21

In a survival situation, especially in a hostile environment,
you may find it necessary to camouflage yourself, your
equipment, and your movement. It may mean the difference
between survival and capture by the enemy. Camouflage
and movement techniques, such as stalking, will also
help you get animals or game for food using primitive
weapons and skills.

When camouflaging yourself, consider that certain shapes are particular
to humans. The enemy will look for these shapes. The shape of a hat,
helmet, or black boots can give you away. Even animals know and run
from the shape of a human silhouette. Break up your outline by placing
small amounts of vegetation from the surrounding area in your uniform,
equipment, and headgear. Try to reduce any shine from skin or
equipment. Blend in with the surrounding colors and simulate the
texture of your surroundings.

Shape and Outline
Change the outline of weapons and equipment by tying vegetation or
strips of cloth onto them. Make sure the added camouflage does not
hinder the equipment’s operation. When hiding, cover yourself and your
equipment with leaves, grass, or other local debris. Conceal any signaling
devices you have prepared, but keep them ready for use.

Color and Texture
Each area of the world and each climatic condition (arctic/winter,
temperate/jungle, or swamp/desert) has color patterns and textures that
are natural for that area. While color is self-explanatory, texture defines
the surface characteristics of something when looking at it. For example,
surface textures may be smooth, rough, rocky, leafy, or many other
possible combinations. Use color and texture together to camouflage
yourself effectively. It makes little sense to cover yourself with dead,
brown vegetation in the middle of a large grassy field. Similarly, it
would be useless to camouflage yourself with green grass in the middle
of a desert or rocky area.

To hide and camouflage movement in any specific area of the world,
you must take on the color and texture of the immediate surroundings.
Use natural or man-made materials to camouflage yourself. Camouflage
paint, charcoal from burned paper or wood, mud, grass, leaves, strips
of cloth or burlap, pine boughs, and camouflaged uniforms are a few
examples.

Cover all areas of exposed skin, including face, hands, neck, and ears.
Use camouflage paint, charcoal, or mud to camouflage yourself. Cover
with a darker color areas that stick out more and catch more light
(forehead, nose, cheekbones, chin, and ears). Cover other areas,
particularlyrecessed or shaded areas (around the eyes and under the chin),
with lighter colors. Be sure to use an irregular pattern. Attach
vegetation from the area or strips of cloth of the proper color to
clothing and equipment. If you use vegetation, replace it as it wilts.
As you move through an area, be alert to the color changes and modify
your camouflage colors as necessary.

Figure 21-1 gives a general idea of how to apply camouflage for various
areas and climates. Use appropriate colors for your surroundings. The
blotches or slashes will help to simulate texture.

Shine
As skin gets oily, it becomes shiny. Equipment with worn off paint is
also shiny. Even painted objects, if smooth, may shine. Glass objects
such as mirrors, glasses, binoculars, and telescopes shine. You must
cover these glass objects when not in use. Anything that shines
automatically attracts attention and will give away your location.

Whenever possible, wash oily skin and reapply camouflage. Skin oil will
wash off camouflage, so reapply it frequently. If you must wear glasses,
camouflage them by applying a thin layer of dust to the outside of the
lenses. This layer of dust will reduce the reflection of light. Cover
shiny spots on equipment by painting, covering with mud, or wrapping with
cloth or tape. Pay particular attention to covering boot eyelets, buckles
on equipment, watches and jewelry, zippers, and uniform insignia. Carry
a signal mirror in its designed pouch or in a pocket with the mirror
portion facing your body.

Shadow
When hiding or traveling, stay in the deepest part of the shadows. The
outer edges of the shadows are lighter and the deeper parts are darker.
Remember, if you are in an area where there is plenty of vegetation,
keep as much vegetation between you and a potential enemy as possible.

This action will make it very hard for the enemy to see you as the
vegetation will partially mask you from his view. Forcing an enemy to
look through many layers of masking vegetation will fatigue his eyes
very quickly.

When traveling, especially in built-up areas at night, be aware of where
you cast your shadow. It may extend out around the comer of a building
and give away your position. Also, if you are in a dark shadow and there
is a light source to one side, an enemy on the other side can see your
silhouette against the light.

Movement
Movement, especially fast movement, attracts attention. If at all possible,
avoid movement in the presence of an enemy. If capture appears
imminent in your present location and you must move, move away slowly,
making as little noise as possible. By moving slowly in a survival
situation, you decrease the chance of detection and conserve energy that
you may need for long-term survival or long-distance evasion.

When moving past obstacles, avoid going over them. If you must climb
over an obstacle, keep your body level with its top to avoid silhouetting
yourself. Do not silhouette yourself against the skyline when crossing
hills or ridges. When you are moving, you will have difficulty detecting
the movement of others. Stop frequently, listen, and look around slowly
to detect signs of hostile movement.

Noise
Noise attracts attention, especially if there is a sequence of loud noises
such as several snapping twigs. If possible, avoid making any noise at all.
Slow down your pace as much as necessary to avoid making noise when
moving around or away from possible threats.

Use background noises to cover the noise of your movement. Sounds of
aircraft, trucks, generators, strong winds, and people talking will cover
some or all the sounds produced by your movement. Rain will mask a lot
of movement noise, but it also reduces your ability to detect potential
enemy noise.

Scent
Whether hunting animals or avoiding the enemy, it is always wise to
camouflage the scent associated with humans. Start by washing yourself
and your clothes without using soap. This washing method removes
soap and body odors. Avoiding strong smelling foods, such as garlic,
helps reduce body odors. Do not use tobacco products, candy, gum,
or cosmetics.

You can use aromatic herbs or plants to wash yourself and your clothing,
to rub on your body and clothing, or to chew on to camouflage your
breath. Pine needles, mint, or any similar aromatic plant will help
camouflage your scent from both animals and humans. Standing in smoke
from a fire can help mask your scent from animals. While animals are
afraid of fresh smoke from a fire, older smoke scents are normal smells
after forest fires and do not scare them.

While traveling, use your sense of smell to help you find or avoid
humans. Pay attention to smells associated with humans, such as fire,
cigarettes, gasoline, oil, soap, and food. Such smells may alert you to
their presence long before you can see or hear them, depending on
wind speed and direction. Note the wind’s direction and, when possible,
approach from or skirt around on the downwind side when nearing
humans or animals.

Sometimes you need to move, undetected, to or from a location. You
need more than just camouflage to make these moves successfully. The
ability to stalk or move without making any sudden quick movement or
loud noise is essential to avoiding detection.

You must practice stalking if it is to be effective. Use the following
techniques when practicing.

Upright Stalking
Take steps about half your normal stride when stalking in the upright
position. Such strides help you to maintain your balance. You should
be able to stop at any point in that movement and hold that position as
long as necessary. Curl the toes up out of the way when stepping down
so the outside edge of the ball of the foot touches the ground. Feel for
sticks and twigs that may snap when you place your weight on them. If
you start to step on one, lift your foot and move it. After making contact
with the outside edge of the ball of your foot, roll to the inside ball of
your foot, place your heel down, followed by your toes. Then gradually
shift your weight forward to the front foot. Lift the back foot to about
knee height and start the process over again.

Keep your hands and arms close to your body and avoid waving them
about or hitting vegetation. When moving in a crouch, you gain extra
support by placing your hands on your knees. One step usually takes
1 minute to complete, but the time it takes will depend on the situation.

Crawling
Crawl on your hands and knees when the vegetation is too low to allow
you to walk upright without being seen. Move one limb at a time and be
sure to set it down softly, feeling for anything that may snap and make
noise. Be careful that your toes and heels do not catch on vegetation.

Prone Staking
To stalk in the prone position, you do a low, modified push-up on your
hands and toes, moving yourself forward slightly, and then lowering
yourself again slowly. Avoid dragging and scraping along the ground as
this makes excessive noise and leaves large trails for trackers to follow.

Animal Stalking
Before stalking an animal, select the best route. If the animal is moving,
you will need an intercepting route. Pick a route that puts objects between
you and the animal to conceal your movement from it. By positioning
yourself in this way, you will be able to move faster, until you
pass that object. Some objects, such as large rocks and trees, may totally
conceal you, and others, such as small bushes and grass, may only partially
conceal you. Pick the route that offers the best concealment and
requires the least amount of effort.

Keep your eyes on the animal and stop when it looks your way or turns
its ears your way, especially if it suspects your presence. As you get
close, squint your eyes slightly to conceal both the light-dark contrast
of the whites of the eyes and any shine from your eyes. Keep your
mouth closed so that the animal does not see the whiteness or shine
of your teeth.