this years winter project! hand applied improvised camouflage

[Rabbitsmacker]

Hi everyone,

I'm doing a new project.

i've always tinkered with hand painted camouflages. i've been reading a lot about how military cam is designed to fool the human eye, and not really to fool the prey animals. makes sense! and i have observed that in slightly more open terrain that military cams once away from close terrain or hedgerows tends to fail even to my human eyeball.

also i have noticed that the realtree type stuff is very terrain specific, which is what it is designed for, most notably the reed pattern stuff< and works well at close range when static. the woodland/forest types tend to become a bit solid at distance i assume due to the amount of tonal detail merging together.

i was hoping to create a hand painted type that would offer a little more 'outline break-up', instead of 'man wearing camo' in fields and hedgerows.

i did a dpm jacket in the summer completely covered in paints that completely blended with leaf litter and was as good as a ghillie type suit, but it had its down sides, it was heavy, it rustled, and as soon as it left the leaf littered area it was plainly a browny beige jacket being worn by a chap hunting.

now i still intend to use my dpm's and woodland camo's but for a little bit of fun, i thought i'd give this a bash. i just wondered if anyone has had a go themselves? played around with applying different dyes and sprays to clothing, and done similar projects?

i found these websites while on Bushcraft US, and the designs are very simple and seem to do a good job and are a slight side step away from manufactured realtree type camos.

i think the project basis is break up of the outline as well as some blending, i thought a sprayed base with similar colours to multicam but without the shapes of multicam, then simple branches painted over the top, kinda crossing the blackfoot and 'sticksnlimbs' types below.

i also like the old SAS and Denison screen printed camo from pre-DPM era. this seams to be using a similar idea of mainly blocks of colour to break up the outline.

anyway, its all just a bit of fun, i have a plain beige/off white smock and i'm a creative soul, just thought i'd put the idea out there.


http://www.blackfoot.com.au/

http://www.sticksnlimbs.com/showme.html#topshow

also, this link to a company that uses moth shapes, a bit realtree like,

http://mothwing.com/patterns/mountain

also a realtree type camo that uses a lot of big patches mixed with branch effects
http://www.predatorcamo.com/Home/Galleries

 

[Ogri the trog]

I'll be interested in seeing what you come up with RS.

I've had a play with camo effects and come to the conclusion that a bit of each works reasonably well, but too much of anything will always be very region specific.

Any of the "printed/painted" effects can only go so far - a suit made with material will move with the wearer and show movement of limbs within. Benefits are that they can be made lightweight and "fit" the wearer. Drawbacks that they do not lend themselves to a change of region or wearer.

A ghillie suit has a "lag" effect, disguising limb movement but the bulk has the added benefit of breaking up the outline of the human form. The drawback of a ghillie is that they are bulky and heavy - a real pig in heavy rain.

The use of pinned "leaf type" camouflage over a suit can work very well amongst the specific flora and can hide small body movements, but walking or venturing out of context it looses its effect.

I wonder what you are intending to hide from - you have mentioned the human results, but there are many who think that plain subdued colours are sufficient for animal camouflage - with the maxim of "just keep still!"

My best results in pest control were when wearing a combination of ghillie, leaf and DPM - and remaining stationary in a shooting postion - had a blackbird land on the back of my leg and scared the bejeezuz out of me.

Let us know your results

Ogri the trog

 

[blacktimberwolf]

.Spot the sniper .....http://ac.img.v4.skyrock.net/ac6/tireur-delite-01/pics/1615800112.jpg

 

[Retired Member southey]

.Spot the sniper .....http://ac.img.v4.skyrock.net/ac6/tireur-delite-01/pics/1615800112.jpg

probably the guy lying behind the big suppressor

 

[Rabbitsmacker]

Lol, not out to top anyone, sorry to disappoint you blacktimberwolf, though am quite well aware of many of the snipers tricks, as stated, am not after the static concealment as realtree patterns deal with this quite well. And also I should reckon if that shifty geezer in the photo were to stand up I bet a jam tart he'd still be quite a solid shape and mostly greens and browns. I'm just having a bit of fun with outline break up using colours and contrast.
Terrain around here is very flat and either coastal or agricultural mainly, interspersed with pockets of forest. Means lots of open flat space which you can see quite a way. Anyway, I saw those first two links to camouflage done in a quite different way and saw they use less muted colours and more highly contrasted plates of colour and contrast. I ju
st felt that a hand done set might be fun to have a go at. But I will say I think its usefulness is limited to animals on the ground, as when doing my normal shooting the birds are often in flight are looking down on me, normal camo is ideal as no light is coming in behind my shape to create the solid shape\sillohuette.
I dunno, early days, might be an enjoyable waste of time if nothing else! Lol. I'll do a photo log of its production and then post.

 

[santaman2000]

I think you're going to have fun with this project. However I see at least 2 shortcomings to your logic (one of them might actually be to your advavtage though)

1st your reasonably happy with existing patterns for static camouflage but you're disappointed with results when moving? I think you may be confusing camouflage with stalking skills here.

2nd your looking for something less region specific. Unfortunately that's where you have to compromise to an extent.To be optimally effective camouflage needs to be as region specific as possible whereas a more generic pattern won't be as good in any specific region as one designed for that region. This however may turn to your advantage as you are making your own, you can tailor it to the region of your choice (or possibly make it easily alterable)

 

[Zingmo]

Some camo ideas here. I think the names are the best bit!

Z

 

[Tadpole]

probably the guy lying behind the big suppressor

my thoughts exactly... you can also see the laces of his boots, and once you see that the whole shape pops off the page like one of those 3D pictures.

 

[Rabbitsmacker]

woah theres some funky ones there! i reckon most related is forest phantom and 3d snow. having said all this, a deer walked right in front of me while i was on a path to work this morning. he crossed into some brambles and even tho i could see his movements at very close range, i really struggled to actually see him or make out his shape, he was all brown coloured! so a lot to be said for single colours too!

Some camo ideas here. I think the names are the best bit!

Z

 

[Rabbitsmacker]

another contender for ideas is ATACS woodland, found it today and it seems very effective

 

[Martti]

Nature's own camouflages are well explained in Abbott H. Thayer's book "Concealing: coloration in the animal kingdom" from 1909. See also Hugh Cott's "Adaptive coloration in animals" from 1957. The first one is available online at http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924022546406

"Male Ruffed Grouse in the forest"

 

[Rabbitsmacker]

wow!!now thats is a picture!!

Nature's own camouflages are well explained in Abbott H. Thayer's book "Concealing: coloration in the animal kingdom" from 1909. See also Hugh Cott's "Adaptive coloration in animals" from 1957. The first one is available online at http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924022546406

"Male Ruffed Grouse in the forest"

 

[wattsy]

shame its not in proper colour though easy to make something blend in when you only have one colour

 

[Miyagi]

I've a couple of old stone coloured jackets that I used fabric paint on 20 odd years ago.

My inspiration was those Autumn leaves that develop black and brown spots as they decay.

It's great fun and you can design your disruptive pattern to suit your locale.

Liam

 

[Vulpes]

I've always wanted to do something similar with an old snow smock and some procion dyes. Should make an awesome project though! Go for it! Never really got round to doing it and started wearing this stuff, as well as a combination of other less sophisticated disruptive patterns:



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Sometimes I use an old U.S. woodland BDU for darker environments like pine forrests, I also like the generous fit and large pockets on it, which are very good for holding cartridges, etc.

 

[ex Member swampy99]

the thing with camoflauge is that it goes out the window when you move. DPM, MTP, etc is all good when you are not moving as it breaks up the shape. But the second you move it's gone as the eye it attracted to movement. It is one of the most basic things with cam and concealment. Shape, Shine, Shadow, Silhouette and MOVEMENT could just get away with plain OD green with a bit of mud on as long as you dont plan on moving. All these funky patterns look great in the pictures on the sites as they are not moving notice how there is NO stalking films showing the big white hunter moving as it will show the flaw to all camo.

 

[MartinK9]

the thing with camoflauge is that it goes out the window when you move.

Yep; as seen in this clip:

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=13e_1297205336

 

[Bushwhacker]

Would you be moving if your quarry is looking your direction?
I've been really close to deer by edging up when they're not looking and freezing motionless when they are.

 

[Chiseller]

There's a camp pattern. Called sticks n limbs...(I think ?) Works on light...almost white , large areas in the pattern. Allegedly...ours and animals eyes focus more on the light areas that in turn break up the shape better.
It looks rubbish on a coat hanger but is one of the best I've seen in use. Quite terrain specific though.

The Mighty Oak Is Merely A Nut Who Stood His Ground