Post by EPD SONAR on Jun 27, 2008 9:02:41 GMT 8
Camouflage is not about putting on a pair of combats and hoping that you have the ability to disappear in to thin air, as this is not likely to happen. I will start off with the basics, the 5 S's. Shape, shine, shadow, silhouette, and sound. these are the basic principles of camouflage, however I have with the help of others realized there are three more (thanks to beast from spectra airsoft for the suggestions of smell and sheep). The new three principles are smell, speed and surroundings.
Shape
The human form with a rifle is one of the easiest things to recognize We naturally see things as human like even when they are not. It is how we as humans perceive the world, so we must brake up this very obvious shape. To start with you have your combats with there displacement patterned material. This uses lines to brake up the flat surface of the body, though it is still very flat. A simple and effective way to brake up the body shape is to use local vegetation. Attach elastic strips to your DPM's makes easy attachment of local camouflage. When using local vegetation always remember to not pull up the roots, as vegetation does not grow in mid air. Also look how the vegetation is in the area you are to be working, don't use too much (telegraph polls sticking out of a field is just as obvious as a dark object in the grass). Always match the vegetation on you to that of your surroundings. There is no use covering yourself in ferns if your going in to a grassy field as you will silhouette your self. You could of course construct a ghillie suit. A ghillie suit is a form of camouflage that aids you to hid better as it brakes up your bodies shape better then just using DPM's. A ghillie suit does not make you invisible, you still need to use local vegetation and the principles of S (the 5 S's) to use it to its full advantage. I have included a section dedicated to the construction of a ghillie suit. I have made three different ghillie suits, a woodland, grassland and Arctic. There is a step-by-step guide to help you construct your own. This is not the only way to build ghillie suit, there are many ways, these are just the ways I create mine.
Shine
Something that people tend to forget in Airsoft is that things shine and reflect light. To the keen observer that is all they need to spot someone hidden in the bushes. The most obvious reflective piece of equipment you may have in your position is your mask. For lenses there isn't that much you can do, ghillie the edges as best you can and try and cover as larger a surface area as possible. For mesh masks you have the ability to paint the mesh as well as ghillie the mask. To ghillie the mask I suggest gluing Hessian to it making sure you can still see out of it and if you have a scope can still use it. Scope lenses also need to be broken up, not only do they reflect the light they are too prominent a shape to be left untouched. There a few things you can do to brake up the shape and destroy the reflective nature of your lenses. To start with you can buy one of two different type sun shields. The first is your standard cover, which protrudes in front of your scope casting a shadow on the lenses. The second is similar to the mesh masks; a mesh is placed in front of the lenses to brake up the glare. I have never used one of these, as of yet though I have been informed from a reliable source that they work very well. I will have to see next time I play against this person. The next method is one I personally use; I cover the lenses with scrim netting. It is pulled tight over the netting and not only does it prevent most reflection it also breaks up the familiar shape of the front of a scope. Yes you lose a little light but not that much. Finally the other reflective surface people tend to overlook their skin. It is extremely easy to brake up the shape of the face and remove its reflective shine with camouflage cream. If you don't want to use any mud is good enough to remove that shine, though it will not brake up the lines of your face. It helps even if you use a full-face mask, as I tend to find that it's the mask that gives you away, and the lack of cover around your eyes. The human features are always easy to recognize, break them up. Finally equipment (rifles, pistols etc.) all needs to be camouflaged. If they reflect they can give you away. Again there are a few methods to do this, from painting, to tape and of course ghillie suits. The first two may remove there shine though the shape will remain, this is where a ghillie is an advantage and is why I ghillie both my rifles rather then painted them.
Shadow
From shine to shadow. An important and easy way to remain undetected is to use shadows; you're more likely to remain hidden if people cannot make out what you are. Look where the light is coming from, use it to hide you. Use it to find people, as many hide yet forget to look if they are casting a shadow. Shadows can be helpful as well as un helpful. Try and keep low to cast as little a shadow as possible, use other shadows to mask your own, and always remember to look carefully at shadows, as there may be another just as able to use them as your self.
Silhouette
Silhouetting is a big problem it seams in Airsoft; people forget that their background is never the same some times dark some times light. Most remember tour of duty the TV series and that highlights silhouetting or sky lining. You will stand out a mile and put all your camouflage to waste if you break cover, as would using the wrong type of camouflage in that particular area. Make sure that you try and mach your surroundings as best you can, don't brake the sky line, if possible use the dead ground (the area that the opposition can not see) as best you can.
Sound
Finally sound, little balls make a lot of noise, and noise is fairly easy to trace. If you can silence something do so. Make speed loaders out of the leg of a pair of combats and a bottle top (tried and tested and I have to say I as yet have not found anything better for this). If your weapon rattles or squeaks tape it down or pad it out till it stops. Tape all lose things down, tighten all straps as so things fit you properly. Don't use too much kit take only what you need, you have less chance of making to much noise. When moving you unavoidably make noise, move slower, look where your putting your feet and other body parts so not to break twigs etc. A trick that works well when walking upright is to put your heal down first (slowly) then moving the foot in a sweeping motion as pushing all the small twigs out the way rest your foot down. This works in practice I may add not always in the field, taking it slowly is the best way. When crawling make sure that you do not take to difficult a rout try stay away from as many brambles as you can. You might not be directly making noise or movement though the sudden swaying of undergrowth usually means that there is someone there. Listen out for movement, twigs snapping the knock of something hard against a tree or other object, voices the sound of AEG fire. I have found that sound is one of the easiest ways to be detected and to detect others. It also can help you tell who is who if you play against the same people each time, and what there using. Once you know what people are using you can work out the likely way their going to skirmish.
These form the 5S's that are commingally tort as the principles of camouflage, but the last part of this section will deal with the lesser know or thought about principles but equally relivant.
Smell
In the field you want to keep your personal smells down to a minimum, you want to match your surroundings in every way shape and form that includes your smell. If your hidden away, covered in just the right amount of local camo, yet your wearing a noticeable amount of deodorant or smell of silicon spray, people are going to realise you are in the area. You need to deaden this smell (deodorant attracts flying biting things anyhow so it best not to wear that until you have finished for the day/weekend. You can also obtain sprays that help your clothing smell more like the natural environment, Hessian would greatly benefit from using this type of product as it has a very distinct smell.
Again like the other principles of camouflage you can use this against your opponents, use all your senses when trying to locate your opponents, if something does not smell right, try and locate it and work out what the smell is, gas for pistols is one that is very noticeable, smoke grenades smell lingers. Recognise local smells from smells brought in to the skirmish area; you will need to acclimatise your senses.
Speed
Do things slowly and smoothly; don’t jerk, as it will attract more attention, being airsoft you will have to move around more than you probably would in the real world of sniping so you need to think about what is the best speed to move at. If you’re in known dead ground use it and move quickly, but don’t take your self out of breath, as it will throw your aim off. The closer to danger you get the slower you move (unless compromised and you can either remain perfectly still and hope they think it was a random act of movement or you can run for your life. You would want to be thinking of the first option more than the second, only use the second when you know the first is not even an option.
When looking out for movement don’t be distracted by those fast moving people, anybody in your team will either of seen them or you radio there position in, you might want to concentrate on slow moving people, those that know what there doing. You will need to use movement to judge persons ability, it will aid in target acquisition, someone that moves deliberately has knowledge of the area and you would expect is more experienced than a person that moves curiously. Looking around them all the time and shooting at anything they see regardless of distance.
Surroundings
Surroundings includes your local environment and the local wiled life, you are trying not to disturb. Frantically moving grass, or bushes indicates to the knowable that there is generally a person near underneath or next to it, making location far easer. You there for have to think about how you are effecting the ground your moving through, and the ground you have moved in to set up a defence position. Use natural disturbances to move things, to try to move them as little as possible. Make sure your not snagged on anything and if you are caught on something, be sure to remove it with out disturbing it too much if at all. When thinking about where to go, think about what type of undergrowth you will have to move through, and the effects of your movement upon them. Will it make a lot of noise, will it create a path that is easy to follow, and will its movement alert others to your presents. You need to choose your path with all this in mind, though keep in mind where blind spots are and time constraints. In defence if you want to hide in a cluster of ferns or other plant life, you might want to take a run and jump in, as to not disturb the outer edge of your semi permanent hide. Don’t chose the most obvious area to chose you location taking in to account what is out there, if its the biggest and most obvious piece of ground to use, then the opposition will already be thinking there will be some one there and deal with it appropriately.
With regards to wildlife, if you disturb it, it will react to you, animals react to people in different ways, sheep move away from you as a flock, dogs may come up to you as do horses (esp. if you have grass on you... as I found out), cows generally either don’t move or bolt away from you if startled, foxes avoid areas with humans as do deer. Birds fly away from people as well. All these are tell tail signs that can give your position away, but they are very helpful to spot the opposition. I generally spot more people through their lack of thought due to how they’re affecting their surroundings.
With all these ideas combined you stand a better chance of remaining undetected, and thus survive the game longer yet still play an important part.
This article was posted in UAA with the permission of Anthony Stuart Lovatt. Please do not repost this article without direct permission from the author.
Shape
The human form with a rifle is one of the easiest things to recognize We naturally see things as human like even when they are not. It is how we as humans perceive the world, so we must brake up this very obvious shape. To start with you have your combats with there displacement patterned material. This uses lines to brake up the flat surface of the body, though it is still very flat. A simple and effective way to brake up the body shape is to use local vegetation. Attach elastic strips to your DPM's makes easy attachment of local camouflage. When using local vegetation always remember to not pull up the roots, as vegetation does not grow in mid air. Also look how the vegetation is in the area you are to be working, don't use too much (telegraph polls sticking out of a field is just as obvious as a dark object in the grass). Always match the vegetation on you to that of your surroundings. There is no use covering yourself in ferns if your going in to a grassy field as you will silhouette your self. You could of course construct a ghillie suit. A ghillie suit is a form of camouflage that aids you to hid better as it brakes up your bodies shape better then just using DPM's. A ghillie suit does not make you invisible, you still need to use local vegetation and the principles of S (the 5 S's) to use it to its full advantage. I have included a section dedicated to the construction of a ghillie suit. I have made three different ghillie suits, a woodland, grassland and Arctic. There is a step-by-step guide to help you construct your own. This is not the only way to build ghillie suit, there are many ways, these are just the ways I create mine.
Shine
Something that people tend to forget in Airsoft is that things shine and reflect light. To the keen observer that is all they need to spot someone hidden in the bushes. The most obvious reflective piece of equipment you may have in your position is your mask. For lenses there isn't that much you can do, ghillie the edges as best you can and try and cover as larger a surface area as possible. For mesh masks you have the ability to paint the mesh as well as ghillie the mask. To ghillie the mask I suggest gluing Hessian to it making sure you can still see out of it and if you have a scope can still use it. Scope lenses also need to be broken up, not only do they reflect the light they are too prominent a shape to be left untouched. There a few things you can do to brake up the shape and destroy the reflective nature of your lenses. To start with you can buy one of two different type sun shields. The first is your standard cover, which protrudes in front of your scope casting a shadow on the lenses. The second is similar to the mesh masks; a mesh is placed in front of the lenses to brake up the glare. I have never used one of these, as of yet though I have been informed from a reliable source that they work very well. I will have to see next time I play against this person. The next method is one I personally use; I cover the lenses with scrim netting. It is pulled tight over the netting and not only does it prevent most reflection it also breaks up the familiar shape of the front of a scope. Yes you lose a little light but not that much. Finally the other reflective surface people tend to overlook their skin. It is extremely easy to brake up the shape of the face and remove its reflective shine with camouflage cream. If you don't want to use any mud is good enough to remove that shine, though it will not brake up the lines of your face. It helps even if you use a full-face mask, as I tend to find that it's the mask that gives you away, and the lack of cover around your eyes. The human features are always easy to recognize, break them up. Finally equipment (rifles, pistols etc.) all needs to be camouflaged. If they reflect they can give you away. Again there are a few methods to do this, from painting, to tape and of course ghillie suits. The first two may remove there shine though the shape will remain, this is where a ghillie is an advantage and is why I ghillie both my rifles rather then painted them.
Shadow
From shine to shadow. An important and easy way to remain undetected is to use shadows; you're more likely to remain hidden if people cannot make out what you are. Look where the light is coming from, use it to hide you. Use it to find people, as many hide yet forget to look if they are casting a shadow. Shadows can be helpful as well as un helpful. Try and keep low to cast as little a shadow as possible, use other shadows to mask your own, and always remember to look carefully at shadows, as there may be another just as able to use them as your self.
Silhouette
Silhouetting is a big problem it seams in Airsoft; people forget that their background is never the same some times dark some times light. Most remember tour of duty the TV series and that highlights silhouetting or sky lining. You will stand out a mile and put all your camouflage to waste if you break cover, as would using the wrong type of camouflage in that particular area. Make sure that you try and mach your surroundings as best you can, don't brake the sky line, if possible use the dead ground (the area that the opposition can not see) as best you can.
Sound
Finally sound, little balls make a lot of noise, and noise is fairly easy to trace. If you can silence something do so. Make speed loaders out of the leg of a pair of combats and a bottle top (tried and tested and I have to say I as yet have not found anything better for this). If your weapon rattles or squeaks tape it down or pad it out till it stops. Tape all lose things down, tighten all straps as so things fit you properly. Don't use too much kit take only what you need, you have less chance of making to much noise. When moving you unavoidably make noise, move slower, look where your putting your feet and other body parts so not to break twigs etc. A trick that works well when walking upright is to put your heal down first (slowly) then moving the foot in a sweeping motion as pushing all the small twigs out the way rest your foot down. This works in practice I may add not always in the field, taking it slowly is the best way. When crawling make sure that you do not take to difficult a rout try stay away from as many brambles as you can. You might not be directly making noise or movement though the sudden swaying of undergrowth usually means that there is someone there. Listen out for movement, twigs snapping the knock of something hard against a tree or other object, voices the sound of AEG fire. I have found that sound is one of the easiest ways to be detected and to detect others. It also can help you tell who is who if you play against the same people each time, and what there using. Once you know what people are using you can work out the likely way their going to skirmish.
These form the 5S's that are commingally tort as the principles of camouflage, but the last part of this section will deal with the lesser know or thought about principles but equally relivant.
Smell
In the field you want to keep your personal smells down to a minimum, you want to match your surroundings in every way shape and form that includes your smell. If your hidden away, covered in just the right amount of local camo, yet your wearing a noticeable amount of deodorant or smell of silicon spray, people are going to realise you are in the area. You need to deaden this smell (deodorant attracts flying biting things anyhow so it best not to wear that until you have finished for the day/weekend. You can also obtain sprays that help your clothing smell more like the natural environment, Hessian would greatly benefit from using this type of product as it has a very distinct smell.
Again like the other principles of camouflage you can use this against your opponents, use all your senses when trying to locate your opponents, if something does not smell right, try and locate it and work out what the smell is, gas for pistols is one that is very noticeable, smoke grenades smell lingers. Recognise local smells from smells brought in to the skirmish area; you will need to acclimatise your senses.
Speed
Do things slowly and smoothly; don’t jerk, as it will attract more attention, being airsoft you will have to move around more than you probably would in the real world of sniping so you need to think about what is the best speed to move at. If you’re in known dead ground use it and move quickly, but don’t take your self out of breath, as it will throw your aim off. The closer to danger you get the slower you move (unless compromised and you can either remain perfectly still and hope they think it was a random act of movement or you can run for your life. You would want to be thinking of the first option more than the second, only use the second when you know the first is not even an option.
When looking out for movement don’t be distracted by those fast moving people, anybody in your team will either of seen them or you radio there position in, you might want to concentrate on slow moving people, those that know what there doing. You will need to use movement to judge persons ability, it will aid in target acquisition, someone that moves deliberately has knowledge of the area and you would expect is more experienced than a person that moves curiously. Looking around them all the time and shooting at anything they see regardless of distance.
Surroundings
Surroundings includes your local environment and the local wiled life, you are trying not to disturb. Frantically moving grass, or bushes indicates to the knowable that there is generally a person near underneath or next to it, making location far easer. You there for have to think about how you are effecting the ground your moving through, and the ground you have moved in to set up a defence position. Use natural disturbances to move things, to try to move them as little as possible. Make sure your not snagged on anything and if you are caught on something, be sure to remove it with out disturbing it too much if at all. When thinking about where to go, think about what type of undergrowth you will have to move through, and the effects of your movement upon them. Will it make a lot of noise, will it create a path that is easy to follow, and will its movement alert others to your presents. You need to choose your path with all this in mind, though keep in mind where blind spots are and time constraints. In defence if you want to hide in a cluster of ferns or other plant life, you might want to take a run and jump in, as to not disturb the outer edge of your semi permanent hide. Don’t chose the most obvious area to chose you location taking in to account what is out there, if its the biggest and most obvious piece of ground to use, then the opposition will already be thinking there will be some one there and deal with it appropriately.
With regards to wildlife, if you disturb it, it will react to you, animals react to people in different ways, sheep move away from you as a flock, dogs may come up to you as do horses (esp. if you have grass on you... as I found out), cows generally either don’t move or bolt away from you if startled, foxes avoid areas with humans as do deer. Birds fly away from people as well. All these are tell tail signs that can give your position away, but they are very helpful to spot the opposition. I generally spot more people through their lack of thought due to how they’re affecting their surroundings.
With all these ideas combined you stand a better chance of remaining undetected, and thus survive the game longer yet still play an important part.
This article was posted in UAA with the permission of Anthony Stuart Lovatt. Please do not repost this article without direct permission from the author.