How do you disappear in the woods?

[nothermark]

Looks like a nice site if its cool enough to keep the bugs down. ;-))

[desmobob]

I think a gray or light brown tarp blends in just as well as a camo tarp. I think most camo patterns are too dark to really blend in well in the daylight.

While hunting years ago, I remember watching a buddy walk off into the woods as we split up for the day. He and I were wearing the same woodland camo pattern popular back then. As I watched him walking into the distance, I immediately noticed that the woodland camo pattern was too dark to be effective in the daytime.

I almost always camp far off-trail (as I usually hike and explore off-trail) and don't have to worry much about blending in. I just got home from a couple of days in the woods, bowhunting. My camo Superfly, pitched high and roomy, stood out like a dark blob in the bright sunny woods.



I still love that tarp!

Take it easy,
desmobob

[mr tickle]

I just pay attention to location too, that is the best way to stay hidden without carrying extra gear.

All my visible gear is in earthy tones (olive and brown), if i wanted to really minimize it i would get some netting to drape over my tarp and add dead leaves etc... Its all about breaking up the hard edges and correct placement of kit opposed to specific color, up to a point of course. Camo gear is not actually intended to fully hide you, it is a base layer only that is why soldiers cover their camo in nets and leaves. No net, no leaves, no point in that camo. It can often, as pointed out in this thread even be more noticeable unless you use it as intended as a base layer

In reality it's best to just be sensible and not leave too much at camp when you leave to avoid thefts and be respectful so if you do get caught you are left be.. You will find most wardens etc just want rid of the rabble and can actually be a good laugh to be woken up by in the morning if your camp is cared for and no fire marks are about. The only real risk with this approach is random destruction of your kit by kids or animals, but if that where to happen i would say it was a failure on choosing the correct location to begin with..

On that note, sometimes i gather dead trees and roughage to build a bit of a 'heap' around my hammock to divert deer and the likes, just make sure you scatter it all about before you go home and no problem

[hairsmith]

I disappear by moving on. I have never camped in my Hammock's two nights in a row in the same place. I tend to ride untill just before dark and set up at dusk. Most times I am up at first light and put some miles on then stop and make coffee and breakfast.
That is why I like hammock camping, its quick and easy to set up and tear down. Takes up very little space when packed. Leaves no trace I was even there.

[mrmike65]

I go with muted and earth tones, but I also carry a hunter orange bandana that I tie out when I leave camp. Makes finding it again much easier.

[Firetruck]

The lines of the hammock and tarp make it difficult to be completely invisible.


Fire "stealth aint so stealthy" Truck

[alukban]

I try to hang short (distance between trees) and this let's me hang the straps (and the whole profile of the hammock) lower while still getting an optimum angle. I look for 10' spans between trees.

If you want to look even smaller, don't use mosquito netting and don't use a tarp. If you have to use a tarp, use a smaller one.

If you want to be really low and still hang, dig a trench under the hammock. Lately I've been looking for how to hang off a tree and boulder instead of always just trees. I've played with a stout branch used as a giant toggle with a Marlin spike hitch that is hooked between 2 boulders on one side and a fat tree on the other. I also try to hang with boulders to one side of me along and just below ridges. You'd have to step up to the ridge and look down to see me. Similarly, I've played with hanging off roots of birches on the undercut of the banks of brooks, water beneath you. There's this one spot that I have that is really neat.

It's fun to play with

[Skeetrock]

I personally like to blend in. In this pic my tarp is the multi camo. I love it and try to blend in with earth tones/camo if at all possible but as you can see, my fellow campers dont blend in and that actually helped that evening because we were encountered by several atvs and you never know, if it werent for the white/clear tarp over the other hammock those atvs mightve ran right through the middle of our camp (with the 100 budlight cans everywhere on the trail its a wonder they didnt run over top of us anyways). so i think the grass is greener on both sides of the hill when it comes to blending in.

[Skeetrock]

You know, after looking at this ^^ picture again, its almost amazing really how that one tree inbetween the two hammocks divides the area in light and dark. the whiteish clear tarp almost blends in with the sunlight...

[freakfx]

Have any of you experiemented with a dakota fire hole? That basically burns underground so there are no visable flames, and it burns hotter so there is less smoke. It'd be a way to have a fire that you'd have to be pretty close by to know was there

The only place I have close by that I can hang at does not allow overnight camping. But I have been "camping" in these woods since I was 10. Lately though they have put a lot of bike trails and running paths around it so it has become harder to find a place that truly is "out of the way" My last trip out I set up shop about 50 yards from one of these paths and used a Dakota hole and was amazed at how effective they really were. even in low light conditions once I was 10 -15 yards away the only light signature visible was the light bouncing off the overhead limbs and even that was very subdued. In regards to the smell and smoke there is a lot less but at the beginning and the end of the fire there is still a significant amount so you still need to be cautious of when you start it.