Next Level camouflage for SHTF 

You're a deluded idiot! My grannie could take you down.

Spot on. Noise, light, and movement discipline. One can have the best handmade ghillie in the world and be discovered by gear rattling, white light AD’s and/or movement. Thank you for your videos 🫡

When I first started in the outdoors the only people who taught you anything were ex army and im very grateful they did. You are absolutely correct, light noise and movement gives you away. My favourite camo pattern is Rhodesian Brush Stroke but it's too rare and expensive. Im good with a mix of British and Dutch DPM in summer and Austrian Pea Pattern in winter.

The flashlight experiment was insightful, Bill. You should do more of that on occasion in different terrain in your videos.

Thank you Stoker! It has to be kept in mind, unless professionals are looking for us, which is not likely, most people have zero awareness and will miss you with even basic cammo and fundamental knowledge that we have in the preparedness community!

Best practical advice on the concept of camouflage I've seen presented. As far as camo pattern, rugged outdoor clothing in earth tone will always be my go to.

I think you're spot on man. Hell, the VC used to make black pajamas work.

I'm no soldier, but as a hunter your exactly right. Camo can be plain old wrong for the environment your in, but movement and noises you make will give you away every time.

What makes you invisible to the trees may make you stick out to regular people. In a guerilla war scenario solid earth colored normal clothes (Tan, Green, Brown) may be more useful than Camo patterns to make you not look like a combatant while you're moving to the AO for the ambush, but still allow you some camo potential. Maybe have your combat shirt or a camo poncho stuffed in your bag to put on when you get there.

Here in Eastern NC I use whatever I can find that will fit me, then I usually spray paint it. Example I got a chest rig from a SF medic that was "Grandma's quilt" pattern and simply hung it in the sun and spray painted it with mottled olive drab, light and dark browns. It actually seems to work pretty well. I ffgure, if things get to the point that we are using camoflauge to exist, then we will be utilizing everything we can. Also, you are spot on when it comes to light, noise and movement discipline. I typed this without my glasses...so my apologies if I have some misstypes.

Camouflage is a tool like any other tool. If used correctly it works great. If you dont apply terrain and shadows to help with the deception you're already on your way to meet your maker. There is a reason SLLS is used as a means to help detect observers in the area.

Noise & movement will give you away every time. An old timer told me a long time ago: Move only when wind is blowing, it covers your noise and movement somewhat and don't let the sun shine on your face. The face has a lot of shine and sun in your eyes limits vision, and watch what you are doing. Move slow and smoothly from cover to cover.

We include an 'M' for Movement when teaching Why Things Are Seen here in the UK as it goes mate. Great video, some good points brought out.👍

I agree when you say many people's criticism of your camouflage shows their rather two-dimensional understanding of its principles. Forest environments are the last scenario where I'd be worried the colors of the textles I wear might show mv location. Forests are abundand in hide-outs, you seldomly oversee large areas through their trees and hills, so low visibility is easy to attain. There's plenty of improvisable camouflage materials like branches all around, earth, grass and mud can stain even a neon orange shirt into well suited camo colours in no time. Forests eat up noise and oftentimes the wind in the leaves or a rushing creek even overtones most sounds. The forest does many camo tasks for you if you're smart and understand the principles, no need to be so dogmatic about the camo you wear there! I personally live in Germany and our Bundeswehr's "Flecktarn" camouflage is arguably one of the best for forest environments (wonder if that would've eraned you criticism?). However, out of experience using it, I don't buy my equipment with Flecktarn anymore, cause I feel other surroundings require proper camo patterns way more and are less forgiving... for example I appreciate Multi-Camo for its ability to merge into dry grass and Tundra environments, it also works good in rocky, mountaneous areas, desert areas etc. These wide-range, open, light flooded environments call for appropriate textile patterns way more, imho. So, seeing a guy enter a stealth-oriented march into a forest getting criticized for a camo pattern that is a tiny nuance imperfect is so ridiculous, imho.

Concamo fabrics and phantomleaf patterns are the best I’ve seen. Concamo gives you a light weight way of switching quickly between different zones, and phantomleaf is supposedly designed as a system to confuse the human eye and impede the observation of movement

You have overcome 100% of your bad days so far, keep going. 👍

Those comments about not forgetting what you've through and yet still survival is excellent stuff!! You made through what's happened in the past, you'll get through the current one as well. Draw on the strength the past provides for strength in your current situation.

Old school woodland.

Solid earth colours. All you need.

Yup. Not having the mind to maintain discipline and situation awareness should always be the proactive practice. While CAMCON and using your natural environment to full advantage is important, not making dumb mistakes is moreso. I love M81/ OG US Woodland, but there's a lot of other ones I really like too-- Veil/ 5.11's GEO7 Terrain, Flecktarn, Ghosthood, Pencott, Phantomleaf, Dutch NFP, British DPM, Rhodie Brushstroke, old German M43/ M44, ATACS, they're all super solid. Honestly, an all solid medium Brown color uniform works well, it is the most prevalent foundational natural color around the globe, and you can do a lot with it, to include making your own camo system based on your regional/ localized environment. Cheers bro! Good stuff.

I prefer the newer 3D leaf like over suits. I have found them to be more effective than anything. Texture is one of the biggest factors in effective camo when it comes to just the material. But you are right about the movement discipline.

Take ACUs and dye them dark green with Rit. It turns out very similar to current Finnish and some Russian patterns. Works really well for my area

As we were taught and trained that there being two types of camo, that being natural and man made. That being said, I'm a firm believer that both go hand in hand to a degree not withstanding sound and movement, which I agree are the two things no one talks about this day and time.

It looked like your camera was working great to me. Especially in that environment

I'm glad that you mentioned light, noise and movement discipline Bill. Those will give you away ore than almost anything else. Plus your comment regarding terrain features is spot on. For my area, ATACS-IX camo is very affective!

It's hard to beat "Well Worn/Washed" Woodland and plain OD especially as a base. That being said some of the newer Multicam and A-TACS are sweet. I find in Alaska Flecktarn is king.

EXCELLENT video and the light/gunshot DROVE THE POINT HOME! I would love to see you do a similar video on dead zones. Very much related to this video but the other side of the coin! I hope others would be interested in seeing your take on dead zones as well.

Any dark earth tones and greens work IMO. People forget to hide the face tho....and your hair can he a dead giveaway if you have blonde hair. Always go black face and hide your hair (if you have any) The best camouflage is made from the environment you are trying to hide in...that's what will match the best 👌 the problem is...there is no one size fits all camouflage pattern so any dark earth tone is a good start to build on.

Personnaly i like the atacs patterns. They blend pretty well. Now there are more than a few similar options by other companies that use the same idea of a smeared color scheme.

Awesome video brother! Thanks for the info.

I was a hunting guide in the past and found that for me and my clients in my AO the ASAT (All Season All Terrain) camo with its combinations of tans and browns in big open patterns hid me and my hunters as well as or better than anything else outside of a ghillie. The problems with ghillies when hunting big game is the odor of the fabrics/strings alerts big game that something is off. Ground air currents typically swirl as well as thermal air movements upwards and downwards can wash scent over a larger area than most people realize, so its not as easy as "play the wind". But as mentioned in this video, movement will give you and/or your targeted being every single time. A hunter or observer is not looking for a target, just looking for movement. In the big game hunting world almost nothing moves downward when it senses danger. Birds fly upwards and 4 legged creatures move horizontally. Almost the only things that hunkers down when danger approaches are baby deer and people. Movement is key. Great video. Thanks for your good work sir

The storm blows me on, and so i tell my childeren: The power is within you, your brave soul is up to the task. The purpose of life is to continue. Further note: camouflage your outline, shoulders with a head on top is what makes humans alert. Mr stoke, stay stoked!

1000% agree with you. A camo pattern is only there to work with you and help you blend in as much as possible. If you go stand out in the open, or jump around and shout, you are going to be easy to spot no matter what camo you're wearing. On the other hand, you will have a hard time detecting someone wearing solid OD Green who is trying not to be seen. Brent0331's videos are a great example of how pretty much any camo can be effective if it's utilised correctly. Also amusing that people were criticising you because they could see you in your video - it would be a pretty boring video if it was just a bunch of shots of trees where you were completely hidden. Some people have a strange mentality.

Top three patterns (my opinion). 1. Kryptek (but limited sizes, not just if you're overweight but even just big/tall or a weight lifter). 2. ATACS-FG (Unfortunately the company discontinued the pattern). 3.Multicam/Scorpion variants. Not saying there aren't other excellent patterns, but some of the best for being highly effective for majority of places on the globe.

This was very good info. My husband and I were walking through the woods. I generally try to stay as quiet as I can while walking. My husband on the other hand was shuffling his feet through the dead leaves and sticks. I would have never known that he was a hunter if I went by that. It was very eye opening how noisy he was.

I mix and match everything , one pattern type top and another type bottom. For example multicam top, tiger stripe bottom.

I found you hiding, it was just the colour/shadow density in that area that had me mark it as a potential anomaly. Many folk have never been taught how to visually search an area. By simply dividing the visible area into 3 sections, what's nearest, then the middle ground and what's furthest away. Always looking from right to left, as our brain processes right to left tracking slower and is more likely to pick up something, versus left to right which our brain is accustomed to doing at speed with so many things like reading. I enjoyed your talk.

I live in the mountains of WV so cano is very dependent on season and all that. Real tree and mossy oak advantage works really well in fall and winter without snow.

Good job! Noise and movement! Best things for spotting game too. For positioning: Note what attracts your attention. Don't hide there. You want to be in a place that the eyes slide over on the way to the next interesting thing. Think of camouflage clothing and paint as an accessory, not a necessity. Practice. Practice. Practice. Sweat in training so you don't bleed in battle.

Multicam black is my favorite camouflage if done correctly. Scrim is heavily recommended in combination of wearing MCB with the muted golden taupe/olive color backing when MCB cloth is cut into strips for the head, and the best piece of equipment in my opinion is a sniper veil or ghillie hood with MCB cut into strips and fastened to it using a ghillie kit with string that matches your local foliage. The Dark MCB color mimics deep foliage whereas scrim/ghillie equipment breaks up the silhouette and mimics darker mid-level layering of foliage. Like any camouflage, MCB is only good if you know how to wear and use it. The longer it is exposed to the local elements, the more effective it is. So training with any gear with a pattern on it is recommended.

Camouflage is best worn for concealment that blends in with the terrain. Bright shining colors are noticeable. White is out unless there is snow. Camouflage matches the color that blends with the color of terrain, no movement, or anything that makes you stands out.

as an 80, 90s recce guy (RCAC) , the old olive and the Yank woodlands strike a great smile upon this old face... I must admit i love the look of tiger stripe. You hit some good points with colour, movement, sound,. Then texture, light, and most over looked silhouette... cheers well done

Good job flying that drone through that vegetation..

Favorite Camos: 1. M81 Woodland 2. Tiger Stripe 3. Chocolate Chip (6-Color Desert) with that being stated... My best camo is flat earth tones Pants and shirt. I can camo it within my surroundings. Most commercially available camo patterns are more visible than "camoing" yourself within your surroundings on solid flat earth tone colors. Also with camo, it should be broken between two, three, four or more patterns worn on the body. Make yourself blend in, do not rely on the clothing for blending and hiding you.

My new favourite channel. Not for the beginner class, though the beginners can learn if they can keep up!

I won’t claim to be a master of camouflage. I wore woodland BDUs and the OD hot weather uniform. For all round, my I would go with the hot weather OD for many environments and camp accordingly. Spent a few years in the desert southwest wearing a green uniform that wasn’t particularly designed or intended for stealth. I found that little things like eliminating anything that jingled or rattled, and subdues snaps on keepers and buckles helped some. Using the shadows was your best friend.

U nailed it as usual it's not what u have on in the woods it's how u move threw the woods something any hunter will also attest too

Today i hung up my woodland camo rain fly at my gator camp & seam sealed it, & walked back about 45' & if i was casually walking by i would have missed it. Also had a Greek lizard stripe that blends in REALLY well in my area of swamp.

Carharts or similar in earth tones with work boots, then you can walk into town too.

When I was in the Army we had the OD green and that may have worked pretty well. Yet later the camo might have been a little better.

Great vid as always!!! The place you were in was one of a few spots I felt you could be in. There was a slight color difference (upper part of your pack)that I saw but until you moved I wasn't completely convinced it was you. I thought it was just some leaves...

I respect everyone's favorite camo... unless it's acu

There's nothing you said that was inaccurate! My grandfather could make his green wool checkered jacket work with the best of them while bow hunting. Movement and noise suppression was key.

There are plenty of times I was out hunting. Other hunters walked up to me, not knowing that I was there. I was wearing Mossy Oak camouflage.

Since we dont have snow I use woodland when we have lower light levels and just simple mtp in summer. I keep it simple with no scrims etc, I learned from deer stalking that movement and concealment are always more important. In saying that, Ive bought a Flecktarn set and a Greek Hellenic set just because they look cool 😅

I live in the SouthEastern US, mostly pine forest and a woodland environment a lot like PI. I am a fan of the real MARPAT! It works really well especially when you add natural veg to a boonie cap to breakup the heads hard lines. I find it works better M81 in my AO, especially under night vision. Do you have a video, of not could you make a video, of walking silently in the woods, especially with dried and crunchy leaves? Always great content! Thanks!

Great class, fieldcraft is way more important than the kit in most instances...

It doesn’t matter which camo pattern you wear, a pattern is just a base layer to build up from. It’s how you apply and use the natural vegetation around you to your advantage.

Watching deer teachs you alot about disappearing in the woods🇬🇧

I use Atacs FG. To each their own with camo. I like them all.

I agree top, your camo technique was fine, you blended in with the shadows well. Movement, noise and light discipline are what give positions away. Look up how "odd man out" "lighting 3 cigarettes on one match is bad luck" . The Boer wars is where these originated.

Thank you for the info. What about suburban/city? I ran across a recommendation of OD green.

I like all kinds of camouflage patterns, but my all-time favorite is woodland camouflage. Your tiger striped camouflage is cool 😎. It depends on perspective and how well you hide yourself with the foliage. I appreciate your time and video. Definitely, things to think about. I like your flashlight shine hiding spots.

I prefer to mix and match my camouflage where I live it seems to work the best

I fell for Kryptek Typhoon when it dropped and that's where I've stayed. It plays AM-PM and a wide variety of operating environments

Mine is Tiger strip, Which there is two types of tiger stripe, Asian or American GI. Either one is very effective depending on your environment. But for me in a woodland setting I will take tiger stripe any day. You do you & I will do me. Great video sir I believe you are 100% correct.

Great Video Brother, RLTW...

Favorite pattern is home made: each arm and leg a different pattern or color. Torso split by 45 degrees, or so, into two different colors or patterns. Only think I can find that works at a distance unless you are exact color of background. Not that I have any great experience with anything but deer and turkey. You are 100% on sound and movement. I have been dressed in a red plaid jacket, wearing black waders while fly fishing for trout, in small mountain streams, and had hikers walk by without so much as seeing me.

I like the old school woodland pattern but I agree if you know how to use the environment with type of camo you have then it shouldn’t matter

You're generally right I think in the forest where concealment is everywhere. I still remember growing up squirrel hunting with my grandad in the relative open and some deer came by and I wanted to put my camo hood up and my grandad said, "no, don't move". Regardless, hunting on the mountain side with binoculars I can see non moving humans and objects from a loooonnng ways away.

Camouflage is an art! Thumbs up!

My local environment is very similar, if not exactly the same as the one your in in this video. My camoflage isnt conolete yet, but im actually starting with dark/black multicam, and im gonna attatch scrim to match the fallen leaves, but with some green as well to match the not fallen leaves. Even the predators camoflage isn't perfect. It just needs to be good enough to make it easier for you to kill your target before it kills you. If it allows the target to pass you without noticing you thats a great bonus but thats what guilli is for. I think im gonna make a guilli suit for actually attatching vegetation n such to it as I find it. It requires creative thunking but i like the idea of being able to customize the camoflage on the go to match the environment around my body as I go. I'd love to have some elecyromagnetic light bending camo, but damn dude. That would be hard to make, rewuire an extreme ammount of power, and even be dangerous to use. The predator took a lighting strike through his combi stick being grounded to a f*ckin skyscraper man lol. So getting shocked is obviously no issue for the yautja like it would definitely be for us. But I digress...

Outstanding

Favorite has always been tiger stripes. I use to live 980 ft up in the mountains some call that a hill but it went on up higher than that but it was heavy forest. I could sit in my kitchen, look out the window with binoculars and see nothing but mountains and forests we were actually as high as the Olympia forest fire tower. I would watch deer moving all around and those boogers can blend in. They don’t have fancy camo the buckskin blends in they also change color to match the season from the tan to a gray . Man there hard to see a lot of the time the only way I could find them was the horizontal line of their back. Now this is looking through binoculars and there not trying to hide anyway shapes are important. I am rambling see ya later.

Greetings Top- My favorite camo is German Flecktarn. Ive trained with the woodland BDU's and ACU's years ago. I think the base colors are most important with camo. In other words- if you have 3 or 4 of the same colors, but all different patterns, they are all effective but it also depends on the person wearing it. Everyone hated wearing overwhites up in Alaska, but it was effective. If anyone here uses facepaint/camo, what is a good brand to get? Thanks for the video and looks like retirement is treating you well. Carry On-

ATACS FG is a good pattern. You should have multi patterns for different environments.

Thank you 😊

I will be honest I failed at spotting you I was looking off to the background to the left I even paused the video and scanned all over & I must say you did a great job concealing yourself.

The human eye is very good at seeing movement. I didn't see you until you moved in the first scenario, and I didn't see you in the second until you shone the light. I've always preferred Multicam camouflage. I have a backpack in that and had it out in the woods, set it down not 4 ft from me and lost it for about five minutes.

I prefer tiger strip or old school woodland. Thank you for the final encouragement as I prepare once again for major spinal surgery.. Stay Stoked and safe

Its almost impossible to find someone wearing even moderately effective camo and facepaint if theyre using effective concealment and not moving/making noise/etc. Discipline is a hugely important aspect of camouflage and not talked about enough bc theres nothing sexy about not swatting mosquitos or wiping your facepaint off itching your nose all the time, or using hand signals vs whispering. If you can stay put quietly and not move, you can damn near get away with being unseen wearing just od.

Fieldcraft, movement, and situational awareness are far more important than a camouflage pattern.

Good information sir, with all the prep and storing food guns water avoiding a fight Having a positive attitude is a plus, more than likely to step off the curb and get hit by a bus…

It waa the "surviving the storm" speech that got me subbed.

To me old make up common work just fine thank you very much for explaining many patterns of cammo

A great camouflage pattern I have found to work amazing in north western areas is the reel tree max1 or the Cabela’s true timber strata. It’s pretty easy to get and works well.

Thank you

For the temperate rainforest I spend most of my time in I just Love Pencott Greenzone. Regards from Eire.

Man, I will always have love for tiger stripe. I got my first field jacket, and liner in this pattern for Christmas when I was 10 in medium short, and did not care at all that it was still too big back then. I still have it I only wish it was in large regular, so I use tiger stripe, and woodland, of course. I use OCP also. It kind of depends on lighting, and the time of year, and what I am doing. Other than that I have some of my own patterns that I have made. I think they are cool, and They are a perfect match to my environment. Keep them coming stoker!

Deer in Elk aren’t camouflaged. And them bastards are hard to find unless standing in the open. Or moving..

Where I am, the woodland m81, the brit DPM, the rodhesian pattern or simple od green work just fine

Parting shot well received . 👍

I wear jeans and a button down shirt. I look like anybody in America. I can blend in in rural America or in the suburbs.

Best is going out to try it out with a friend. Try to track each other down. Leap and dound each other.

Prescott greenzone is very nice but I also like polish woodland, flecktarn and tiger stripe for the cool factor.

Nice closing remarks my friend.

I spotted you immediately, but I also know how nature looks. Many don't. Usually, with a 2D pattern, people standing behind thin vegetation look like a solid-color lump behind the leaves, like a rock, stump, or limb. That color or texture will be comprised of what doesn't blend. @Brent0331's camouflage effectiveness videos show how easily movement is spotted. He fires a shot, the bushes wiggle, and it's clear where he is. Then he moves, and there isn't a single pattern that begins to break up his edges once he protrudes from whatever foliage he is using. Even custom-to-area ghillies can't hide a moving person. So, what should someone do? If the primary concern is moving, fighting, and accessing gear, 2D camouflage should dominate. If immobility can be afforded and is needed, such as with long-term static observation in a low veg environment, then you should worry about getting the pattern just right by adding 3D. Even the most advanced 2D patterns only work in certain areas, so either way, you'll need to find a cheeky spot to make it work.

Tiger stripe is the best I found useful in South Appalachians,Flaktarn has some good use in fall. To poor for the wasp camo Brent has.

Good video, thanks for sharing, God bless !

We got your back brother