Ghillie suit
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Snipers and hunters with extreme requirements for camouflage use a ghillie, or yowie suit. The ghillie suit was originally developed by Scottish gamekeepers as a portable hunting blind. The name derives from ghillie, the Scots Gaelic for "boy", in English especially used to refer to servants assisting in hunting or fishing expeditions. A ghillie dhu is a type of tree spirit that is supposed to disguise itself in leaves and vegetation.[1]
Ghillie suits can be constructed in many different ways. Some services make them of rough burlap (hessian) flaps attached to a net poncho. US Army Ghillie suits are often built using a pilot's flightsuit, battle dress uniform (BDU), or some other one-piece coverall as the base. Ponchos made of durable nylon netting can also be used.
On the base, rough webbing made of durable, stainable fabric like burlap is attached. A nearly invisible material like fishing line or unscented dental floss is used to sew each knot of fishnet to the fabric, in the areas to be camouflaged. A drop of 'Shoe Goo' is applied to each knot for strength. The desired jute is applied to the netting by tying groups of 5 to 10 strands of a color to the netting with simple knots, skipping sections to be filled in with other colors. The webbing is then artificially weathered, often by dragging or running over it with a car, leaving it to soak in mud, even by applying manure to make it smell earthy. Once on location, the ghillie suit is customized with elements of the local foliage and surroundings as much as possible.
Making a ghillie suit from scratch is time consuming, and a detailed, high-quality suit can take 100 hours to manufacture and season.
An inherent problem with ghillie suits is internal (and sometimes external) temperatures. Even in relatively moderate climates, the temperature inside of the ghillie suit can soar to over 50 °C (120 °F). Another safety issue is that hessian and burlaps can catch on fire very easily. Smoke grenades, WP, or fire started from HE or a tracer can be a serious hazard for the sniper, if his suit is not treated with a fire-retardant product.
High quality ghillie suits can be purchased online, but traditionally in the elite sniper subculture, soldiers in the armed forces construct their own unique suits.
