Hunters, military men or airsoft enthusiasts need to to harmonize with their surroundings and to disguise themselves from their targets. In fact, there are cases when their camouflage plays an important role in life and death situations. That is the primary role and benefit of wearing a ghillie suit – to disguise them in dangerous and otherwise life threatening situations.
Also known as yowie or wookie suit, a ghillie suit is a type of clothing that is made to imitate heavy foliage. Commonly, it is covered with loose strips of clothing that look like leaves and twigs. This suit accomplishes the purpose of hiding them away since it creates a three-dimensional image of the person’s outline rather than a linear one. Some well-made suits even move with the wind in the same direction as the bordering foliage.
Because ghillie suits are very important in keeping you anonymous in your surroundings, it is also essential to select the right pattern suit. To enhance your camouflage clothing it helps that you can add surrounding foliage like twigs or leaves to the suit for additional blending with the surroundings.
History of Ghillie Suits
The word ghillie is an old Scottish term for a special kind of game warden. Ghillies were tasked with protecting the game on their Lord’s lands from poachers. From time to time, the ghillies would stalk the game by hiding in the grass and lying perfectly still. They would wait for unsuspecting deer to amble by and then leap out and grab it with their bare hands. Ghillies would then haul their prize back to the keep so the Lord could shoot it in the castle courtyard in a “mock hunt.”
Using the same principles of camouflage, snipers wrap their rifles in canvas and create little sleeves that make them blend into the environment.
Ghillie suits are basically old military uniforms that snipers modify for their special purpose. The belly of the uniform is reinforced with heavy canvas to help pad a sniper’s torso during hours or days of lying on his stomach. Camouflage netting is attached to the uniform. This netting is used to attach shredded burlap and other frayed materials. Ghillie suits are usually painted to match the environment of the battlefield. Local elements like twigs, vines, and branches can be incorporated into the netting to further camouflage the ghillie suit.
What Ghillies Do Snipers Use
For snipers for example, it is important that the suit allows you to move without difficulty. This is crucial since you need to escape during dangerous situations. Also, the suit must be light and allows for the circulation of air. And lastly, it should be made of quality materials ensuring that it won’t fall apart when you are in the field.
Choosing a Bow Hunting Ghillie Suit
In the case of bow hunters, there is an ideal bow hunting ghillie suit that is customized to make your hunting experience easier. Ideally, this should be made of light material to make movement easier. It should be designed in such a way that the bow string would not get in the way of the bow shot. As an added feature, the suit allows for the addition of sticks or leaves to make it more effective as a camouflage. A popular suit for bow hunters has been the Woodsman jacket and pants Ghillie Suit set.
Best Airsoft Ghillies
When looking for an Airsoft Ghillie Suit. You’ll be faced with a daunting amount of choices. My aim is to help you weed out the proper suit for you You will come across 2 main types of suits. The jacket and pants style and the poncho.
Will you be crawling around or playing upright most of the time?
The poncho style Ghillie Suit is best for upright stalk, squatting or sitting down. Once you start trying to crawl around it can become a hassle. Choose a jacket and pants style for quick mobility. You want a ghillie suit that causes as little interference with your movement as possible.
A full body suit can interfere with your movement. But you do have options availabe such as the ghillie tracker suit which gives you sleeves and covers your torso.
Another factor to consider is the weight of the suit.
If you have to put up with allergies like I do, you should seriously conside a synthetic suit. One more option is the bulls-eye suit.
Ghillie Kits
There are many Ghillie Suit Kits available so you can be involved in every aspect of building a ghillie suit.
With a kit you can tailor a ghillie suit to specifically match a certain area you want to use the suit in. Although it takes time and effort, building a ghillie suit from a kit can save you money and allow some customizations not found on ready made suits.
In the tracker kits you choose from 4 patterns and the standard colors of jute are chosen for you to make the specific pattern. This kit covers only the head and torso. When completed, you will have a suit that you can move around in. Fast!
For a full coverage suit from head to foot you can find the ghillie suit kit. You can even go for a custom ghillie suit kit that allows you to choose the colors that you want.
The Ultralight Ghillie Kits are the most popular. They come complete with the colors you need of synthetic jute, netting, and directions. They are designed for an upright stalk and the kits can also be made into a military style ghillie suit for crawling stalks.
