Camouflage and Concealment

[Indianajohns]

Staying Hidden

I'm pretty new to airsoft, I've only been playing about 3 months. One of my favorite things about it, and one of the main reasons that I got hooked is because a lot of airsoft (to me anyways) is being able to eliminate a target without them or anyone around them knowing that your there.

I've read up a bit on the internet, some American field manuals. Personally I think the old (WW2 era) one is a lot better for airsoft purposes than the new one. It focuses more on breaking your silhouette, staying in shadows and movement than the new one. As well as being a lot more in depth.

Here are some things that I have picked up that I would like to share. Please feel free to criticize it. Not just the actual content but the writing itself. I’ve been thinking of going to school for journalism lately so grammar and punctuation and general article structure criticism are more than welcome. They way I see it even if I decide not to take that path with my life it’s always good to try and be excellent in all the things you do.

Basic camouflage: From what I have picked up is disguising your shape, breaking your silhouette, blending your colours and not moving. Camo is basically what I would call the “art” of being unseen. In air soft nothing is more satisfying than getting a kill on someone and watching them look around, trying to figure out where it came from.

Movement: Even if you look like a bush and are completely undetectable to the naked eye the second you move you will give yourself away because you are distinguishing yourself from your background. Slow and steady movements are less likely to betray your presence, however moving should be avoided if at all possible. When movement is required, and it always will be for me since I do not play the role of a sniper, it is always wise to move from cover to cover. For example if you are in a car lot you will want to move from car to car pausing in between movements to see if you can detect the enemy. This is practical in that when you are always near to cover you are less likely to be killed, but also less likely to be seen. Even in a forest it is always wise to go tree to tree at a slow and steady pace. If you are playing the role of a sniper, move very slowly at a “sloth speed”, moving each part of your body only an inch at a time. If you do need to move stay behind physical cover if possible.

Silhouette: Your silhouette is the outline of your body and equipment cast against what ever is behind you. This can be a HUGE giveaway. For example when you are moving you will not want to walk along the top of a hill or ridge because now anyone can see your shape clearly against the sky. This is true on a smaller scale as well. When you are moving or in position you want to have as little space between you and your background as possible. You want to be as low profile as you can because the more of you is standing out against your background… Well then the more of you stands out.

Colour and Shine: play a part in this as well. When you look at a soldier wearing his combats while he is standing in the bush, you will notice that his clothing is designed to disrupt his silhouette and cause his body to blend in with the colours of his surrounding environment. Many camo patterns include the use of small amounts of black. While some people see black as unnecessary and even detrimental in camo (and multicam does a good job without it) the black spots in a uniform are designed to give depth to your body. They simulate shadows as well as the varying colours simulate different things. Leaves, sticks and shadows are all part of a woodland environment and so all these colours are represented on modern digital camo. When you are walking through the forest, how many times have you spotted garbage on the ground because of its colour? Things that are not the same as their surroundings will stand out. If you paint a stick red and put it on the ground, it is not moving , has no real silhouette and it’s shape is indistinguishable from the sticks around it but your eye will catch it as it looks out of place. Shine can have the same effect. Something that reflects more or less light than the things around it will draw your eye. How many times have you instinctively looked in the direction of something because its reflected light hits you in the eye? Cover any watches, flashlights and unused optics to avoid shine. Do not wear black if you want to stay hidden. Even at night black soaks up light and creates a very obvious dark spot where you are. At night wear either the same camo you would in the day or wear navy blue. At night camp fires and flashlights can be seen from a great distance away.

Shape: Shape can be another thing that gives you away. It ties in very closely with silhouette. Even if you are hiding behind a bush, the shape of a human outline is very easy to distinguish. The way that a human head, shoulders and face appear is very easy to see as your mind is trained to recognize it from being around others. The shape of your body can be very easy to disguise if you know what to do. Use natural cover to hide yourself. Things like logs and rocks and tree branches can all be used to mask your shape while in a set position. While on the move it is wise to attach sticks and grass to you or to use scrim to break your outline.

Shadow: Is another very important thing. The WW2 field manual that I found goes into great detail on this where the newer field manual does not. Shadows can be used to either mask you or reveal you to the enemies eyes. When moving try and stay in shadows, you are much more discrete in a shadow than out in the light. This is partly because when you are in light you cast a shadow, a dark spot on the ground that stands out jarringly. When a person is using camo their shadow is often many times more obvious than they are. The new Canadian desert combats for example do an incredible job of blending into the Afgan soil, however when you are walking out in the middle of a desert even if you are difficult to see with your silhouette broken your shadow will be a dead give away to where you are.

Noise: Noise can be used to either give you away or further conceal your movements. The same goes for your enemy. Footsteps and crashing through the bushes is like putting a large neon arrow pointing to the area you are in. When moving stay low to the ground, go beneath obstacles and judge your next step carefully, taking time to avoid stepping on branches and dried leaves. Use ambient sounds to mask any noise that you make. Sounds of airplanes flying over head, engagements else where on the field and vehicles will all help to drown out the sounds that you make as you move or shoot. Make sure none of your equipment rattles. Use mid or low cap magazines instead of hicaps, make sure your mag pouches are pulled tight and if your battery fits inside your gun loosely, tape it to the inside. When communicating use hand signals instead of speaking. Never shoot unless you either have a sure shot on your target or are creating covering fire for your team mates.

Tips:

- The more complex your surroundings are the less likely you are to be seen. Hide in bushes and among fallen logs in the shade and if you are by a building stay near to interjecting points. The more visual distraction around you the better.

- The squares in digital camo do an amazing job of tricking the human eye. It is almost as if your eye breaks the patterns up into much smaller pieces that your brain makes part of the background. I have seen this where my friend was wearing woodland MARPAT in a field of dead grass and knee high bushes that were all dead. Despite the differences in colour when he laid down behind a bush it was instantly impossible for me to make him out of the grass and bushes surrounding him other than a faint darker tinge to the space he was in. After watching him for a minute my eyes got tired very quickly from trying to differentiate him from the background.

- No matter how good your camo is nothings beats wearing what is around you. Use boonie hats with webbing and attach similar webbing to your BDU’s (and idea given to me by a sniper at the last RAAT game I was at) and pack the webbing with grass and stick and branches and leaves. Using natural materials creates flawless camouflage. Even if your field does not allow ghillie suits this will work since you can still feel the BB’s hit you through the vegetation.

- Movement will always give you away. However, slow and steady movement directly towards a target makes your movements less likely to be seen by those observing you compared to movement perpendicular to the target.

What do you do to stay hidden? Please comment with any tips or suggestions that you think I have missed. I have been really trying to improve on this.

- Jeff

Sources:

Newer army information on camouflage and concealment.

WW2 Era

Basic Field Craft PDF

Suggested additions on Airsoft Canada from:

Sloth speed – CDN_Stalker

Noise - Blackthorne

[CDN_Stalker]

Is a good start, you did more than just copy/paste, makes it more interesting reading. One thing to add about movement, there are times it's best to move at 'sloth speed', when any movement will likely be detected (which is your mindset anyways), you move your head, arms, body an inch at a time. I once wore my ghillie and walked within about 50ft of the enemy respawn throough the swamp side, the guys were all sitting around talking loud and joking around, I literally moved slower than a sloth tile I was clear. Took a while, but it worked. BTW, I was standing, not crawling.

Good job though Jeff.

[Blackthorne]

You can add allot more to the section on Noise Discipline. Reams in fact. Air density and temp have an impact on things.

Keep researching. But good work so far.

[Indianajohns]

Alright, I updated it. I couldn't really find anything deeper than that about noise discipline. Do you know of any links or things to search that would make finding info on it easier?

[FOX_111]

Attend a sniper clinic, you will have enough material on the subject to write a book or two.

[LightBulb]

Another thing about sound. It matter which way the wind is blowing. If you are moving and the wind is blowing toward your enemy, they are more likely to hear you.

[Con Murder]

Quick tip for noise dicipline in my area of a bushed, windy valley. Move with the wind.

[MrEvolution]

When it is raining or very damp or humid, sound travels less as the weather worsens.

[Rugger_can]

Very nice. Another key point is to remain aware of your elevation relative to a target. You never wish to elevate any part of your body beyond the visible horizon when in direct relation towards your creep as a silhouette is much easier to notice.

You touched on this, but the key point of camouflage is to attempt to make the human form no longer recognizable. A good "rule of thumb" is to make dark area's light and light area's darker, thus the eye will not subconsciously recognize it as a human form.

[CDN_Stalker]

Originally Posted by Rugger_can

Very nice. Another key point is to remain aware of your elevation relative to a target. You never wish to elevate any part of your body beyond the visible horizon when in direct relation towards your creep as a silhouette is much easier to notice.

You touched on this, but the key point of camouflage is to attempt to make the human form no longer recognizable. A good "rule of thumb" is to make dark area's light and light area's darker, thus the eye will not subconsciously recognize it as a human form.

Good point, and I'll add what you said is paramount for putting camo paint on one's face, head, hands, etc. More specifically, areas that are raised get darkened (bridge of nose, cheekbones, jawline, etc.) and areas that get shadow cast upon them (either side of nose, below jawline, inner ears, etc.) should be lightened with greys or light green.

[Nik12]

I've learned most of what you posted from FM20-3:
CAMOUFLAGE, CONCEALMENT, AND DECOYS
http://www.globalsecurity.org/milita...m/20-3/toc.htm

There is also the first chapter of FM21-75:
COMBAT SKILLS OF THE SOLDIER
http://www.globalsecurity.org/milita...-75/index.html

And section 1 of Chapter 4 in FM23-10:
SNIPER TRAINING
http://www.globalsecurity.org/milita...-10/index.html

Appendix D of FM5-103 discusses camouflage of various position types:
SURVIVABILITY
http://www.globalsecurity.org/milita...103/index.html

There is a small section on Mountain camouflaging in chapter 2, section 4 of FM3-97.6:
MOUNTAIN OPERATIONS
http://www.globalsecurity.org/milita...7-6/index.html

And lastly, here's FM27-76-1, which has alot of emphasis on Concealment and Cover:
SURVIVAL, EVASION, AND RECOVERY
http://www.globalsecurity.org/milita...6-1/index.html

Here are a couple manuals on Urban Operations, which discuss movement best practices:

FM90-10-1
AN INFANTRYMAN'S GUIDE TO COMBAT IN BUILT-UP AREAS
http://www.globalsecurity.org/milita...0-1/index.html

FM3-06.11 (Chapter 3)
COMBINED ARMS OPERATIONS IN URBAN TERRAIN
http://www.globalsecurity.org/milita...my/fm/3-06-11/

If you are ever looking for other FMs for other purposes, this site has a decent library:
http://www.globalsecurity.org/milita.../fm/index.html

[battlerager]

Ok I know this is going to sound stupid, but I learned this from my martial arts teacher who also studied ninjitsu. If you position your body in a way you are not use to seeing, people will tend to looks past you because its not the shape they are used to seeing.

For example. You have your back to a wall standing on one foot, Head below your waist line, other foot bent at the knee ,one arm straight up the other out to the side bent at elbow.

Think about it. It's something you learned to do as a kid playing hide & seek

[Cyklops]

"Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast." Ever since I read the book Shooter about USMC sniper Jack Coughlin, that the one rule I always remember and it does work.

[SniperSam]

And just remember, if you can see them, they can see you

[Cyklops]

Originally Posted by SniperSam

And just remember, if you can see them, they can see you

Also another rule that I go by. I might start my own rulebook :P