How do you disappear in the woods?

[mrjaw14]

sometimes it seems like camo stuff sticks out as much as as any other color if it's the wrong color camo. Even earth tones like a olive green or brown tarp/fly can stick out.

I see the merit for:

1. Security - if people don't know you're there, they can't mess with your stuff
2. Stealth camping - sometimes it's best to go unnoticed.

conversly you might want to use bright colored gear for:

rescue in the event of trouble
easy navigation back to camp if you're out for a walk, taking a poop break, etc.

What strategies do you guys use to hide your setups in the woods? What color do you get your flys in? Do you think camo colored stuff really makes a difference, do you even try to make your setup as unnoticable as possible? Why?

[Boston]

Unless you're camping somewhere that's very open between tree's, the underbrush will be all you need, if you use muted, natural colors. If they're close enough to see it then they'll find it regardless, if they're looking. Even my light grey tarp can be difficult to spot from a little ways off.

If there's no underbrush, not much you can do, IMO.

[stravis]

I don't go out of my way to make my camp invisible, but I do use earth tone colored gear when I can. I just don't want to be an eyesore for me or anyone else trying to enjoy the woods. I'd rather blend in some.

[old4hats]

I go with black, dark green, brown. I don't try to hide, but I sure don't try to advertise. I also try to avoid bright colors in clothing and other gear. To each their own, but the woods are a great place to escape the ordinary, so I like to at least try to blend.

[nyhiker50]

A gray works for me. Dark blue can work at night as well since the night is really blue and black makes a silhouette. It is true though that gear is harder to spot if it's a muted color. Most army uniforms are really meant to be used inside brush. The greens that are used usually stand out too much. One of the best options I also use is brown or Khaki. If you ever noticed, the leaves, the trunks of most trees and the ground are these two colors.

[Ghillieshot]

Hi there,

Well I will give you a few tips. (JUST WROTE A MASSIVE REPLY TO THIS AND LOST IT AS THE PAGE WAS RELOADING)

The human eye picks up on a few things.

Color,
Shape,
Depth,
Contrast...

The two most important ones are color and shape. In this case, any earthy colors will do fine, natural colors. So I wouldn't be using black, as any eye will pick black up strait away. Brown and green and sand. So you have a good choice there.

Secondly,
Shape. This is the most important aspect to blend in as the human eye picks up on any man made (unnatural) shape. IE. strait lines of the tarp. This is why Ghillie suits are effective. They break up the human shape, allowing the sniper (photographer) to look more like a mound rather than a typical human, round head, shoulders and arms.

So the best thing you can do really would be to drop low, very low to the ground. But I wouldn't recommend it, as hammocks are comfortable. If you really want to get serious about stealth in a hammock, you can always take a form of netting with you and hang vegetation in it to break up the hammock shapes. But this would only be effective if you knew you were able to do that 360 degrees. I have taken scrim (sniper veil) on trips and just draped it over my tarp (ridgeline) to help blend in the tarp strait lines, with the background. It was effective, but if I were wanting to go FULL STEALTH, I would use just a bivvy and minimalist tarp. Good luck with it though.

Frustrating I lost my first reply to this as I went in depth a lot better, but as its 1:30 in the morning here in Adelaide, I really should grab some sleep. Thanks and hope it helped out.

Ghillieshot.

[XTrekker]

Underbrush is key for keeping your camp out of sight...Even bright colors will fade fast with dense foliage. But if you really want minimize the view of your camp then I recommend using snake skins. If it isn't raining then might as well hide the tarp. The skins make for quick deployment and even quicker if you pre-set your tarp stakes. Just be sure to clear the leaves around them or they will disappear.

[Caveman]

Here's what I like to use.



No...but seriously, be careful. I heard about a guy that left his camp to use the restroom and it took over 2 hours to track it down again (in the daylight). I guess he was a little too stealthy.

[awilder]

I don't go out of my way to make my camp invisible, but I do use earth tone colored gear when I can. I just don't want to be an eyesore for me or anyone else trying to enjoy the woods. I'd rather blend in some.

Ditto.

There have been a few instances where I preferred not to advertise where I was camping. In those cases I just setup my hammock and tarp late in the evening. Kayaking the Ohio River comes to mind. I was alone and if it was near a city with a lot of boat traffic, I didn't want everyone to know exactly where I was setting up camp on the bank of the river. I trust most people, but there are some loose cannons out there.

[Jcavenagh]

No...but seriously, be careful. I heard about a guy that left his camp to use the restroom and it took over 2 hours to track it down again (in the daylight). I guess he was a little too stealthy.

Hmmm, sounds like likker might have been involved somehow...