THE GHILLIE SUIT

By: Richard Gilbert

November 25, 2002

Richard Gilbert

English 4

Mrs. Summers




Ghillie A young man stands guard outside the perimeter of a highly secretive base held by the Taliban. Little does he know that there is a team of snipers watching him less than five hundred yards away. Within minutes, the base will be leveled by B-52 bombers. How was this mission able to work? Simple, through the use of the most sophisticated design of camouflage used on the market; the ghillie suit.

The ghillie suit is the best concealing form of camouflage for people available on the market today. But like most things, it has a past and a history. The ghillie suit originated from hired Scottish men who were paid to catch poachers. The young Scottish game wardens would make a suit out of frayed material and sit in an ambush awaiting the arrival of a poacher (Some notes). Later on, the suit gained recognition and was promoted all throughout Scotland. It was soon introduced to the king and queen of Scotland in which they used them for their gamekeepers (Cartoon Fun).

The ghillie suit was used with great effects by the Scottish in world war one. The Scottish mostly used them for their scouts where they would go forward and report on enemy movement. They were also used in the Second World War by the Germans as well. The Germans were the first to start changing the idea to meat their standards. Ghillie suits are used today throughout the world by military and police personnel. The suits have been seen on hunters, paintballers, snipers, policemen, and everyday citizens. (Ghillie Suit)

So how do you make one of these state of the art ghillie suits? Well actually it’s quite simple. First you need a flight suit (or a battle dress uniform). You also need netting, sewing equipment and/or shoe goes (special strong holding glue), burlap, die, and lots and lots of spare time and determination. The first step is to attach your netting to the back of your flight suit by sewing it or by using shoe goo. After that is done and the glue has dried then you cut the burlap into 6x2 in strips and tie them onto the netting. You may die your burlap different colors before attaching it to your netting. After the burlap is attached to the netting then you need to go back and unravel it all. (Sniper Training)

Something to consider while making your ghillie suit is the design of the suit it’s self. Always remember that this is your personal suit and that you need to make it the way you need it or want it. For example weather or not you want a hood or a hat on your suit. If you personalize your suit to your comforts then you will be more comfortable crawling around in it. You also need to think about the area in which you will be operating. If you were going to operate in tall brown grass you wouldn’t want a lot of green on your suit. (What makes) Ghillies are made to blend into almost any environment and with time and patients you can make a great suit to meat your needs. (Cook)

The gillie suit is the best on the market today. It not only matches it surroundings by blending in but it also deceives the enemy. The ghillie blends very well by the amount of burlap that is used. Burlap looks like grass and seeing that the ghillie is used while crawling on the ground it fits in great with its surroundings. The ghillie also can deceive the enemy due to the fact that it is the only camouflage that you can actually weave natural vegetation into. So when the enemy sees a sniper he is not exactly sure that it is a sniper because of all the natural leaves and grasses that are mixed in with the burlap.

So if you’re ever out in the world facing the enemy and you see something move in the grass and you look twice and there’s nothing there. Ask yourself, was that just a figment of my imagination or is that was that an enemy sniper using one of the most sophisticated sources of camouflage called the ghillie suit?





WORKS CITED

“Cartoon fun and history” . 2002.

"Cook, Kevin. “Look Who’s Stalking”. Sports Illustrated. 02/01/99.

“Ghillie Suit”. . 2002.

“Sniper Training and Employment”. Department of the army. 1989.

“Some Notes on the History of Ghillie Suits”. . 2002.

“What makes us so special?”. . 2002.