairly open (1"x1" to 2"x2") string net overtop of it, and leave it fairly loose.

Cotton or burlap strips can then be dyed various colours (avoid overuse of black - what colours you do use depend on terrain) and tie them in place using simple overhand knots. You want to be able to rearrange your ghillie for different types of terrain, or be able to easily change worn strips (a little wear is good, it breaks up the regular outline. Too much wear can be seen.)

Leave room to augment your ghillie using local foliage. This should be gotten the day of the game, from the area where you'll be playing. Remove after play, and get fresh next game.

To cover your head, I advise the use of the typical "boonie" hat (floppy full brim) - it's also got an irregular outline, which will break up the shape of your head. You can sew netting on the crown of the hat, and the band usually has loops around it anyhow. Baste a camouflage - or neutral colour - face veil onto the brim, but don't forget to paint your face!

Below the hemline of the cape, you can sew netting onto your pants (overlap the cape by 6-8" for fuller coverage) and treat similarly. Treat your sleeves similarly, or make your cape wide enough to come around front a fair bit.

This should give a ghillie that is lightweight, easy to wear, and compatible with most gear - that's why I suggested the use of the cape. We changed the traditional ghillie when we transitioned from the old ALICE Y-gear to the current MOLLE - the cape gives better access to all your pouches, and you can make it overlong and drape it over your pack (if you have one as part of your gear.)

As it happens, I'm working on the "Camouflage, Concealment, and Cover" chapter in my airsoft/paintball TM. And, the fact that I'm still around to talk about it shows that I had to have some idea about all three of those - especially considering it's the little things that give you away.

Bear in mind the Brit SAS "Rule of Five S's" for camouflage:
SHAPE - The eye will process known shapes long before it works through colour. Break up the typical human outline.
SHINE - Reflection is bad. What can reflect? Any lense, watchfaces, sweaty skin, well-shined boots - you'd be surprised. Let your five O'clock shadow come in, and don't shine your boots before you go out (took the Army a long damn time to figure that one out...)
SMELL - You can fool the eyes - that's the basis of camouflage. You can't readily fool the nose. Think about it for a bit, and I won't need to go into detail here.
SOUND - Got gear that rattles when you move? Tape it down! Partially-filled canteens are a sin in the field - open one, pass it around, and empty it. Tape down any sling swivels and suchlike (electrical tape can work for this, but most duct tape is too shiny.)
SILHOUETTE - While a variation on "Shape," this is a bit different. Don't let yourself get backlit, and always have something handy to break up your outline. Gotta look around a corner? Stick your head out somewhere other than head high (knee high is good. Sucking dirt is better.)

I'd avoid flight suits for a base - they're typically Nomex, which is a synthetic. Flight suits are hot. If you're going to pile material on the thing, make the base as breathable as possible - which is why I suggested cotton. Use summer-weight ripstop cotton BDUs instead of winterweight NyCos - same reason. And avoid overuse of black! Very little in nature is actually black; and even a dark blue or dark grey is better at night than black (something actually "black" will show up as a sort of "hole in the darkness," once you know what to look for. I can usually see someone dressed in black at night long before I get charcoal grey or navy blue.) A little black is good - but it should be somewhere down around 5-10% of the total pattern. Take a look at the ACU, and compare it to the previous BDU - the Army managed to learn that lesson as well. For dark colours, use dark brown or dark green instead. Use grey, foliage green and medium brown for more "base" colours, and highlight with some light green (not Day-Glo or "neon" green - keep it similar to foliage colour) here and there for breakup.

Hit me backchannel if you want more advice - dragonland2001 AT yahoo DOT com.

[RightyMarksman]

Originally Posted by 5-90

especially considering it's the little things that give you away.

I'd avoid flight suits for a base - they're typically Nomex, which is a synthetic

Little things is right, My cousin during one of his stages of training was constantly getting busted, he later found out what gave him away was the inside of his scope cap, when he flipped it up to shoot at the target.

I dont know why I said flight suit, there is a cotton style coverall tehre mechanics use that is what mine was.

[5-90]

Originally Posted by RightyMarksman

Little things is right, My cousin during one of his stages of training was constantly getting busted, he later found out what gave him away was the inside of his scope cap, when he flipped it up to shoot at the target.

I dont know why I said flight suit, there is a cotton style coverall tehre mechanics use that is what mine was.

Yah - the cotton overall would be much better than a flight suit!

I think I did fairly well. At JWS in Panama, I was "playing bush" and had a 2LT actually step on the back of my right hand before he sat down right in front of me. Then the bush exploded. I think his heart stopped for a few seconds after I hit him...

[WhtJeep]

Yea that thing is gonna be HOT! We use those out here and man they sure can get you to work up a sweat. I think they are a blast to make and use though.

[LoneJeeper]

I love my ghillie suit. Its just unfair to use it. I went the overalls route and bought strips of jute and have black net for the base and elastic straps for vegetation.

Usually what people notice on me is the glare from my mask.