How to blend into the background?
- Thread starter arthem
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Not really, there exist several chemicals that totally prevent dogs from smelling you.
Do you mean people from the Indian continent or Native Americans? I’ve not seen any significant number of either in the British countryside! Dogs - yes. Quite literally every man and his dog now has a dog!!
So from what I am understanding, dark shades of green, brown and sitting still is the best way to start of blending in. Don't think I am ready for the Ghillie Suit yet 
Will do some further research into the principles mention a page or so back...
Will do some further research into the principles mention a page or so back...
It is very relaxing and ‘mindful’ to just sit. I like to find somewhere with a good backrest (against a tree is good) and sit on a foam mat for some comfort.So from what I am understanding, dark shades of green, brown and sitting still is the best way to start of blending in. Don't think I am ready for the Ghillie Suit yet
Will do some further research into the principles mention a page or so back...
So from what I am understanding, dark shades of green, brown and sitting still is the best way to start of blending in. Don't think I am ready for the Ghillie Suit yet
Will do some further research into the principles mention a page or so back...
Just get out there and learn from experience. It's the best teacher there is. If something isn't working, then is the time to do further research and book/ you tube/ personaly led research and learning.
You don't need a gillie suit !
Watch and learn from the world of nature itself.
Best teacher there is.
Listen! That blackbird is giving an alarm call, you've been seen and he's telling any animal or bird within earshot you are there... the whole woods is looking out for you and keeping out of your way until you become part of the woods itself. That may take an hour or so, be patient stay still in your chosen spot and one day a badger may tread on you, or a wild pony wake you from slumber blowing inquisitivly into your face as you sleep under a tree in your bivvy.
Or just simply a little Robin perch on your boot, when he deems it safe enough to take your lunch crumbs for his lunch.
Just some of my experiences.
I think there are two very different intentions if we talk about blending into the surrounding. And the resulting equipment that is the best choice is very different.
Hunters and nature photographers as well as the military want to blend into the natural landscape as good as possible.
It is sensible for them to achieve the highest degree that's possible.
For them wearing camouflage patterns and using camouflage netting is sensible.
And they don't have to care about possible reactions of civil persons they meet somewhere because such camouflage suits are simply their work clothing like the white clothing of medicines is usual in a hospital.
Something totally different is what is sensible for hiking, bushcraft and stealth camping.
I own some camouflage clothing because the used military surplus clothing in good conditions is usually a very good deal.
That's usually outstanding good stuff and they throw it behind me every corner. But I wear it mainly on our own ground and around of it, where people know me or where it doesn't matter, because I am just walking around and not stealth camping.
For stealth camping I use plain olive green, brown and grey, in some hot and dry areas also coyote brown and sand coloured clothing. And I mix these colours. In Germany for example usually brown boots, grey socks, brown trousers, brown belt (like the earth) and sand coloured or coyote brown T-shirt (less warm in hot sun shine, I don't set up the camp before sunset anyway) olive green shirt (like the leaves) and waterproof jacket. The fleece jacket is brown, because when I use it usually there are no leaves at the trees anymore and if worn under an open olive green rain jacket it looks from a distance like the trunk in a young tree. The cap I choose in brown or green.
The colour spots that I wear here have approximately the size and mixture of the pattern that European armies paint onto their cars and tanks. The like this created pattern works pretty well if seen from a distance. And the animals don't see me anyway if I don't moove.
If I sit or stand now between some trees or bushes I am totally invisible for humans and animals, because the vegetation in front of and behind me breaks my shape and paints additional smaller spots and lines onto the image.
But also because my clothing is chosen in a civil cut (one of the reasons why I love Solognac clothing), it looks quite civil if seen in a short distance in forest and field and also if seen in the bakers shop.
And my rucksack is very small, just 34 litres volume. People don't assume that it's possible to squeeze a complete 3 seasons stealth camping equipment into it. Even most experienced bushcrafters aren't able to manage it. And usual people simply don't know that it is possible.
So I just look like a man who is on a day hike. I don't look like a paint ball player or somebody else who likes to play soldier.
I am just a usual Gentleman on a day hike who of course rented a bed and breakfast or hotel room in the next town, like everybody else.
Like this I stay undetected on the way into the woods and if I am already in the woods.
With sunset I put my olive green sleeping and bivvy bag on the olive green or rather dark grey German army folding mat and lay down in the high grass or undergrowth. When I sleep I don't moove and am invisible like this even if I sleep a bit longer and farmers and foresters already start working.
If it's already raining if I set up my camp, I set up my camouflage pattern poncho as a very small tarp roof, pretty low of course and also between some bushes, for example in the corner of two hedges.
If it's raining in the evening it surely will be whet in the morning too, and less people will run around in forest and field.
So, and now I get caught! A farmer accidentally comes, although he usually never leaves his tractor, on foot exactly along where I did put my little camp!
He wouldn't see me from a distance of 50 or even 20 metres, but he nearly stepped right onto me, whyever.
Who gets caught?
A civil clothed man in a green sleeping bag on a green roll mat with a little green rucksack!
Any bottles flying around? Other garbage? Did he do something irresponsible? Any damage? Do they reenact the zombie apocalypse here or WW I, II or III?
-- No, nothing like that.
That's just a Gentleman who slept in the corner of the hedges like a fox. Obviously an old boy scout, nature freak or something like this.
Ah, he is able to wish me a good morning, to apologise that he slept on my ground and to explain that he is hiking from X-town to the railway station in Y-town, during the week a bookkeeper in Z-town and simply does that for recreational reasons and because he wants to watch wild animals in the twilight.
Obviously not the most dangerous criminal in the world...
Even if the farmer doesn't agree, it's unlikely that he calls the police. He will just tell the crazy guy that he should leave his ground now.
But it's quite possible that he has nothing against the guy. Why should he?
I didn't stealth camp in Britain, but everywhere in Germany and France thousands of times. Of course I also was found by farmers and foresters a couple of times, and I never, never got a serious problem with anybody. Nobody became angry about me, because I look civil, I behave civilised and treat the foreign properties and the wild life as responsible as possible.
Hunters and nature photographers as well as the military want to blend into the natural landscape as good as possible.
It is sensible for them to achieve the highest degree that's possible.
For them wearing camouflage patterns and using camouflage netting is sensible.
And they don't have to care about possible reactions of civil persons they meet somewhere because such camouflage suits are simply their work clothing like the white clothing of medicines is usual in a hospital.
Something totally different is what is sensible for hiking, bushcraft and stealth camping.
I own some camouflage clothing because the used military surplus clothing in good conditions is usually a very good deal.
That's usually outstanding good stuff and they throw it behind me every corner. But I wear it mainly on our own ground and around of it, where people know me or where it doesn't matter, because I am just walking around and not stealth camping.
For stealth camping I use plain olive green, brown and grey, in some hot and dry areas also coyote brown and sand coloured clothing. And I mix these colours. In Germany for example usually brown boots, grey socks, brown trousers, brown belt (like the earth) and sand coloured or coyote brown T-shirt (less warm in hot sun shine, I don't set up the camp before sunset anyway) olive green shirt (like the leaves) and waterproof jacket. The fleece jacket is brown, because when I use it usually there are no leaves at the trees anymore and if worn under an open olive green rain jacket it looks from a distance like the trunk in a young tree. The cap I choose in brown or green.
The colour spots that I wear here have approximately the size and mixture of the pattern that European armies paint onto their cars and tanks. The like this created pattern works pretty well if seen from a distance. And the animals don't see me anyway if I don't moove.
If I sit or stand now between some trees or bushes I am totally invisible for humans and animals, because the vegetation in front of and behind me breaks my shape and paints additional smaller spots and lines onto the image.
But also because my clothing is chosen in a civil cut (one of the reasons why I love Solognac clothing), it looks quite civil if seen in a short distance in forest and field and also if seen in the bakers shop.
And my rucksack is very small, just 34 litres volume. People don't assume that it's possible to squeeze a complete 3 seasons stealth camping equipment into it. Even most experienced bushcrafters aren't able to manage it. And usual people simply don't know that it is possible.
So I just look like a man who is on a day hike. I don't look like a paint ball player or somebody else who likes to play soldier.
I am just a usual Gentleman on a day hike who of course rented a bed and breakfast or hotel room in the next town, like everybody else.
Like this I stay undetected on the way into the woods and if I am already in the woods.
With sunset I put my olive green sleeping and bivvy bag on the olive green or rather dark grey German army folding mat and lay down in the high grass or undergrowth. When I sleep I don't moove and am invisible like this even if I sleep a bit longer and farmers and foresters already start working.
If it's already raining if I set up my camp, I set up my camouflage pattern poncho as a very small tarp roof, pretty low of course and also between some bushes, for example in the corner of two hedges.
If it's raining in the evening it surely will be whet in the morning too, and less people will run around in forest and field.
So, and now I get caught! A farmer accidentally comes, although he usually never leaves his tractor, on foot exactly along where I did put my little camp!
He wouldn't see me from a distance of 50 or even 20 metres, but he nearly stepped right onto me, whyever.
Who gets caught?
A civil clothed man in a green sleeping bag on a green roll mat with a little green rucksack!
Any bottles flying around? Other garbage? Did he do something irresponsible? Any damage? Do they reenact the zombie apocalypse here or WW I, II or III?
-- No, nothing like that.
That's just a Gentleman who slept in the corner of the hedges like a fox. Obviously an old boy scout, nature freak or something like this.
Ah, he is able to wish me a good morning, to apologise that he slept on my ground and to explain that he is hiking from X-town to the railway station in Y-town, during the week a bookkeeper in Z-town and simply does that for recreational reasons and because he wants to watch wild animals in the twilight.
Obviously not the most dangerous criminal in the world...
Even if the farmer doesn't agree, it's unlikely that he calls the police. He will just tell the crazy guy that he should leave his ground now.
But it's quite possible that he has nothing against the guy. Why should he?
I didn't stealth camp in Britain, but everywhere in Germany and France thousands of times. Of course I also was found by farmers and foresters a couple of times, and I never, never got a serious problem with anybody. Nobody became angry about me, because I look civil, I behave civilised and treat the foreign properties and the wild life as responsible as possible.
I have seasonal camo outfits to wear when I am hunting. At the end of the day, I'll change at home before visiting any shops. Look stupid, otherwise.
I'm still convinced that what works best is anything non-reflective that breaks up your shape, covers your hands and face, and learn to sit still. You can hide on a 5 gal plastic pail in a field if you don't move.
I'm still convinced that what works best is anything non-reflective that breaks up your shape, covers your hands and face, and learn to sit still. You can hide on a 5 gal plastic pail in a field if you don't move.
My job is to hang posters for classical concerts into the doors of shops, nearly everywhere.
Sometimes I enter a shop and don't see the owner although he stands right behind the desk where he belongs to.
If they don't say anything and don't moove I simply don't see them, even if standing 5 meters in front of them. They simply blend into the stuff behind them.
Sometimes I enter a shop and don't see the owner although he stands right behind the desk where he belongs to.
If they don't say anything and don't moove I simply don't see them, even if standing 5 meters in front of them. They simply blend into the stuff behind them.
If you were an SNCO you’d know that just opening your mouth to dispute a pearl of wisdom would earn 50 press ups.
Honestly chaps, please don’t go around wearing ghillie suits. It’s extremely weird, hot and inappropriate unless you are out hunting ze Germans. Seriously, please don’t go out in a bloody ghillie suit! Keep still long enough, shut the hell up and neutralise your odours if you want to go unnoticed.
I thought that was why a curry was a celebration and not a precursorMany a fellow lift passenger have wished I had that ability.
Prince George, British Columbia is the "Nairobi" of North America for hunting.
I will and do dress for success, possibly you never have to. As I have said, the rules are exactly the same to take advantage of your technique. Some people might think that a seasonal ghillie suit is unwarranted. Not so. I'd never wear any of mine in the village.
In our winter with 6" = 20' of snow, the gun sock is the easiest thing to misplace because I can put it down. OK, We are up for ptarmigan. Pick something to wear so you don't freeze your buns off. Got ice claws on your snowshoes?
I will and do dress for success, possibly you never have to. As I have said, the rules are exactly the same to take advantage of your technique. Some people might think that a seasonal ghillie suit is unwarranted. Not so. I'd never wear any of mine in the village.
In our winter with 6" = 20' of snow, the gun sock is the easiest thing to misplace because I can put it down. OK, We are up for ptarmigan. Pick something to wear so you don't freeze your buns off. Got ice claws on your snowshoes?
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So assuming that one has secured permission from a landowner to camp on their land, be it for a single night or a few days, what are the best ways to blend into the background of the countryside to have more of a chance of viewing wildlife and avoid attracting attention of other people so as to avoid being disturbed?
Most of the time I will be either bivvying with or without a tarp depending on weather or using a small tent like the Vango Banshee 200 and will be striving to keep noise and movement to a minimum. I should add that most of the time I will be in and around the Snowdonia/Arthog area so more open land and less forest.
If anyone knows of any decent camping spots around Arthog then that would be epic !
Thanks in advance!
EDIT: I should note that I am in the UK and so I will be attemping to blend into that type of landscape."
"
So assuming that one has secured permission from a landowner to camp on their land, be it for a single night or a few days, what are the best ways to blend into the background of the countryside to have more of a chance of viewing wildlife and avoid attracting attention of other people so as to avoid being disturbed?
Most of the time I will be either bivvying with or without a tarp depending on weather or using a small tent like the Vango Banshee 200 and will be striving to keep noise and movement to a minimum. I should add that most of the time I will be in and around the Snowdonia/Arthog area so more open land and less forest.
If anyone knows of any decent camping spots around Arthog then that would be epic
!Thanks in advance!
EDIT: I should note that I am in the UK and so I will be attemping to blend into that type of landscape."
With paint, divide up the great big block of tarp color. Put it up as a blind, as a wind break and strike your camp behind it. Tarps with seasonal coloring ought to do as you need.
Nope. Sit still in a snowy pea field, 50M from the nearest shrub.
A few crow confidence decoys. Wait. The Canada geese can't pick you out.
10kg pieces of meat that can cruise all day at 70kph, top might be 90kph that I have measured.
Don't miss the basic tenets for wearing such a crazy get-up. If I was just out for R&R with a tent, all that hunting junk stays at home. The forest supplies all the break-up camo anyone would ever need.
A few crow confidence decoys. Wait. The Canada geese can't pick you out.
10kg pieces of meat that can cruise all day at 70kph, top might be 90kph that I have measured.
Don't miss the basic tenets for wearing such a crazy get-up. If I was just out for R&R with a tent, all that hunting junk stays at home. The forest supplies all the break-up camo anyone would ever need.
"So assuming that one has secured permission from a landowner to camp on their land, be it for a single night or a few days, what are the best ways to blend into the background of the countryside to have more of a chance of viewing wildlife and avoid attracting attention of other people so as to avoid being disturbed?
Most of the time I will be either bivvying with or without a tarp depending on weather or using a small tent like the Vango Banshee 200 and will be striving to keep noise and movement to a minimum. I should add that most of the time I will be in and around the Snowdonia/Arthog area so more open land and less forest.
If anyone knows of any decent camping spots around Arthog then that would be epic
!Thanks in advance!
EDIT: I should note that I am in the UK and so I will be attemping to blend into that type of landscape."
Good job the OP is asking about how to remain low key in the UK and not the Canadian bush then. #relevance
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