Self concealment, first we must consider the aspects of it, I prefer to use the outline of the seven S's, and these are: shape, shine, shadow, silhouette, sound, speed and surroundings. These are the basics of what you will need to know.
1. Shape
The human form with a rifle is one of the easiest things to recognize. We naturally see things as human like even when they are not. It is how we as humans perceive the world, so we must brake up this very obvious shape. To start with you have your camouflage with there displacement patterned material. This uses lines to brake up the flat surface of the body, though it is still very flat. A simple and effective way to brake up the body shape is to use local vegetation. Attach elastic strips to your uniform; this makes the attachment of local camouflage simple. When using local vegetation always remember to not pull up the roots, as vegetation does not grow in mid air. Also look how the vegetation is arranged in the area you are to be working, don't use too much (telegraph polls sticking out of a field is just as obvious as a dark object in the grass). Always match the vegetation on you to that of your surroundings. There is no use covering yourself in ferns if you’re going in to a grassy field as you will silhouette yourself. You could of course construct a ghillie suit. A ghillie suit is a form of camouflage that aids you to hide better as it breaks up your bodies shape better then just using camouflage uniforms. A ghillie suit does not make you invisible, you still need to use local vegetation and the principles of the seven S's to use it to its full advantage.
2. Shine
Something that people tend to forget in airsoft is that things shine and reflect light. To the keen observer that is all they need to spot someone hidden in the bushes. The most obvious reflective piece of equipment you may have in your position is your mask. For lenses there isn't that much you can do, ghillie the edges as best you can and try and cover as much of a surface area as possible. To ghillie the mask I suggest gluing the ghillie to it, and make sure you can still see out of it and if you have a scope can still use it. Scope lenses also need to be broken up, not only do they reflect the light they are too prominent a shape to be left untouched. There a few things you can do to brake up the shape and destroy the reflective nature of your lenses. To start with you can buy one of two different type sun shields. The first is your standard cover, which protrudes in front of your scope casting a shadow on the lenses. The second is similar to the mesh masks; a mesh is placed in front of the lenses to brake up the glare. I have never used one of these, as of yet though I have been informed from a reliable source that they work very well. I will have to see next time I play against this person. The next method is one I personally use; I cover the lenses with scrim netting. It is pulled tight over the front of the scope and not only does it prevent most reflection it also breaks up the familiar shape of the front of a scope. Yes you lose a little light but not that much.
Finally the other reflective surface people tend to overlook, their skin. It is extremely easy to brake up the shape of the face and remove its reflective shine with face paint. If you don't want to use any, mud is good enough to remove that shine, though it will not break up the lines of your face. It helps even if you use a full-face mask, as I tend to find that it's the mask that gives you away and the lack of cover around your eyes. The human features are always easy to recognize, break them up. Finally equipment (rifles, pistols etc.) all needs to be camouflaged. If they reflect they can give you away. Again there are a few methods to do this, from painting, to tape and of course ghillie suits. The first two may remove there shine though the shape will remain, this is where a ghillie is an advantage and is why I Prefer to ghillie my rifles rather then paint them.
3. Shadow
An important and easy way to remain undetected is to use shadows; you're more likely to remain hidden if people cannot make out what you are. Look where the light is coming from, use it to hide you. Use it to find people, as many hide yet forget to look if they are casting a shadow. Shadows can be helpful as well as unhelpful. Try and keep low to cast as little a shadow as possible, use other shadows to mask your own, and always remember to look carefully at shadows, as there may be another just as able to use them as yourself.
4. Silhouette
Silhouetting is a big problem it seams in airsoft; people forget that their background is never the same, some times dark and some times light. Most remember tour of duty the TV series and that highlights silhouetting or sky lining. You will stand out a mile and put all your camouflage to waste if you break cover, as would using the wrong type of camouflage in that particular area. Make sure that you try and mach your surroundings as best you can, don't break the sky line, if possible use the dead ground (the area that the opposition can not see) as best you can.
5. Sound
Finally sound, little balls make a lot of noise, and noise is fairly easy to trace. If you can silence something do so. Make speed loaders out of the leg of a pair of BDU's and a bottle top (tried and tested and I must to say I have yet to find anything better for this). If your weapon rattles or squeaks tape it down or pad it out until it stops. Tape all lose things down, tighten all straps as so things fit you properly. Don't use too much gear; take only what you need, you have less chance of making to much noise. When moving you unavoidably make noise, move slower; look where you’re putting your feet and other body parts so not to break twigs etc.
A trick that works well when walking upright is to put your heal down first (slowly) then moving the foot in a sweeping motion as pushing all the small twigs out of the way, then rest your foot down. This works in practice, not always in the field, taking it slowly is the best way. When crawling make sure that you do not take to difficult a rout try stay away from as many obstacles as you can. You might not be directly making noise or movement though the sudden swaying of undergrowth usually means that there is someone there. Listen out for movement, twigs snapping, and the knock of something hard against a tree or other object, voices, the sound of AEG fire. I have found that sound is one of the easiest ways to be detected and to detect others. It also can help you tell who is who if you play against the same people each time, and what there using. Once you know what people are using you can work out the likely way their going to skirmish. On another note, keeping your smell down is good too, weather it be deodorant or lube in your rifle, keep down your sent.
6. Speed
Do things slowly and smoothly; don’t jerk, as it will attract more attention, being airsoft you will have to move around more than you probably would in the real world of sniping so you need to think about what is the best speed to move at. If you’re in known dead ground use it and move quickly, but don’t take your self out of breath, as it will throw your aim off. The closer to danger you get the slower you move (unless compromised and you can either remain perfectly still and hope they think it was a random act of movement or you can run for your life.) You would want to be thinking of the first option more than the second, only use the second when you know the first is not even an option. When looking out for movement don’t be distracted by those fast moving people, anybody in your team will either of seen them or you can radio there position in, you might want to concentrate on slow moving people, those that know what there doing. You will need to use movement to judge a person's ability, it will aid in target acquisition, someone that moves deliberately has knowledge of the area and you would expect is more experienced than a person that moves curiously. Looking around them all the time and shooting at anything they see regardless of distance.
7. Surroundings
Surroundings include your local environment and the local wildlife you are trying not to disturb. Frantically moving grass or bushes indicates to the knowable that there is generally a person near underneath or next to it, making location far easer. You therefore have to think about how you are affecting the ground you’re moving through, and the ground you have moved in to set up a defense position. Use natural disturbances to move things, to try to move them as little as possible. Make sure you’re not snagged on anything and if you are caught on something, be sure to remove it with out disturbing it too much if at all. When thinking about where to go, think about what type of undergrowth you will have to move through, and the effects of your movement upon them. Will it make a lot of noise, will it create a path that is easy to follow, and will its movement alert others to your presents. You need to choose your path with all this in mind, though keep in mind where blind spots are and time constraints.
In defense if you want to hide in a cluster of ferns or other plant life, you might want to take a run and jump in, as to not disturb the outer edge of your semi permanent hide. Don’t choose the most obvious area to choose, choose your location taking in to account what is out there, if it’s the biggest and most obvious piece of ground to use, then the opposition will already be thinking there will be some one there and deal with it appropriately. With regards to wildlife, if you disturb it, it will react to you, animals react to people in different ways, sheep move away from you as a flock, dogs may come up to you as do horses (esp. if you have grass on you... as I found out), cows generally either don’t move or bolt away from you if startled, foxes avoid areas with humans as do deer. Birds fly away from people as well. All these are tell tail signs that can give your position away, but they are very helpful to spot the opposition. I generally spot more people through their lack of thought due to how they’re affecting their surroundings.
With all these ideas combined you stand a better chance of remaining undetected, and thus survive the game longer yet still play an important part.
Tue Oct 30, 2007 3:19 pm