When making a ghillie suit, you should think of it as creating a piece of art. Take your time, as making a ghillie suit can be tedious. The end result, however, will be rewarding and significantly better than anything you can buy.
The first step is going to your area of operation and getting color samples, pictures, and a general idea of the colors in your area. You will be dying jute to best match the colors in your area of operation.
For the base of my ghillie suit, I chose the Marpat BDUs. On their own, the Marpat BDUs blended in just about perfectly. They have all the right colors, and will work perfectly for my area. I went to my local military supply store and got the pants, jacket, and boonie hat. Make sure your BDUs are 1 to 2 sizes too big so they will fit over your clothes. Now that you have the base picked out, it's time to gather all the material you'll need to build the suit.
What you will need:
BDUs - 3 piece, jacket, pants, and hat
Dye - light green, dark green, light brown,
dark brown, and yellow
Net - I use brown fish netting from
Michael's craft store
Burlap - use natural burlap; not dyed.
Shoe goo - 2 large tubes
Attach The Netting
The first step is attach the netting to the uniform. Lay the jacket out on the floor and cover it with the net. Cut around the jacket leaving enough netting to fold over the front of the shoulder and arms. Follow this same method for the pants as well. Keep in mind you, won't need netting on the front of the uniform or under the arms, as you will be laying down or crawling.
Use the shoe goo and attach the netting, starting from across the sholders, and work your way down. Leave the arms and front of the shoulders for last, as we'll shape and cut the netting for these areas. I use a large drop of shoe goo every 2 to 3 inches on the knots of the net across and down to make sure there's no sagging. Shoe goo dries pretty fast, so once you get to the bottom of the jacket, the top should be dry. Set the top aside to fully dry and move on to the pants.
I'll do the same thing for the pants as I did the jacket. For the pants, I'll glue the net somewhere between below the waistline and above the bottom of where the jacket meets the pants, to get a little bit of overlap. Start gluing the net across the butt area and down the back of the legs. Save the outside and inside of the legs for later, as you'll need to shape and cut the net around the pockets and inside seam.
Shaping The Net
To shape the net, it's best to put on the suit and have someone help you. However, you can do this by yourself. What you're looking for when shaping the net is to not have areas that will rub together covered in netting (like under the arms, between the legs), or on an area that will touch the ground (like the front or the elbows and forearm area when crawling). Cut the net from these areas. You will also need to cut flaps in the netting for the flaps of the pockets. Make sure to double check everything before gluing the rest of the netting by standing up and then laying prone. Glue the net on the flap of the pockets, but not over, to allow easy access. On my pants, I glued the netting to the inside and outside seams.
For the sholder area, I glued the netting about 3 to 4 inches down on the front, just to the top of the pectoral muscle. That way, the front of the upper arm, shoulder, and head piece blend together whether I am standing up or laying prone. Now that the netting is glued down, double check that no area is sagging, and that all the glued areas have strong bonding, by lightly pulling on the netting.
Making The Jute
This is the first part of a long and tedious process. You will need to pull apart every strand of your burlap. It's loosely woven and comes apart easily, but it takes hours. To speed up the process pull 2 or 3 strands at a time. Once you have all the jute in a pile, they should be cut to different lengths. I just grab random handfulls and cut them between 6 and 8 inches. Once you dye the jute, you should have 6, 7, and 8-inch long jute of every color. You will also need a few bundles of jute to test dye.
Dying The Jute
I use liquid dye, as it is easier to mix different colors. This is mostly done by experimenting with mixing colors and dying time. I start with making a recipe. The recipe doesn't really matter, as long as it's the same formula. Let's say our recipe is 5 cups of water to 3 tbs of dye. I'll mix the colors and dye two small bundles (5 strands) first. You'll have to test how long it takes for the jute to take color. We'll say 2 minute and 10 minutes. Of the two bundles, I will soak one for 2 minutes and one for 10 minutes. This will give you two different shades of each color, turning 4 colors into 8. Change dying time as necessary. Try thirty seconds to one minute for a lighter color. Keep in mind, the color may lighten up as you rinse and dry the jute. To change the colors even more, add a little bit of yellow to your mixtures. Compare your colored jute to pictures you took, plants (alive and dead), and tree bark get the correct colors. Once you have the colors, go ahead and start dying all your jute. You'll want every color and length combination. Once your jute is dyed, rinse it out to get rid of excess dye, and put it in the sun to dry. You can lay some out straight and some in piles to get different texture while its drying.
Tying On The Jute
This is the second most tedious part, but it's very satisfying as you get to see your hard work come alive. Remember, this is an art piece.
This part of the process can make or break your ghillie suit. This is where a lot of people make the mistake of thinking the jute is the camouflage and will tie on so much it looks like a wookie or a big bush. The idea is not to look like a bush; it is to look like nothing is there. Someone or something can see a bush, but can't see nothing. You are a ghost. You are one with the trees, the grass, the landscape. You are the environment you're in.
Jute is only one part of the camouflage. You will need to tie live and dead vegetation into your ghillie suit. When it comes to jute, less is more.
In my environment, there are leaves all year long on the ground. There is a lot of dead trees and tree bark everywhere. So, I'm going for a more brown color with green to break up the different colors of brown.
In my experience, it's better to have larger rather than smaller patches of color, or you risk having your ghillie suit looking all the same color from a distance.
Other ways to get different types of colors is by getting about 5 strands of two colors and mixing them together when tying the jute on. Try mixing light green and dark brown strands together. The jute should also not be tied symmetrical or in a pattern. It should be random and messy.
I start tying the jute from the bottom and work my way up. I'll use shorter piece around the armpit and sholder areas on the jacket to get a more bushy look and so the pieces wont drag. I'd probably do one shoulder more brown, and the other more green. On the back, I'll use the longer peice to cover more area. On the arms and sides, I'll use medium length jute, as when I'm prone, it's long enough to fall over the arms and cover the gaps from the body to the ground, but not so long when crawling it drags and snags. I use a combination of overhand knots and cow hitch to tie on the jute. The overhand knot works well with shorter peices (like the shoulder area), to get more of a fluffy or bushy look. The cow hitch knot works well with longer strands to lay more flat.
Once I get a good, light amount of random, even jute tied in, I'll flip it upside down to see if I might need some more jute in certain areas. When I get to the point that I think I need a little more, it's probably enough; if not a little too much. Do a quick test; take the ghillie suit outside and shake the hell out of it to get rid of all the loose fibers. Tie in some grass, leaves, and anything you have to get a general idea of how it looks. Make adjustments to the jute as needed (more or less). You can always tie in more vegetation in spots that may be a little bare. Put the suit in different types of bushes, plants, and grasses to see how it looks. Take a few pictures to give you a different perspective. After you have decided it's good to go, put it outside to air out for a few days. This helps get rid of the human and chemical smells.
At this point, you can choose to be done, as this is a basic ghillie suit. You can tie in natural vegetation using strands of jute with a loose double knot. There are many upgrades to your ghillie suit you can do. If you are actually going to be crawling, you should cover the front of your ghillie suit with Cordura. This is a very tough material that won't rip when crawling over rocks and branches. You can also add knee and elbow pads, or you can put some ventilation on the back for summer time use.
One upgrade you should consider is tying rubber bands or hair ties into the suit. This will give you more options when tying in vegetation.
Breaking In
I chose not to do this yet. Breaking in your ghillie suit is just getting it dirty and roughing it up a bit. You can do this by tying a long string on it and dragging it around. Drag it in the dirt, mud, water, creek, grass, and back in the dirt. You want to get the new smell off and have it smell like outside. This will help darken some of the color and make it look more natural. After doing this, hang it outside to dry and soak up the outside air and smell. When you store your ghillie suit, it definitely needs it's own box.
Boonie Hat
I saved the boonie hat for last because it's potentially the most important part. The boonie hat or veil has to blend the head, neck and shoulders in perfectly. The upper half of a human is so easy to spot. The shoulders, neck, and arms are straight with a big, round head. Even with good basic camouflage, these areas just stick out like a sore thumb. There are also several options for the front of the veil. One option is leaving a long strip on the front that can be draped over the back of the gun and scope. This will help camouflage these areas, while still being able to manipulate the bolt and turrets. When not in use, this can be rolled up and tied to the front of the hat.
Another option (the one I used), is to tie short strands of jute in the front with a few long ones. This will allow you to cover your face fully or partially, while still having a clear view. Try both and see what works best for you. When making the veil, I run the netting longer in the back, a little shorter on the sides, and just off the brim (about 2 inches) hanging down in the front. Glue down the netting to the hat in a few spots for a test fit to see how you want to set up your veil. Keep in mind, you don't want want a big mass of jute hanging in front that can't easily be tied up or back. Once you have your veil planned out, glue the rest of the netting to the hat. Make sure the netting conforms to the hat, and is not smashing it down. Start tying in your jute. For the veil, I use a mixture of very short peices (about an inch) that stick straight, as well as short and medium length pieces for the top. For the sides and back, I use medium and long pieces. I allow the back to be wide and long enough to overlap the jute on the sholders of the jacket, but short enough so that it doesn't restrict your movement or catch on anything that may pull it off.
*TIPS
You don't want anything shiny on your ghillie suit. If you sew anything on or into your suit, it should be painted. Example: when the shoe goo dries, it has a sheen to it. Use FDE spray paint to lightly cover these areas and take away the shine. The same goes for buttons on the front or pocket. Any vegetation on the veil will wiggle with the slightest moment and can give away your position. To avoid this, use stiffer twigs with less give.
Now that your ghillie suit is complete, tie in some vegetation and test it out. You will become one with your surroundings.
The Overwatch
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