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I. Basics
Camouflage is what you
do to avoid being seen by the enemy. It differs form concealment and cover in that these are things that are between
you and the enemy.
There are seven basic principles to “classic camouflage.” By principles
I mean ways that you are seen. By classic I mean camouflage meant to deceive the naked eye or magnified image.
Modern tools such as ground surveillance radar, thermal and infrared images cause other problems that I will discuss at the
end. Some of the principles are achieved by the gear you use. Some are defeated by the actions you take (what you do
in the field tactics or fieldcraft.)
1) Shape: The human eye recognizes
shapes of objects and patterns. If you think about reading this page this is possible because you have ingrained the
shapes of the letters and associated them with sounds. There are other shapes you might instantly recognize, such as
a human body, a vehicle or a gun. One of the major reasons for the blotchiness of camouflage patters is to break up
the shape of objects.
2) Shine: This would seem obvious, we don’t
wont to be wearing shiny things such as watches, jewelry, optics glass etc. But remember things we don’t think
of shine at a distance, such as your sweaty skin. The lenses of optic are very bad.
3) Shadow: The shadow can be good or bad. Large shadows can be used to hide in, but your own shadow can
give you away.
4) Silhouette: The is similar to shape, but
actually deals with shape with respect to what it is in front of. You can be brilliantly camouflaged, but if you are
on top of a hill with the blue sky behind you, it won’t make a difference. In an urban or suburban environment
it is easy to become silhouetted in front of monochrome buildings.
5) Surface:
This deals with color and texture. Obviously the colors you use in a camouflage scheme should be dominant in
the natural environment. This is also true when using natural resources to camouflage, or altering the natural environment.
Often the easiest way to spot a fighting position is the pile of dirt that was created in its construction (carry it away!)
6) Spacing: The regular positioning of vehicles, troops or fighting positions
will make them easier to spot.
7) Movement: The human eye is naturally drawn
towards movement. When observation is possible learn to move very, very slowly.
II. The Guerilla’s Perspective These
French guerilla fighters know something
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Camouflage is a desperately important skill to the guerilla, but being a guerilla offers its own problems,
which can be turned in to advantages. If you are decked out, head to toe, in camouflage, you looks suspicious.
You need to be able to blend with the civilian population. The
guerrilla must move amongst the people as a fish swims in the sea. –Mao
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To achieve this you have to be able to move from your operational environment to a crowd of people in
a moments notice. I achieve this by wearing earth tone clothes with camouflage second line gear and weapon. You
should test this out in your area. I keep a contractors grade trash bag with my gear so that I can cache it at a any
time. It is also important to me that my concealed first line and field/competition first line are somewhat interchangeable.
This way the only kit I really have to throw on to fight is my second line.
III. Modern Problems
When you think in terms
of camouflaged and forces sneaking though the woods hiding you might not think of modern technology. At this point you
have no idea what type of enemy you could be fighting and what technology they may have. You could be fighting someone
that is is near to the same level as you, criminal elements or organized raiders. If you are fighting an industrialized
army, this requires an entirely different mindset. There are two major concerns here – thermal imagery and night
vision.
Night vision- (NVD for night vision device or NVG for goggles) basically
amplifies available light. There are multiple generations of gear (discussed on a different page) with varying capabilities.
Basically when someone is looking for you with NVDs camouflage has the same rules at night as it does in the day, where past
generations were able to “slack off” a bit at night. Some materials and colors that you think of as camouflage
tend to not work at all when viewed through night vision. Example- black shows up a lot better when viewed under night
vision and this is why black is being taken out of many newer camouflage patterns. Also the use of certain detergents, especially
ones with brighteners will make them easier to spot. You need to get yourself some night vision equipment, generation 1 with
illumination at least, so that you can test your gear at night. Be aware that to use infrared illumination improves
the performance of the enamies NVDs as well, if the bad guys have them it is like using a flashlight!
Thermal Imagery- (often called FLIR for Forward Looking Infra Red) shows the
slightest temperature differences between objects and can turn this into a TV image or we can see the “white blob for
warm stuff” images you might have seen on TV. There are only two ways to defeat FLIR – be the same temp
as the environment (dead) or have something that absorbs thermal imagery between you and the observer. Unlike what has
been suggested by Hollywood, it cannot (moslty) look through walls. If overhead vegetation is dense enough it can help,
being inside buildings or under vehicles can help (of course, if the vehicle or building is conspicuous it doesn’t help
much.) I also carry a thermal blanket called a “casualty blanket” that I can string up if necessary as a
last resort. If you are touching such a blanket you will heat it and it will give you away. Keep in mind that
combinations of these efforts will help, but it is harder to do these things while moving. It will make a difference
if the observer is casually searching or suspects that there might be someone to look for. Also, if it is a combination
air-ground search will make hiding much more difficult. I suggest that you spend some time searching videos on the internet
under thermal imaging, FLIR and infrared/IR. Watch videos from the military and police to understand what their capabilities
are.
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