Introduction: All Ghillied Up..Want to Look Like a Real Sniper?

Here's how to make you very own ghillie suit. If you dont know what a ghille suit is, or havnt played Call of duty 4 have a look.

Although you can buy pre-made suits from army surplus stores i prefered to make my own, and heres how for only a few dollars.

Step 1: First Off, Why Would You Want To?

First off you need to decide a few things.

***Where are you going to use it?***

For me in Aus, theres only a few options, considering most of the bush (forest) looks the same. I chose the Australian military AusCam which has been specifically designed for our conditions.

Depending where you live or where u want to use it will determine the disruptive pattern you'll need.

***What for and how are you going to use it?***

There are a few options here to choose, Paintballing, Bow or Rifle Hunting, the choice is yours. The difference between these is wether you are going to be stalking somthing, buy walking or crawling. Depends if you need full-body or just your back covered.

The Common styles are:
Jacket and pants
Pomcho/Bushrag
Filght suit

I chose a sniping prone ghillie style, where only the back of my suit will be covered, to prevent it from catching on whatever I might be crawling over. Simply made up of a long sleeve shirt and pants.

Step 2: Materials Needed:

Firstly there are a few ways to do this but i found this the cheapest.

Materials: AUD$$ approx

Cammo pants and shirt (BDU's) or flight suit (single piece). **$20 to $100

Hessian (Jute) Coffee bags, x10 approx depending on size. **$Free if you do it yourself

Dylon Cold Wash Dyes, A few differnt greens and black. **$8 each

Table salt, Lots of. **$Cheap

LARGE Hot glue gun and pack of glue sticks.*30+

Netting 1 1/2" spacings 2 mtrs sq. *$8 per m

Good pair of scissors.


LOTS OF TIME AND DEDICATION ;p


Step 3: What Next ? the Threads and Dying

Well once you've got all the stuff then the fun starts. firstly get the hessian bags and cut all the stitching off from around the edges,then cut them in half along the fold, once you've done that the you can start pulling all the threads out. I suggest you do this were mess isnt a problem because it's very messy.

After many hours infront of the TV I managed to get enough threads togeather. (about 8 bags is what i used). As i finished each bag i tied them in to seperate bundles, making them easier to handle.

Once you have enough the just follow the mixing instructions that came with your dyes the put them in. As i only had 3 colours i started off with a single green then mixed other clours in slowly.This was good because it gave me plenty of differnt colours.

When you finish dying all your threads, hang them out in the sun. can take up to 2 dyas to dry.





Step 4: Catching the Cammo.

Once you have got the pants and shirt that suit you.
Lay the netting out over the top of them, stretch the netting out and weigh it down, I used a few spanners.

Start cutting alteast 2 inches more than needed as you fold it over. Then you can start to glue the net onto your bdu's, as shown.

Step 5: Strand by Strand... 5 Down 895 to Go

Ive you've come this far your doing well.

Okay so you've got all the threads you need, the netting has been glued onto your BDU's and you ready for the next steps.

Attaching the threads is a slow process so you need to be patient. Firstly you need to gather about five strands of you thread, then fold them in half making a loop, push the loop end thru the netting, then push the tail ends back thru the loop, which should look something like what I've done.


Just keep repeating that on the pants and hat, making sure to mix your colours around and not to make it to heavy. Any gaps can be filled with strips of dyed hessian, just to add to the effect, plus real plant matter can be added in the field.

Step 6: Hide and Seek

Here is the finished product which me and my mate tested out bush near my house. Enjoy :P Let me know if you can find me.


As an extra option when making your suit, think about camo on you boots, as big black boots will easliy give you away. I will add some photos of them later.


Thanx for reading hope you give this a shot.

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