NEW & IMPROVED TO SOME EXTENT.
READ ALL THE POSTS, BEFORE ATTEMPTING TO MAKE ONE.
The modern ghillie suit is basically a garment covered or "garnished" with numerous strips and strands of burlap/jute and cloth and other natural material attached to the primarly garment. The strips and strands vary in lenght from 6-18 inches (whatever you perfer, and it's good to mix them around. RANDOMNESS) and are generally of subdued earth tone colors. A full ghillie suit including hat, jacket, and pants, may have as many as 1,000 strips and strands attached to it. These attachments are what make the ghillie suit so effective in breaking up the human form and blending with the area surroundings.
The strips serve three purposes, they break up the human silhouette, they replicate natural foliage, and provide a three-dimensional apperance to the suit. Color and components will vary with the environment in which you operate. Fine individual strands of burlap (jute) work well where the primary vegetation in the region is grass. A ghillie suit utilized in a wooded environment would be more effective using wider strips of burlap or cloth to replicate the leaf vegetation, commonly found in wooded environments.
The strips and stands allow the camo to have depth, or 3D which makes it field effective.The effectiveness can be enhanced even further by adding natural foliage and debris from the operational environment. You should also use basic camouflage techniques for you, and your equipment.
As the operator gets more field experience, he will realize the benefits of upgrading his camouflage to meet his surrounding environment. Additionally, experienced guys will realize the benefit of comfort built into your suit. Additional padding and a hydration system can prove to be very beneficial. A soft sided water supply, (Camelback) can be incorporated into the siut, as well as small strategically placed pockets for required items.
A full ghillie suit may weigh close to 15 pounds, and be pretty hot in warm, humid climates.
Strategically placed mosquito mesh in the suit will allow for some needed ventilation.
If you stand up most of the time playing paintball, dont even think about it. A ghillie alone, wont make you invisible, you have to use tactics, and know how to move. If you don't kick ass wearing just regular camo, dont give the people that do wear ghillies a bad name, and make one, thinking you will some how transform into a elite recon commando when you slip one on. I made this new thread, b/c i'm tired of people saying they know how to make one, when they dont know sh*t! People that crawl, and go out front and pick people off, and are GOOD AT IT, should consider trying it out with a ghillie. This is not for someone who goes out and hides away from everyone else expecting someone to come by for them to shoot. You don't even need a ghillie for paintball, I just like to wear mine b/c i was into Tactical & Shooting "SNIPER" stuff, before i got into paintball. And it gives me ideas, and an excuse to go out and wear it, and kick some @SS at the same time. ANOTHER THING, YOU DON'T WANT TO LOOK LIKE A BUSH, (the expression: be the bush... bush is the jungle/woods/environment, not a bush it's self. just had to clear that up) YOU WANT TO LOOK LIKE NOTHING. TOTAL MELTATION INTO THE GROUND... You want to blend in with the FOREST FLOOR, or FIELD FLOOR.
And when i say field, i dont mean paintball field, i mean a field that grows tall grass, trees, brush, and foilage. Not air bunkers, plastic pipes, and etc...it just pisses me off when people talk about wearing a ghillie on a paintball field.
Ghillie suits come in two styles, one and two piece. The two piece is the most common and most used. The suit is usually made by using a common military uniform such as a pair of BDU's (Battle Dress Uniform) in woodland or desert pattern. Some prefer the solid OD, and some like hunting camo, and digital camo. The digital camo BDU's are rip-offs of the MARPAT camo that the Marines use. (MARine PATtern is what MARPAT stands for). The rip-off digital camo colors arent the same EXACT colors of the MARPAT, but pretty close. The reason for this is b/c the MARPAT colors are pattented by the government.
www.uscav.com has the closest color match, and has the same exact features in thier BDU's as the Marines BDU's.
It's all up to you.
Which brings something up, Regular camo is all you need for paintball. But some people (like i said before) like to go to the extremes and wear a ghillie. But you have to know how to use it, and etc... But you should look into getting the new kinds of hunting camo, or if your like me and love mil-spec stuff get a pair of digital camies from
www.uscav.com.
REMEMBER, if you get a pair of digital camies, get them from uscav.com!!!!
And there are different types you can make.
1. The Miltary type (Hat, Jacket, and Pants. Canvas on front, burlap on back.) the kind i use, and showing you.
2. The Jacket/Poncho type (Hat or Hood and Jacket/Poncho. Canvas on front, burlap on back.) Just use the jacket directions, skip the pants.
3. The Lightweight Hat type (Hat, and shoulders covered.) The netting stops right below the shoulders, but you still put canvas and everything (expect the netting part) on the Bdu's.
4. The Big Fur all over type, which is just a plain waste of time. Not even going into that. You can't crawl or be stealthy in it, b/c the front burlap gets caught on things and makes tons of noise. Waste of time and utilities.
Jacket canvas.
Lay the jacket out, lay the peice of canvas on the jacket, and mark an outline of one side. With an outline of the jacket marked onto the canvas, the canvas is folded in half in order to cut a symmetrical piece.
Then I laid the canvas out onto the jacket and trimmed it up. Note, I choose to use a single piece of canvas on the jacket versus a two piece construction. This turns the ghillie jacket into a pullover. The advantage is a smoother surface for crawling with no buttons required to hold the jacket together. But you can do it either way.
Then slits were cut and the pocket flaps were pulled out. You can add velcro to the pocket flaps or can just use the buttons. You can remove all the buttons if you want, b/c the canvas holds the front together.
Now glue the canvas to the front. Glue was liberally applied under the jacket canvas and around the perimeter, and around the pocket flaps. This stuff starts to set quickly so you have to work fast to get it spread out and straight.
Back vent.
A rectangle was cut out of the middle of the jacket to provide a vent for cooling. (You can make it as big as you like)
With the cut made the jacket is turned inside out, mosquito netting is cut and placed over the back vent. Then it is glued into place. I also put vents under my armpits, for great air circulation. I could really feel the benefit of the vents while wearing the jacket when i got done. The red rectangles in Diagrams 1 & 3 represent the mosquito vents.
Elbow & Knee pads.
I put my bdu's on and laid on the ground in the prone position, i then marked (with permanent marker) where my knees and elbow were touching the ground. I then turn the bdu's inside out and where the marker soaked threw i put one mouse pad over the area, and squared it up. Now sew them into place.(before you sew you can put some shoe goo on them too, just for extra holding power.) These make great padding, not too thick so their flexible but thick enough to protect the elbows when crawling.
Pant canvas.
I laid the pants out, and cut long rectanglar shaped pieces of canvas, and laid them onto the front of the pants. If you want to, cut the cargo pockets off the side of the pants, or keep them on. I you think you will use them, keep them and work around them.(what i did) Get the marker and mark where the canvas needs to be trimmed and cut that off.
Now glue the canvas on the front. Glue was liberally applied under the pant canvas and around the perimeter, and around the pocket flaps. This stuff starts to set quickly so you have to work fast to get it spread out.
Extras.
-Loops on the end of arms (to put your thumb through to keep the arms from riding up while crawling.And leg cuffs to keep pant legs from riding up.
-You can add pockets where ever you like, just make sure they are in positions that are easy to get to..
-Camel back (The brand CAMELBACK, is the brand i prefer)
-Glue a Pod Harness on the shirt before you put the netting on..
-Rifle ghillie, just use left overs and cover that marker, hopper, & etc... up if you want.
Whatever you can think of.