Camouflage

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Bishop

Full Member
Jan 25, 2014
1,716
691
Pencader
No discussion about camoflage would be complete without a 'Bushman' video :lmao:
[video=youtube_share;jseKknezMRk]http://youtu.be/jseKknezMRk[/video]
 

Goatboy

Full Member
Jan 31, 2005
14,956
17
Scotland
Good stuff,

I used to play an online version of "Where's Wally/ (Waldo to our American cousins)" with friends in the states. We'd take or have photo's taken of ourselves hiding in various environments and the others would have to spot them. (May be good to start it again).
As I've said in other threads different camouflage worked well in different environments and sometimes could work badly against you. I found that American "Tiger Stripe" worked better than trad old British camouflage generally in UK mixed woodland as it tended to break up your outline better. For multi terrain and open ground I found German Flecktarn pretty hard to beat and the clothing was cheap and well made.
My tweed shooting outfit (for posh days) was an autumnal brown and on the moor you just disappeared in it and indeed some odd colours work quite well, I had a woollen jumper that was mainly dull purples and browns (sound bad but I liked it) and the amount of times I almost lost the darn thing as it disappeared in mountain moraines. And I looked like a floating head in many photographs.
Hiding from mammals and modern military optics can be harder as they "see" into different light spectrums than we do. Why all my shooting clothing is never washed in standard detergents. They have UV brighteners which give the game away too easily. Some modern sniper outfits in development also have been made to hide body heat as potential enemy are increasingly using thermal imaging.
Outline and movement give the game away but also odour and animals can point you out. Hiding in obvious places too is dumb. I often worried that the locals may think I up to no good when out with the dog as I tend to be quite quiet and like to watch the local animal wildlife. The amount of times I've had to announce my presence to other dog walkers as they've not noticed me and I don't want to give them a start.

Some of the animal camouflage is quite stunning especially insect life though my fave pic is one of an owl hiding in a tree...
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You can see it due to the closeness and the eyes but I just love it.

On reflection since he started the thread and he's a darned good picture taker we could have a "Where's Wayland" competition where we have to find him in a picture he posts every month.
 

Goatboy

Full Member
Jan 31, 2005
14,956
17
Scotland
Well having a quick look on this small screen - I'm dead if you're a sharp shooting longbowman! Taking me to long to spot you. Stunning shot, your light painting is very evocative as ever.
 
Feb 27, 2008
423
1
Cambridge
When I go wildlife watching in the woods by myself I wear gloves and a mozzie net over my head so no pink flesh exposed. It's amazing how different just removing skin tone and human shape makes to the experience. You can get closer to all the creatures, the birds are calmer too. They are aware something is there but can't really see you. Scent typically gives me away to deer but not before I have got pretty close.

Contrast that to a walk with friends and you would think the same woodland devoid of life.
 

widu13

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Feb 9, 2008
2,334
19
Ubique Quo Fas Et Gloria Ducunt
its sometimes said that certain animals are colour blind, i have always been very sceptical of this, its amazing how often the colour of an ainimal fits its background.

It's now widely acknowledged that some animals are thought to see in a full color spectrum and some with an emphasis on reds or greens hence the misnomer that they don't see in colour. Certainly tweeds and the like have been very effective for centuries.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk
 

bikething

Full Member
May 31, 2005
2,568
3
54
West Devon, Edge of Dartymoor!
its sometimes said that certain animals are colour blind, i have always been very sceptical of this, its amazing how often the colour of an ainimal fits its background.
I read a comment once along the lines of "if an animal has a colourful coat / plumage etc., then it must have good colour perception". Wonder if the opposite is true? :)
 

Uilleachan

Full Member
Aug 14, 2013
585
5
Northwest Scotland
It's now widely acknowledged that some animals are thought to see in a full color spectrum and some with an emphasis on reds or greens hence the misnomer that they don't see in colour. Certainly tweeds and the like have been very effective for centuries.

They sure have, most estates actually have their own tones and colour mixes that are deemed most effective for their own ground conditions, some even have a couple of tweeds, one for August, stags and grouse, the other for the autumnal/winter hinds.

The most effective form of camouflage to avoid being seen by animals, IME, is to stay up wind, avoid being sky-lined (creating a dark silhouette on a highpoint with the sky behind) and keep the fleshy bits covered, hands and face in particular (gloves and midgie hood work for me), wear nothing too bright or reflective and stay still keeping all movements as slow and gradual as possible, to bring a gun the bin's or a camera to the point of aim. Any clumsy or fast-ish movement is soon detected by wary animals and once one is spooked; the game's over, movement is the give away and keeping still is much more important than camo.
 

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