How to DIY Camouflage your Gear
“Sit down and be quiet, your grandpa hunted in a red plaid jacket.”
The art of camouflage and the debate on which camo pattern is the best, is highly discussed topic. While some believe their way of blending to be the dominant way, others always have an alternative approach. Mine of course being the later.
But what if you wanted to make your own camo pattern for an item that needed camouflage? Do you simply cover it with a camo netting and call it good? Do you smear a bunch of paint on it and call it good? How can one camouflage their gear so that it looks deceptive, has depth, and blends into their surroundings? I’ll explain in detail how to use these three concepts in whatever you plant on camouflaging.
You all know who Fred Bear is (if you don’t, I’ll be the first to slap you). He basically said, all concepts, patterns, and ideas aside, the best camouflage strategy is to “Sit down and be quiet. Your grandpa hunted in a red plaid jacket”. Whether you hunt in Sitka, First Lite, ASAT, Mossy Oak, or whatever pattern you fancy, they all will work as a camouflage.
Each pattern has its own unique characteristics and pattern, but they all use DDS (Disruption, Depth, Surroundings). I'll explain what each characteristic means, and then show you how to make your own using materials you most likely already have.
Disruption
Also referred to as color contrast. The color(s) of your camouflage matters, whether you think so or not. Even if the color of your clothing matches your surroundings, you’ll still be visible as a person-shaped figure. To avoid being spotted, you’ll have to break up your silhouette or shape. The camo pattern needs to include splotches, spots, stripes, patches or any combination of these to disrupt your outline as a human.
In another article, I wrote about how the human body has Five (5) distinct V’s and why you should prioritize masking them.
One of the very first disruptive camo patterns was called Dazzle.
The idea and concept came about in WWI. The German U-boats ruled the seas and the British Navy knew they could never mask an entire ship invisible so they went looking for alternatives. Lt. Norman Wilkinson, a Royal Navy volunteer reservist designed a disruptive camouflage pattern to mask an entire ship.
The pattern consisted of contrasting and abstract shapes to confuse the enemy into making it more difficult to identify the ships distance, speed and size.
Tigers, Zebras, Fish, Frogs and many other animals use disruptive patterns to breakup their outline into their surroundings to confuse their predators or prey. Your camo pattern should have this concept in mind which I'll show you how to make later on.
Depth
An easy explanation of this is Layering. In order to have a camo pattern "come alive" there needs to be some sort of depth and/or 3D feel. Take Realtree's EDGE pattern for example:
If you look at the pattern you can see that it first started out with a brown background mixed with tan disruptive tearing shapes. Then, Branches, twigs, leaves, and bark and with shadows were all added on top giving the camopattern depth.
Surroundings
Mountain, Woodland, Wetland, Prairie all have different terrain features and colors.
Ideally, the pattern should mimic the features of your target area. Patches of vegetation, underbrush, tall grass, and tree bark should all be analyzed and considered. If you’re making a camo for your tree stand in a wooded area, consider using Browns, Tans, and a little bit of greens. If you plan on making camo for mountain terrain consider using more Greys in the pattern. It's entirely up to you on what colors to use.
Now for the fun part!
How to DIY Camouflage your Gear
In this example, I will be camouflaging a set of Hawk Helium climbing sticks.
Things you'll need:
- Well ventilated area
- Drop cloth, Cardboard, or other type of ground covering to keep items elevated off of the ground
- (1) Spray Can of Metal Primer (I used Rustoleum - Self Etching Primer) The primer can be from any brand you wish, just make sure it's one of the colors you want. I knew predominantly most of the tree I'll be hanging the sticks on have a grayish look to the bark, so I made sure to use Gray as the base color.
- Spray Cans of Top Coat Colors (I again used Rustoleum's "Mud Brown" and "Sand" Camo Paints) Again you can use whatever brand you wish, just make sure the paint is FLAT. Absolutely Zero sheen/shine is what we are going for.
- Sponge, sticks, leafs, cardboard cutouts, or a shop towel
Step #1
- I went ahead and primed the sticks with the primer making sure to hit all areas of the surface that I will be hitting with the top coat.
- Allowed to dry at least 30 min. (Dry time will be affected by temperature and humidity so make sure the primer is dry before apply top coat. If you want to put two coats of primer on you may, just make sure to let coats dry in between.)
Step #2
Next I decided to go with a two-toned disruptive base layer. To do so I simply sprayed 3 thick lines of a darker color across all sticks. This creates the disruption.
Step #3
Finally, I folded up a shop towel into a small square and used the outside of the towel where all of the edges come together to blot the “Sand/Tan” color over the entire surface. Feel free to use whatever colors you want. From there it’s entirely up to you on how much to smudge, dap, and smear. You can even use materials from the surroundings (leaves, sticks, grass) to lay on the items and then give a quick spray of the colors. Make sure there aren’t any open areas, this creates the depth and adds more disruption.
That's it! Let it dry and you all set
Be sure to tag our Instagram and Facebook pages with photos/videos of your DIY Camo we'd love to see them!