After yesterday’s post regarding the construction of a Ghillie suit, I think it’s time to move onto the most vital step when using a Ghillie suit, vegging.
Without vegging your Ghillie suit, you’ll simply be just a pile of burlap in the field, and to a trained eye, it’s extremely easy to spot. One of my sniper instructors at Ft. Benning once said, “nothing looks like burlap in the field except burlap!” Very true. In order to blend in to our natural surroundings, we need to apply natural vegetation. Be sure to only use the vegetation around you in the area you are operating in.
Steps
- Gather a plethora of vegetation from your surroundings
- Break down the veg to match length of the veg around you
- Start to randomly place the veg. in the suit using the 550 cord or rubber bands. Be sure to tie them in the center.
- Be sure to also occasionally weave the veg. in and out of the 1 inch netting and burlap.
- Once you’ve place veg. in your Ghillie suit, it should look somewhat like nothing but a pile of veg. Remember 70% veg. 30% burlap.
- Once all of the vegetation is applied, fray it. To fray it, start ripping both ends and folding upward. This process breaks up the bundled look.
- Your ready to go! Be sure to do the same process for pants and cover, as well as your weapons carrying case.
Weapons Carrying Case Construction
For those who like to use or want to use a drag bag, the easiest way to construct one is to use an Airborne 1950’s jump case. Not only did we use these to secure and keep our weapon safe when conducting airborne ops, we used it to stalk with as well. You can pick one of these up at your local military surplus store or online.
Once you’ve acquired your 1950 case, repeat the same steps used to make your Ghillie suit to conceal your case.
Before:
After:
To use, you can cut off one of the blue strands and connect a carabiner to one end. This is used to clamp onto your belt or belt loop.
