A little trick to speed up the "dread" look is once complete is to brush the jute with a dog brush called a "slicker brush". It helps separate the fibers and fuzz them up.
Best video I've seen on construction. Your suit is almost exactly how I built mine. I made my ghillie out of an old solid olive mopp suit from the late 70s back almost 25 years ago. I left the black material inside and just washed all the charcoal out in a washing machine. I never did cut the back out and replace it with mesh, but I wish I would have. I used an old heavy duty green rain poncho for the slides on the chest and upper legs and cut up a duffle bag for the knees and shins. The netting was the typical 1x1 square tan net you find all over the place. I also never thought to cut 12x12 burlap squares and separate them. I used 2in wide strips then did a ghillie wash. I also added some various strips of old woodland bdu and t-shirt to break up the sea of tan. The brown\ olive Tshirt would roll up and look like twigs after getting wet and drying and the bdu material would look like leaves from ground plants.
Very true on "dots of glue". My ghille suit i made in 2001, i used the cross-pattern of glue and it is not flexible. All great information here. A good snaplink or dufflebag hook/snap attached to your belt or crotch area is also good for stalking and dragging your drag bag. Preferrably detachable because it gets annoying being in that area dangling around.
a little tip on the smell. let ghillie suit air dry then throw in a plastic garbage bag with about a cup of baking soda . then shake rattle and roll it in all directions. then just leave it in the bag as long as you want . the only thing you will smell is the jute.
Best Ghillie Suit Video on the internet! Thank you so much for the info on ghillies and thank you for your service. God bless and long live the Republic.
8541 Tactical - Very cool segment and great information. Anytime someone takes the time to respond to people and answer questions, is held in our high regard. Especially in such a cool and friendly demeanor. You deserve huge props. Thumbs up brother!
Loving the mesh-top blouse, coming from Australia where it regulary sits over 90 degrees (30C) day and night thats a winning feature which still keeps the bugs out which is a big consideration down here. Keep up the great vids!
I never put that much thought into a ghillie suit as far as how to build one. I don't have much use for one, but having heard that inside knowledge is pretty cool. Its always cool to learn new things. Thanks for sharing John.
Hi ! I'm from Quebec (Canada). I'm a former canadian infantry soldier from the 78s hehe. Yep... woodland and snow ghillies areas. Initially i planed to create 3 military sniper ghillie suits style: (winter, spring/fall and summer). For winter, i purchased a canadian camouflage winter suit (2pcs) and i purchased 1 US nomex sage green flight suit. I don't know yet if the second will be a nomex or a 2 pcs suit. In my area, i have to deal with humidity, bugs and colder temperatures. Here is what i know about my area and ghillies: Ghillie = (+30% camo), add stuff from your surrounding for more % camo. A big dark or light spot reveil easier your position. Important to break the head and the shoulders silhouets. Take in consideration the reflection of the colors under the sun. My summer suit i chosen (a lot of forest green, some dark green spots and light olive). My spring/fall suit i chosen (some dark green, very few black, a lot of 2 tones brown fabrics (leaves colors and shapes) and brownish jute. Out here we have a lot of forest and farming fields. Do you have something to suggest me ? Oh... btw, i'm 6'2'' 220 lbs for shape to cover. Look foward for your professional knowledge. BTW, this knowledge use is for real situations; NOT playful times. Dark times are coming for North America ! Thanks ! Pat !
Thanks for the vid! In the civilian world, ghillie's work really really well for hunting! They will enable one to get much closer their game for a "better" shot; better shot placement equals more humane in my book. Also, per one of your suggestions, I would like to add a note to use non-waxed dental floss. It will hold the knot better. Great idea on the 550 cord to be able to change base garment/outer camo with a few knots! Thanks again!
Maybe this will sound stupid, but I deer hunt in a ghillie suit, and hardly ever need scent killer. This is because I like to stalk, and get close, and I have had deer walk so close to me it's ridiculous. Also, I have seen some amazing images in nature this way that I would have never experienced in a tree stand. (Nothing wrong with tree stands just not my thing). Maybe it is silly, but to me it's the most exciting, and challenging ways to hunt. It forces you to study, take notes, hone situational awareness skills i.e. wind direction, animal habits, and patterns, terrain, etc. Sorry for the speech. Awesome video! I learned some new techniques. Also, Permethrin is an insecticide that, when dry is safe for people, clothing, gear, and is odorless. That helps with the bugs.
Great video John. Sounds like we were raised during the same era. We found Ghillie's were most useful for another mission profile, but the hats with veils were about all you really needed like you said for the long gunner duty position.
The ghillie is a snipers psychological tool. The brain, animal or human, is programmed to recognize a human shape that is familiar. The ghillie simply breaks up that pattern of recognition that is familiar. While blending with local flora it assists the sniper in blending that shape with that background. Today a good source of burlap is coffee shops, they get their coffee beans in burlaps sacks and generallly will give them away for free. For a full suit about 5 bags will do it. To attach netting, shoe goo is a marines best friend. it bonds fabrics super well and doesn't come off. However, when I make mine I recommend throwing a few stitches here and there. Ooh RAH!
Which sniper school ,Stone bay? My ghillie is 18 yrs old and still smells like ass. I used zip ties to hold the netting and a lot of shoe goo still holding the canvas on the front. Easy shredding method is to drag it down a gravel road (still requires the same amount of beer as your method). Cool vids keep em comin.
i have a jute only stran ghillie made my self and brought one the 69. dollar one - of my jute is heavy and i mean heavy - but its braided kind with 3 strans to five strans of jute but im going to color some of it in brown or black of both but i think it turned out nicely i did not know about the mold you would have in time like that -
For are ground contact we used old navy sea bags one thing I was taught from my father who was a sniper as well was to cut a patch out of the back of the blouse and sew in a tight mesh screen so you can get some air to your back lmao I have never smelt a real ghillie suit that did not smell like piss
I worked part time for a P.I. for a short time. I made my ghillie without knowing how to go about it. I will say, it worked very well. I probably would have been shot without it. Got caught in the open with minimal cover. Blended myself in and melted into my surroundings. Had to stalk quite a few more times. And one time, had highschool kids practicing archery over me. Walking within a few yards of my feet in open grassy field. They never knew I was there. So, there are some real world applications.
If you can’t get your hands on the netting he used, go to Michael’s Craft Store and get the used fishing netting. It comes pre-stinky like fish LOL. It’s about 1inch x 1inch squares, it’s already brown to dark brown in color. You can get the shrimp netting or fish netting (difference is knots or lack of knots). Cost is about $25 for a huge pack. But it comes in diamond cut so you have to give it a quarter turn to get square cut. You will have left over net scraps.
I was taught not to get veg at my site but on the way to it I think you miss spoke on that love the content comparing notes from you a jar head and me a pickle thanks for you service brother
Merry Christmas john! The only thing i can think of for civi use is if something crazy happened like we got invaded. They are perfect for game wardens who are tracking poachers
Artic style ghillie are normally made from mil issue overwhites for artic soldiers....get the mark spicer book Illustrated manual Sniper Skills, its all in there
Thanks so much for this instructional video! I'll be using your advice to create myself a suit for playing airsoft/paintball; which admittedly is probably more for aesthetics than tactical gain, but if it works it was a good idea, right?
I know it's been a while but if you're still doing videos, could you do one on the set-up for the stalk? Ie: adding vegetation, choosing ingress and egress routes, etc?
I know some civilian turkey hunters that use something like a ghille, at least the store bought kind that give a leafy pattern with more depth than printed camo.
Its interesting on hearing different perspectives on this. I was never a big fan of the Ghillie suit in the real world. I don't think I did a crawl stalk out side of schools. Most of the time I was actually walking not crawling and there are better systems for that. I do agree, it seems like too many people think its some sort of invisibility cloak. Knowing how to move through your environment without drawing attention and being able to build an effective hide are more important. Also, I love the mesh idea, wish I would have thought of that. I've seen guys attach space blankets to their suit "in case of thermal". Man did they roast.
This video is 9yrs old and now with us about to be in ww3 the civilian gillie suit is way more relevant right now... I still have my gillie suit I made when I was in 3rd recon bn force recon Aco. I used my desert marpat as the base layer and I will add foliage as needed. It's way better to go lighter and build up darker than to just make a woodland gillie this way you have a universal one for any environment
I'd certainly enjoy more fieldcraft videos John. All rifles, all the time does get redundant after a while. BTW looking forward to the full review of the MDT LSS Chassis
We are trying to get out and shoot more video at the range and in the field, but with my schedule it is sometimes a bit difficult. Some fieldcraft I don't have a problem teaching in the open. Some that can be used against me, I would prefer not to post on the web. That is stuff we may look at teaching in classes next year.
***** I know what you're saying, but there's a lot you can cover that is already available to the parties that you're concerned about if they are serious. I would say more, but your channel is too good to drag down with politics. Thanks for posting.
Some teams will 'ghillie-up' for the Vintage Sniper Rifle match at Camp Perry. It's fun to see, but you have to wonder if it's worth the effort on 90+ degree days in August.
Thanks so much for all the valuable information. I bought a ghillie suit from an Army surplus store and was surprised to find out I have to acquire and attach jute myself. I’m just planning to use it to jump scare people on Halloween, but still I want to make it as authentic as I can. I made a mistake and cut and dyed a bunch of jute already and I made it too short. It’s only about 10 to 12 inches long. Is there a way I can still use the short pieces that makes sense, or should I junk the first batch of jute?
As a spot & stalk hunter there are times a anti-poacher cover would be a worthwhile garmet to have. How did you carry your rifle or did you have it in a drag bag? I use heavy work gloves and elbow pads as well as knee pads when hunting...you did not mention anything about using these so...did you ?
I pulled the rifle behind in a drag back if it was a crawling stalk. Otherwise I cradled it under me and "bear crawled". Never worried about elbow pads. Kneed pads never stayed where I wanted them. So they just got in the way. I usually used a set of flight gloves on my hands. They gave a little protection, but thorns went right through them. Got used to crawling on my knuckles.
i'm trying to video mine it turns out not nicely made i make mistakes in all what i do but when it comes to the woods i'm gold and gold is my play with tracking or hunting to scouting
Liberty tree tactical makes an excellent ghillie...tailored to how evervyou would like.....not cheap but not ridiculous priced like some custom shops. Also ghillies work great for predator hunting and ground stalks for medium game
+8541 Tactical Thanks for the video. I bought one specifically made for bow hunting. I tried building my own and was moderately successful, however the scent was the show stopper for me. As a still hunter and ground ambush hunter, the concealment is huge for those last couple of yards. Do have any tips for adding vegetation do a ghillie suit for the amateur? Also, how to do it with the least amount of movement?
is it better to put your ghillie in the woods cause of the smell of it - i mean scent wise - my new one in the mail stunk so bad made me sick really bad i'm not taking it back but using baking soda for the job in a plastic bag - thee other one is on outside porch getting air to it and putting it in a plastic container for the most of the night i want no bugs coming in contact with it
Hey John, I've been trying to find the followup videos for the prefit 260 rem aac barrel. I have the same barrel on one of my rifles and was wanting to compare charge weights. Thank you.
I get that its not usefull for civil life in a human vs human situation ... but i duck hunt with ghillie suit when i go solo and its working really good haha
So what is the urban ghillie suit used by a snipers? I would imagine you want to blend into the public is the best way possible or does it even matter? I'm thinking back to the WWII Russian snippers where they just used cover and concealment to get the job done in the urban battles. I imagine with the change to a more urban battlefield that ghillie suites are not used as much.
Snipers in cities use a screen on the windows that is hard to see into from outside. This covers their movement, silhouette, and blast from their shots. Other than that I saw a show about MSS in buildings and they just wore their BDUs.
I was never a sniper or marksman, I did however spend by entire career in a flight suit. And if you want a garment that you will freeze you ass of in the mildest winter, and sweat you ass off the rest of the time, rips unbelievably easy and impossible to repair, the a flight suit is the choice for you. The only up side is you won't burst into flames, since they are flame retardant. Good video by the way.
Yes... people need to know the real use of a ghillie suit. It is not normally use for a highly mobile soldier situation. Some like to move very fast and use brute force and fire power. Me i prefer to be in stealthy situations and i also think that for the northen countries; it's best to weat flight suits i guess.
Great video, thank you for making this. I am thinking of making a suit from a 3/4 length trench coat with a head cover piece. My thoughts are that I can use it over my day to day equipment easily and still have access to my belt. Its length will cover most of my legs and if need be I can use it as a camo screen to my front. Any thoughts on this concept?
An "unservicable" tennis net, at least it was after a couple of KaBars were done with it... Joking aside, this is a fascinating video. I don't need a Ghillie suit but I might make one just as a project after seeing this, go play some ultimate hide and seek.
I would think a flight suit would be preferable in order to keep bugs from crawling inside during a stalk.... I'm not a sniper, but from what I've read, the bugs are a big issue when out in the field.
***** Thank you for the reply! Loved this video, very informative and extremely in depth breakdown of the Ghille! Out of curiousity, what parts of the flight suit degrade/break most commonly?
Hey would you think using shoe goo for attaching the netting that has the jute on it to the camies would be a good idea? I thought about it but was unsure, I would appreciate your opinion/advice on this.
Your shoe goo will be used on the front of your ghillie along the seams of your canvas. Once you trace the canvas with your shoe goo i recommend painting it black. The shoe goo will allow you to slide better on the ground as you are stalking.
Steven Albers You can get pre-dyed stuff if you don't want to mess with trying to get the color just right, but you shouldn't need a lot depending on where/when you're using the suit. Best to keep the suit lighter in color using the plain color because you can always darken it with veg which also creates natural shadows so darker burlap isn't really needed. It's difficult to make dyed stuff lighter in the field, short of literally removing it which is very impractical. also try using jute rope, which you can get in like 250' rolls, as well as burlap because it gives different texture because jute rope is thicker when stripped than burlap. helps keep the "mound" to a minimum. There's really no complete suit because it should change with every environment/season so just keep screwing around with it and you'll be fine.
I would like to make an Arctic style ghillie suit I live in northern Idaho and I would like to start wolf hunting what do you suggest for a snow style ghillie suit
+Joe Coudriet Walmart or Hobby Lobby, or onlinefabricstore, go find Idaho potato brown, then get about 5-6 yards depending on how tall you are. Then cut it into a 16 x 16 inch piece, try to cut with the small weave of the burlap to be sure you don't have much waste. Then grab two strands at a time and that's how you shred it. When you're done, drag it in mud and then get flat brown spray paint or light flat green spray paint, this is what you use to blend colors better. I was a 8541 and a 0317 (New MOS designation). Hope this helps
BEING AS BIG OF A MAN THAT I AM CRAWLING ON MY BELLY IS NOT A OPTION. I LOVED THE INFORMATION THAT YOU SHARED I LEARNED A LOT. PLEASE IN THE FUTURE CAN YOU DO A WOODLAND VIDEO ON SEMI PERMANENT BLIND BUILDING FOR HUNTING OR OTHER USES WHICH MAY COME IN HANDY IN THE FUTURE. SITTING IN A BLIND AND HUNTING DEER OR ZOMBIES WOULD BE SOMETHING THAT I CAN STILL DO IN MY OLD AGE, MERRY CHRISTMAS AND GOD BLESS
Very good vid john you inspired me to look into this craft more So i got a couple books. Covert rural surveillance by ben wall and the ultimate sniper by maj john plaster. Very interesting Stuff you guys did and do although i love reading about This it is a bit overkill for wildlife photography
The suit probably would be about useless in the real world. The veil seems like it would be handy for anything from the police if you're in a mountain area or even things like hunting or whatever. But the whole suit would probably be pushing it and just making your life miserable.
