Do you cover stealth camping in other environments? The UK has a very habitable environment, but can you do this in more extreme environments like desert, mountainous, or cold.
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Another option to face paint or mud is a mosquito head net. Aside from its intended purpose it also breaks up facial features and outlines quite effectively. Also no mess. It works very well to prefilter debris when gathering water (and dries instantly). It weighs virtually nothing takes up virtually no space and is inexpensive.
A camo balaclava (thin light nylon style for summer) would also work pretty well. There's a lot of good options out there that you can pickup at pretty much any hunting store.
a mosquito net is literally in the top 3 best things to carry on you. to take it into perspective, you can create a make-shift knife out of rocks, obsidian, and flint, but a mosquito net, you cannot.
and its not about just mosquitos. nobody wants to wake up by a swarm of ants or spiders or cockroaches, or worse, flees, ticks. just the thought makes me shiver.
Sending this comment from a hidden location. I can’t thank you enough!! It’s been 3 days now and my wife hasn’t got a clue where I am even though I am in the garden! I use the toilet and eat when she goes out it’s bliss. 👍🏻👍🏻
Good job mate but you are only at the beginners level. When you become more advanced you will be able to sit right in the kitchen or the family room and she will not even notice you are there. Once you can do that you will be a full graduate.
Some additions: 1) You will sweat extremely when sleeping in a space blanket. Same applies to the first tarp setup. 2) As others already mentioned, the heat will bleed through the space blanket. There are IR resistant tarps available though. 3) When using face camo, you'd want to paint your face asymmetrical/irregular, so your facial features are not recognizable.
Thanks Mike. So many Bushcrafters and even military channels cover signaling, orange, yellow and red tents, so you can be seen and rescued but while not downplaying being rescued, many don't need to be rescued in this day and age. We want privacy, it's a super power and most just don't touch on stealth - this is great Mike. Bless you, Dad and kids. One thing on the space blanket, it does work but the military tech the USA has sees the heat behind those blankets about after 15 to 30 minutes. When body touches the blankets - your seen. If you can avoid touching the mylar, you can hide your outline. Perfect concealment. Thanks brother from across the pond. Appreciate this vid. Great stuff. From Marty and Angie in NC, USA
Yeah it's too bad most mainstream camping gear is teletuby theme colors. My favorite tent is a us marine surplus tcop. I wish I could purchase a brand new one though as the water proof coating has degraded badly.
I'm all for privacy, but honestly what are you all doing where your privacy is valuable enough to sleep in the dirt under a ground tarp, covering yourself in dead leaves, and painting your face with mud, and hiding in a bush? This is either for a legit military Escape & Evasion, or its just for LARPing. Sounds miserable to be honest. Maybe fun for one night, then I'm gonna need to clean my face, pitch an actual tent, and have a real campfire.
One thing about the mylar you neglected to metion is that it doesn't work well in contact with your skin. Mylar is reflective, but it's also conductive. It will heat up when in contact with your skin or thin clothing, and will then show up on infrared. It's a great resource for hiding a heat signature, but only when not in direct contact with your body.
The space blankets will bleed through your body heat as soon as you touch it. It need to be placed as a barrier between you and tarp/bivy/poncho. The camo netting needs to be slightly larger than the tarp. This allows you to hang it over the edges of the tarp, disguising the opening. Shadows draw the eye.
also in some situations space blankets may hide the warmth of your body to well and cerate a very cold, very dark (on IR imaging) square that stands out just as much
Good advice. Absolutely have some branches or leaves draping down from the top of the tarp to the opening. As we can see in the video, the top of the shelter is perfectly concealed. But that opening is a dark, regular shape that will stand out. Having the camo netting drape down and concealing the opening itself not only allows you to hide that opening, but if you put enough small brances or leaves across the opening, it even blocks the wind and helps keep the shelter warm.
A couple things to add regarding drones if you're really worried about them. both hunters and farmers are start using them so this might be more of a concern. disturbing an area will be easily spotted when viewed from above even tough the area looks fine at eye level. so adding debris to your tarp/tent will be paramount instead of nice to have. Make sure the area where you've gathered your leaves still looks natural and isn't dug through to the dirt. Also hide any dirt you dig up for the same reason. throw it in a bush or add leaves over it to cover it up. and hide your gear, also from above. I could throw a high vis-jacket into a ditch and people wouldn't notice until they're reasonably close but to a drone it'll stick out like a sore thumb You can also buy tarps that have IR camo paint to it to further reduce your IR signature, though they're quite costly compared the other ones
Regarding use of mud and clay as face paints: a thicker layer of clay with powdered charcoal mixed in will give you a much more concealed appearnce, and as the clay becomes tacky, a layer of charcoal dust can be applied to the surface. I understand that using slaked clay can pull on the skin and pull out hairs, but the actual damage is minimal, and honestly, you have larger things to concern yourself with
Cool mate. One thing though, with hiding as the deck, is deer and boar can run over the top of you and clobber you. Staying away from open areas and trails minimises that as they'll usually be walking when near any obstacles like boulders, cliffs, trees or bushes. Good vid though! 👍
I personally like to set up a tarp as a plowshare shelter for stealth camping, it gives you two open sides while you´re still partially concealed behind the tree or bush you tie it to. Also, you can avoid being spotted because you´re cooking dinner by not cooking at your camp. On one hand that can mean you´re only eating a cold meal, but what you can also do is to cook on the trail before reaching your campsite, putting your meal inside a thermos container and then eating it at camp. This is especially convenient if you want to eat something that would normally require a long cook time (rice for example), but you can let it cook through in its own heat inside the thermos, even conserving fuel at the same time.
A note about thermals: any sleeping bag will block your heat signature, especially winter sleeping bags. "Warmer" the bag, better it is at retaining your body heat. Wrapping yourself in mylar will block heat, but also it will make you sweat like crazy.
Absolutely great tips man! You never know what is going to happen from day to day. With that being said I believe we should all hope for the best but be prepared for the worse. I'd rather have this knowledge and never use it, rather than need to use it and not have the knowledge! Keep up the great content my friend!!!
As someone who was received SERE training (survival, evasion resistance and escape) with the US army I can vouche for all these tips. This man knows what he is talking about.
Same brother. Only thin I would swap the reflective with an IR tarp. Wrapping yourself in reflective makes you hotter and the heat will bleed through the reflective
I’ve seen a lot of survival skills videos, but I have to commend you on this one. You covered a variety of subjects in 15 minutes that were presented in enough detail that even a beginner could understand. I’m going to subscribe to your channel and I look forward to watching the rest of your videos. Well done, Sir. From a US Marine Infantry squad leader.
I bought extra camo netting to double fold. Over the top of my bivy or over the top of your tarp entrance, you can easily.just unfold the double fold to create a camp net door to disguise your opening, which blatantly kinda sticks out. Great video! I subscribed.❤
I'm really interested to know how much the camo net with leaves aids with insulation. It looks like it not only traps the leaves, but helps them act as lofting- trapping air amongst them, like a sleeping bag.
I just rewatched your original stealth camping tips and though I should check in to see what you've been up to. What a good follow up! I really love the cabin projects you do with your father. And your dog!
The Dakota fire pit works really well for cooking. I found it an excellent way to do a wood fired bbq plate. You don't get burnt knuckles when turning the food.
I wonder where one would have to be concerned with thermal imaging when stealth camping. Don't think that in those situations it would be considered camping anymore. Great video and some great tips there.
I ditched camo paint a long time ago, it isn't practical longterm, just use a shemagh. Also, when it comes to hammocks, I just can't, I'd have the constant sensation someone is under me with a big knife. 😂 .... which you just shut down by putting it low to the ground like that. You dont need a hexi stove, just a three large nails to place your tin on
One consideration is the signature some materials have when being looked at through night vision goggles. Some materials will have a camouflage pattern (let’s say a tarp for example), and look bright white when using NVGs
One more thing to point out while stealth camping, leaving a bunch of footprints or trails behind can give you away, try maximize not breaking any green twigs and also when camping u can just brush over the footprints with a dried up plants or something just makking it difficult gor spotting you. In survival situations buying time for yourself from the others is also a great , especially when concealing your footprints you get extra time .
a tip on the watch bit: wearing your watching on the opposite side of your wrist cuts down on reflections, since its facing inward relative to you, and not outward
A note on camo face paint. Black isn't a natural color. I would avoid using it for this application because black stands out in the woods unless it's night time. I remember the sniper handbook talks about not using anything black as it doesn't blend in with natural vegetation. So use greens, browns and dark browns if possible.
It's definitely part of the Australian bush colours. When we go hunting in the Paperbarks we(if you're black) use white clay like tiger stripe and the white fellas use black mud . Works great, best with as little clothes as possible.
Doesnt really matter that much, aslong as you get the sharp contours out by smudging across them. If you are going to tilt your head for a sniper then obviously do diagonal stripes across your face
I would love to see more of the stealth camping video's by you because my goal is to travel by canoe through canada from michigan to vancouver island & do the stealth camping & leave no trace of myself the whole way there
First thing to consider on camo paint, don't use the darker colors around your eyes. Makes them stand out more. Use the lighter tan in inset areas of your face. Black does not occur naturally in nature. Black should be used as a shading, like shadow and not your primary masking color
All this is good advice. I have one thing to add. If you are in an environment where you are trying to avoid detection by other people in the forest, you will need concealment not only when you get ready to shelter and sleep for the night, but some protective cover when you are traveling. One of the easiest things to do is to take some long thin tree branches and to bend them into a large U shaped frame that is somewhat like a wide, flat snowshoe. Then just take a bunch of small branches and weave them into the netting portion until you have a nice frame filled with green leaves and brown branches. Make sure to get some longer branches to weave into the top of the frame so that they stick up somewhat. Then, using additional cordage, you put this frame over your backpack and tie it around your body. From the back, someone would only see your legs and the camo frame, with the longer branches sticking up and hiding your head. If you hear sounds that may come from hostiles, all you have to do is to stop and stand still, and you will be close to invisible. To be safer, drop to your knees, so from the back you just look like a bush. To be truly and almost 100% safe. walk partially or totally into a bush, and crouch or kneel down. Your camo frame will match perfectly with the bush. You will be completely invisible, and only someone with a dog team or infrared optics will be able to spot you. This is very easy to make, even for someone with little or no military skill, but it will make you very hard to find as long as you use common sense and move quietly.
Fun fact. For black, if you happen to have a wine cork, like from cork wood, not that rubber crap, char it and rub. Works great, and lasts long AF, used it to be a burnt zombie one year for Halloween as a kid. That same cork lasted YEARS, for black face paint. Same piece lasted me personally, 5 years worth of face painting until I lost it. And I did a lot of side show work, so it was burnt and used often.
Serious stealth options in this one Mike. There are plenty of areas where I live that require stealth options to camp there. Some of the old buildings I have planned to camp near would need me to use a good few of these tips. Cheers for the info pal.
A way to improve the camouflage face paint is if you use the brown paint (the lighter shade if your paint has two browns) to apply a light base layer (like foundation) to take away the natural shine of your skin, then add all three colours in random streaks over your exposed skin to break up the shape, you want to do the opposite of contouring by going perpendicular to prominent features (horizontally across the nose and vertically along the jaw line for example). Though the results of your technique definitely speaks for itself
@@obi-wankenobi9187 if you think about the layering of colours in the forest (which you are effectively mimicking) the base colour is brown (mud and wood) then over the top of that is the green (moss, leaves, smaller plant stems), and then the black (or darker brown depending on your colour set) helps add darker spots to mimic shadows and shaded areas. So everyone will have their own way that they find works best, but the "official" way is to use brown as the base layer (the base layer is more to hide your skin's shine than actually colour it any way) (and to answer a question that gets asked a lot: yes black people should still use the brown paint colours)
Another major update for hammock quick setup: use single ridge-line with tarp and everything already pre-attached, so you can use the "sock" for the tarp and hammock at same time!
I use a similar hooped bivvy and camo net. I believe I got the idea from you. So thank you! I find dogs are a problem because I'm often not far from walkways. I feel like I should keep a piece of steak sizzling in a bush to distract it!
I toss on a torn up shirt with paint on it and rent a room at the motel 8. Not as many bugs and I blend in pretty well. It's just a tad bit nicer then having to deal with bugs outside, though the rooms sometimes have roaches/bed bugs.
for some of the viewers planning on doing the first tarp shelter try to not pull leaves from in your camp area because it will leave a negative veg space and draw peoples eyes
The police, if called, would surely wonder why youre face painted out as if youre going to be up to something nefarious. A head net and camo gloves might be better options.
If you're stealthing it, unless the mob or cartel (or maybe a jealous spouse) is who's after you, you probably don't want found by the cops either. This is usually SHTF stuff, and in a scenario like that, it's most likely the authorities you're hiding from.
@@juliebaker6969 My guess is our host is subconsciously channeling a generalised unease that's bearing down on many of us at the geopolitical levels where we all could be potentially polishing up the Rambo skillsets ? Mass immigrant influxes,(read-resources competitors) ? mass bioweapon assaults masquarading as medicants to say nothing of,deliberate economic takedowns ?.These bushcraft abilities will be very much to the fore (strokes whiskery beard)
Yes of course because every crackhead who goes out on the rob is sat in the woods with camo cream on. If its not illegal then just do it stop wondering what other people will think or say.
Great quality video. Your content is excellent. My only criticism is the camo netting. I've used it plenty when hunting but it is insanely heavy and bulky, especially moist/wet. If you have somewhere to store it nearby then fine....but otherwise you are struggling to pack it. It's not feasible to transport it in reality, heavy, bulky, dirty, smelly. If you're moving it by car, well.....even less stealthy.
You havea point, but there are lightweight versions that are designed for quick deployment and redeployment. Or you could bring along an old tattered tarp with enough holes and torn slits to trap leaf debris! Hahaha!
i’ve been watching you for over 2 years and i’ve just realised you look a lot like my sociology teacher lol i always thought i recognised you for somewhere
There is a cool improved space blanket and camouflage tarp combination out there made by the Norwegians called the Jerven fjellduken. The Varusteleka version might be perfect for this as it has a m05 camo more suited to a forest.
In my experience, you can make a bivvy bag/tent even more low profile by putting your backpack standing up inside it touching the top of your head, which keeps the netting up off your face. This way, you don't need poles. Hope this helps
That low profile tent we called in the german army „wiener dog garage“😊, to black the face we used the remains of our little fires like the coal remains and a little water or even pee if necessary. After a few days in the forest you don’t even smell like a human. My biggest problem was to keep my clothing dry in wintertime, we carried the unused socks under the armpits to dry them and wrapped the shirts around the bodies.
Huge Pro Tip for Dakota Fire Holes while stealth Camping: Use a top-down fire. Cut your large PCs of fuel into 1”-2” x 3-6” blocks with the grain runnjng horizontally (showing at each short end just like a log), then place the blocks vertically until your main hole is chalked full. Then, using fatwood and/or feathersticks, preferably, start your fire. Burning the blocks vertically results in a longer lasting fire and using a top-down fire results in a much cleaner burn.
Just rotate the watch so the face is worn worn on the inside of your wrist. Alternatively you could buy or make a cover that prevents glint off the watch. Something as simple as a section of sock will do it.
