The Art of Concealment

By: Commander Gaunt

The Art of Concealment is useful to know if you are a sniper, a scout, a saboteur (setting traps) or just planning a hidden attack. I am not going to say anything as clichéd as saying I have developed concealment to an art form, it was merely for dramatic effect. I thought it worked pretty well!

There are two types of concealment – Concealing Your Identity and Being Completely Hidden.

Concealing Your Identity may not be useful in a water warfare situation (maybe for sabotage or something), but I thought I may as well touch on the subject just in case.

• Hide your eyes, people remember other people through eyes a lot of the time, it is scientifically proven. So wear shades. NOT large flashy ones. Just plain but reflective ones.
• If it is not sunny, then obviously shades are a bad idea. So bend your head down slightly, don’t make eye contact and only move your eyes slowly, no sudden moves.
• Another good way surprisingly is wear flashy clothes, that way people remember the clothes and not the person.

Being Completely Hidden is a very important skill for any sniper, scout or saboteur to know.

• Wear plain clothes. No bright clothes and not all of the same colour. Anything from tan to black or light green to very dark green is best. Also clothes make noise, go somewhere quite and walk around in jeans, they are REALLY loud. And something comfortable, you may need to stay in one place for a long time.
• The 1ST thing humans see is movement, so DON’T move when your enemies are anywhere near you. Humans can see movement and so in a vast forest will look first at birds flying overhead than you stood immobile by a tree. They won’t notice you unless they look really carefully.
• The 2ND thing humans notice is the head and shoulders outline of a human so BREAK IT UP! If you have a soaker with a strap, tuck small branches into it to hide your outline. But not TOO big.
• DON’T cover yourself with leaves; they rustle even as you breathe.

Night-fighting is an interesting way to battle, and if you are going to fight in one, there are a few adaptations on the guidelines set-out above.

• Don’t just wear black, dark green is far better as it blends fairly well with most foliage. At night you can still see some things, and so all black does is leave a black hole in the air. Obviously painted guns are necessary, and again dark green would be perfect. However if you want a “cooler” looking gun, I suggest dark green and black stripes.
• WARM clothing, something cotton, jogging trousers possibly. NO rustling clothing. Hats are very important (dark green or black), but I wouldn’t suggest gloves unless it is really cold, as they get in the way.

And remember ALWAYS keep your cool, these techniques won’t work if you run away screaming when ten of them walk past you!

Overview

Concealing Your Identity

1). People remember eyes more than faces.
2). Never make eye contact, keep your head down and don’t move your eyes quickly.
3). Wear flashy clothes, people will remember them not the wearer.

Being Completely Hidden

1). Natural looking clothes.
2).Comfortable and quite clothes.
3).Don’t move, humans notice movement.
4).Break up the outline of your head and shoulders.
5). Leaves rustle so don’t cover yourself in them.

Night-Fighting

1). Dark green not black, you can still be seen at night.
2). Painted gun (dark green/ dark green and black)
3). Hat for warmth.
4). Warm clothing (no rustling).
5). Unless absolutely necessary, no gloves.

Posted: 20050202