Making a Ghillie Suit

[o0BigDave0o]

Since the long summers coming up soon, i want to do something to pass the time. I thought about it, and hell, why not build my own Ghillie Suit. Now i know you can buy new ones for around £70 to £200 depending on the quality, but i'd like to try making one myself. Ive looked at alot of videos on youtube on how to create one, I have most of the gear already, but I dont have the Jute twine. I have been told that 8000 feet is the right amount, but that seems alot more then whats needed.
Has anyone here ever created their own ghillie suit; if so, how much twine did you use, and how sturdy and reliable is it?

 

[o0BigDave0o]

Umm.. Maybe an army website woulod be better for you instead of a site who's majority of readers are bedroom dweller.

well, ive looked, its time consuming - ive worked out that if i use 6500feet of twine, itll take 3250 minutes or 54 hours of continuous tieing to do and thats just the tieing part :L

 

[Thaluikhain]

What are you going to be hiding from? Primates have rather different visual ranges from most mammals.

 

[o0BigDave0o]

alongside being a wildlife photographer, id like to use it in paintball

 

[Keepitclean]

alongside being a wildlife photographer, id like to use it in paintball

Don't bother with it for paintball. It will make you too slow.

I made one, be prepared for a lot of sitting around tieing things. We used burlap from hessian sacks and we used heaps of it. I can't remember exactly but it was over 10litres compressed of it per suit(we stored it in old ice cream containers, packed it in so tight there was barely any air)

Also, fire retardant. Fucking use it.

 

[Vampire cat]

I have made two Ghillie suits before. I can tell you that if you do it right, they will come out much better then the stuff you buy, cause you can make it to fit your body and your preferences. I, however, spend a lot of my time making other types of clothes too, so I may have an advantage right there. ^^

Anyway. I made mine for airsoft, so they were intended to conceal me from other humans...

First of all you'll need to know which terrain you'll be using it in (desert, woodland, urban). I'd recommend you get colored twine/burlap if possible. Personally, I bought a bunch of burlap sacks, dyed a couple of them two different shades of green and then separated the threads from the sack. Sounds like a lot of work, but it's actually quite easy and quick if you got the right technique (use a couple of large needles or something, that's what I did).

The easiest way to go from there is to get a template to build upon. Thats what I did with my first one. So get a jacket and/or pants, maybe a boonie or other hat. Depends on what your looking for. The second one I made from scratch using a few types of meshes.

I'll have to run right now, but I'll get back and give you the rest of my recipe if you'd like ^^.

 

[AlkalineGamer]

You get a bush, and you stick it to your head.
I'm not helping am i?

 

[o0BigDave0o]

I have made two Ghillie suits before. I can tell you that if you do it right, they will come out much better then the stuff you buy, cause you can make it to fit your body and your preferences. I, however, spend a lot of my time making other types of clothes too, so I may have an advantage right there. ^^

Anyway. I made mine for airsoft, so they were intended to conceal me from other humans...

First of all you'll need to know which terrain you'll be using it in (desert, woodland, urban). I'd recommend you get colored twine/burlap if possible. Personally, I bought a bunch of burlap sacks, dyed a couple of them two different shades of green and then separated the threads from the sack. Sounds like a lot of work, but it's actually quite easy and quick if you got the right technique (use a couple of large needles or something, that's what I did).

The easiest way to go from there is to get a template to build upon. Thats what I did with my first one. So get a jacket and/or pants, maybe a boonie or other hat. Depends on what your looking for. The second one I made from scratch using a few types of meshes.

I'll have to run right now, but I'll get back and give you the rest of my recipe if you'd like ^^.

would be great if you could =D could you tell me how long it will take to make, also, is the process really gonna take days and days of hard work? and lastly, is it really worth all the effort?

 

[UrbanCohort]

Forget paintball unless you want paint jizz all over your carefully made suit. Pick up airsoft. And maybe then you'll learn how unnecessary a ghillie suit really is...

 

[o0BigDave0o]

You get a bush, and you stick it to your head.
I'm not helping am i?

I tried... sadly it was a thorn bush...

 

[Keepitclean]

would be great if you could =D could you tell me how long it will take to make, also, is the process really gonna take days and days of hard work? and lastly, is it really worth all the effort?

I did it with a mate, it took us ages as in in excess of 40 hours. Then again we weren't exactly working hard.

Most of the stuff you need to do can't really be called 'hard work', it's just time consuming.

Fuck yeah it was worth it.

 

[8-Bit Grin]

This is a cool idea.

If you get a satisfactory answer, private message me.

Sorry I couldn't help you myself.

 

[o0BigDave0o]

This is a cool idea.

If you get a satisfactory answer, private message me.

Sorry I couldn't help you myself.

sure, but i wont be starting it for at least a month, got my exams soon ;P

 

[Retal19]

Just buy one. Even the really simple ones that look like they won't do anything, work surprisingly well in an actual paintball/combat/photography situation. As I found out in a Pseudo-Airsofting Session (We couldn't import enough Airsoft Guns and had to use Bows and Arrows and stuff) with a few friends, one of whom was a Hunter and had a Ghillie Suit. He hid in his forest, just lying in the middle of a clearing, and we spent the entire time running around peppering the trees with arrows trying to find him, running over him various times and getting shot in the arse a lot.

Well shit I started rambling again. But yeah, just buy one. It's faster and simpler, and might actually cost less.

 

[o0BigDave0o]

Well shit I started rambling again. But yeah, just buy one. It's faster and simpler, and might actually cost less.

Its alot easier and probs better, but i want to do something active, making one is alot more satisfying then simply buying one. wheres the fun

 

[freetogoodhome]

I am currently in the process of making one and the site owner of my local airsoft site custom builds them for people. Most of my advice below will be for woodland as that is where I usually play.
The main thing to remember is to break up the human shape. Another good idea is to leave gaps for you to attach foliage from the area you plan on being in,most people recommend about 60% of the ghillie being foliage. Also black is generally a bad colour to use as it rarely blends in well with an area, stick to colours that are close to the environment you will be working with breaking it up every now and then with a natural colour. I prefer using tan to break up the green and brown in my ghillie as it breaks up the pattern nicely while not drawing attention to the suit.

DO NOT FORGET TO USE FIRE RETARDANT! I've seen suits go up in flames during the middle of a skirmish. Luckily no one was hurt as they had the good sense to build it with the ability to quickly remove it.


I am basing mine around the webtex concealment vest which is a poncho style item with elastic loops attached which seriously saves you a lot of time building the ghillie. It is also easy to take on and off which is helpful should the need arise.

Oh and one last thing, wearing a baseball cap underneath helps stop any material getting in front of your eyes

 

[o0BigDave0o]

DO NOT FORGET TO USE FIRE RETARDANT! I've seen suits go up in flames during the middle of a skirmish. Luckily no one was hurt as they had the good sense to build it with the ability to quickly remove it.

Well, I know jute is flammable and can even self combust. can i buy sprays or something? or is using some other material better?

 

[freetogoodhome]

Well, I know jute is flammable and can even self combust. can i buy sprays or something? or is using some other material better?

Stick with the jute as it is a very good material to use in building the suit. There are a lot of fire retardant sprays out there, a good one is this [http://www.fabricuk.com/showspecial.php?id=18] as it is odourless and colourless so it will not negatively impact your ability to hide.

On a different note here is a picture of one of my site owners finished suits using the concealment vest as the base and with added foliage. It cost him around £90 to build and it works very well in most woodland areas.

Spoiler

 

[Napierdalac]

Forget paintball unless you want paint jizz all over your carefully made suit. Pick up airsoft. And maybe then you'll learn how unnecessary a ghillie suit really is...

Say what?? Ghillie suit, unnecessary in airsoft?? You sir, have never played milsim.