Sniper Ghillie Suits

It is obvious that the most important piece of equipment a sniper needs is his rifle. That being said Perhaps the second most important piece of equipment in a sniper’s arsenal is the ghillie suit. A ghillie suit, sometimes called a “yowie suit” is a special outfit meant to resemble a patch of deep vegetation. The suit was developed by games keepers as a sort of portable hunting blind. In Gaelic, ghillie means “boy” and the reference is to the young boys who would go along on hunting expeditions to aid the hunters. Building a ghillie takes many hours of hard work. It it made by attaching strips of canvas to a net poncho, or to a preexisting garment. Often times, a set of military issue BDUs is used. Civilians without the special training required to make their own ghillie suits often buy them from commercial sources. This may be a good idea for all but the most dedicated sniper, as a ghillie suit can require hundreds of painstaking hours to fabricate and season properly.A sniper uses the sniper ghillie suit as the ultimate form of camouflage. As a sniper moves along his stalk, he will take pieces of the surrounding vegetation, and incorporate them into his ghillie suit, in order to mimic the plants and terrain of the specific area within which he is stalking. This camouflage incorporated in the sniper’s ghillie suit must be replaced and updated often, depending on changes in the look of the available cover. Snipers have identified by the enemy in the field, on occasion, due to wilted natural camouflage. As much as it may aid a sniper, the ghillie suit has drawbacks that make it difficult to use in some climates. For instance, unless a ghillie suit has bee soaked in a fire resistant substance, it is likely to be extremely flammable. Also, the nature of the ghillie suit makes it extremely hot to wear.