How to Make a Ghillie's Suit
If you're looking for good camouflage for hunting, paint ball or invading a small country, there's not much that works better than a ghillie suit. Invented by Scots sportsmen and borrowed by Highland soldiers, the ghillie, or yowie, suit is a type of clothing that is designed to make you look like a bush or a leaf pile. It's usually made from a net or cloth garment with loose strips of cloth mingled with real or artificial string, twine, leaves, twigs and other materials that will blend in with the surroundings. You can make one yourself.
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Things You'll Need
- Overalls, jumpsuit or flight suit
- Nylon Netting - enough to cover a suit and hat
- Jute Thread
- Dark natural-colored cloth strips
- Dental floss or monofilament thread
- Upholstery sewing needles
- Spray paint in camo colors
- Clear poly glue
- Floppy canvas hat
Instructions
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Sew patches of nylon netting to the fabric of the jumpsuit with clear monofilament thread or fishing line. Use a drop of glue wherever you attach the net to the suit to strengthen the knot and insure the net remains attached to the suit. Cover most of the suit, but leave gaps at the joints so you can bend your waist, arms and legs without having to fight the netting. Sew net loosely over the top of your hat.
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Tie twine, jute or strips of cloth to the netting. Use simple knots. This is time-consuming work and simple knots are quicker. Besides, you may want to alter the suit later for other terrain or wilderness environments, so it helps if you can untie at least some of the strands later. Use lots of different natural colors found in the area where you'll be hiding--nothing unnatural. Cover the entire suit with lots of shaggy bits, but leave a little room for local customizing. Do the same for your hat so that your face is concealed.
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Spray the outside of the rags and strings with streaks of camouflage spray paint to blend the surface. Keep it light. Don't coat the loose strands of twine and rags, just shade them.
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Season the netting and the attached fabric. You can do this by dragging the hat and suit behind a car, tossing it into the lake or onto damp ground. This is especially true if you are using the suit for hunting. Be careful not to damage the suit while seasoning it. Just make it smell musty--like the woods.
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Once you arrive at the area where you will be concealing yourself, customize the suit by tucking local leaves, grasses, branches and vines into the netting of the suit. Make yourself look like a bush or a pile of brush. If you'll be standing upright, put leaves and branches up top and grass and vines and twigs on the lower half so you'll look like a proper pile of vegetation. Use lots of fluffy vegetation in your hat so that you can still see even between the loose fronds and leaves. Wide bits of vegetation on the shoulders and hat help break up the lines and disguise the fact that there's a human head there.
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Attach more stuff to the back of the suit. Get help from a friend or do it before you put on the suit. Carry a roll of dark-colored string in your pocket to tie stuff securely to the net. If you are going to be crawling through brush, you don't want to lose your disguise or have it making a lot of noise.
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Change your tie-on items as you move from one environment to another so you'll blend in. The ghillie suit is particularly adapted to a varied environment, which explains its popularity with soldiers. You could disguise yourself as a pile of trash quite easily by attaching bits of garbage to the netting.
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Tips & Warnings
Allow lots of time for tying the strands of jute, string and rags. You don't want to be shedding your camouflage all over the woods because you didn't tie things firmly. Pick colors that go with the environment where you'll be spending most of your time hiding. One-piece zippered outfits are much easier to get into and out of. If it's already camouflage, so much the better. If not, get it in a dark green or brown or tan (if you'll be doing a lot of desert work).
Try to keep your camouflage loose so you don't overheat in warm weather. Buy a jumpsuit that's a little larger and looser than your normal size to allow air to circulate between the suit and your skin. Don't startle people with loaded weapons. Warn people before the bush stands up and starts walking.
