The Ghillie Suit; a Sniper's Most Necessary Item

Anybody knows what camouflage is, but far fewer people have seen a ghillie suit. You might not see it at all unless you are looking carefully. Dukes would pay boys to patrol their properties and repel illegal hunters in the beginnings of the ghillie suit. They were called ghillies and would craft suits from old rags and shredded materials to camouflage themselves in the bushes and wait for poachers.

Nowadays a number of activities, from combat sniping to paintballing are done in the ghillie suit. The camouflage stays the same even though the materials have changed over time. The modern day ghillie suit wearer looks like a pile of sticks when they are being still and can remain unseen even when the opposition or target comes within a very close range to them.

Because of their straightforward concept and high effectiveness, ghillie suits have been associated with sniping. About the period of the end of the eighteenth century the art of sniping began. Guerillas would shoot at enemies from hidden locations to destroy and break the spirits of the opposition. As rifles became more accurate and were effective from more than one-hundred meters, sharpshooters appeared more and more in the battlezone.

The use of sharpshooters in military combat changed the way wars were fought. Before snipers were deployed commanders would go with platoons and give commands during battle. As more commanders were killed, troop combat went from face-to-face engagements to more sheltered, flanking tactics. To avoid being assassinated, commanders had to try and mix in with the lower-ranking soldiers. These techniques took engagements from an open field to locations that offered more cover for both sides such as forests or hills. As more vicious and hidden techniques were implemented to fight, the code of conduct that military men before held onto was forgotten.

To assassinate top commanders and to demoralize opposing armies during World War I, every side had ghillie suits and sharpshooter techniques. The same suit used then is generally emulated today; suits are constructed from materials that hang down and give the sharpshooter the uncanny ability to remain unseen. There are several different styles of the suit so that the shooter can blend in with surroundings no matter what environment they are in. A woodlands ghillie suit, for example, would look much different than a desert ghillie suit.

On important missions the ghillie suit is still used for safety and cover by the modern-day shooter. A sharpshooter's talent to remain hidden is essential for their safety and survival since most of the time a sharpshooter works alone or with one other man as the spotter. Besides the rifle, a well-made suit to cover the sniper is a sniper's most crucial asset. If the sharpshooter could not remain hidden until it was time to take the shot, his safety would be extremely compromised. To an shooter, the getaway is just as important as the actual shot. Several times during the escape the sharpshooter will use the camouflage of the suit to get them out without harm.