Ghillie suits in airsoft?

[NickM]

I've just watched a video of someone in a ghillie suit using a two tone AEG and this got me thinking. What is the general airsofters opinion of ghillie suits on players. After a year of airsofting my skirmish days are becoming more and more like sniping but with an AEG and normal DPM's. I'm looking at moving towards a sniper set up possibly including my own home made ghillie.

 

[Tariq]

Most of the time i see ghillie snipers standing behind trees so doesn't really work like that XD

 

[Nickona]

Some people only use the head and shoulders and tht seems very effective when lying down, but he was doing a proper sniper role.

 

[Nutster]

Head and shoulders is all you need really, it's the playing style that really makes the difference though

 

[Nickona]

The ones with ghillie on the front are designed for paintball, no really ghillie suits have burlap etc on the fornt

 

[Silent7Sniper7]

depends on the site & player, if you have a large, heavy sniper rifle, like a M200, Barret M82 that are more capable of getting longer shots the I would say use a ghillie suit.

I've also noticed though that people use them at sites where they dont work, i.e. play areas too small, no overgrowth.

 

[Tariq]

depends on the site & player, if you have a large, heavy sniper rifle, like a M200, Barret M82 that are more capable of getting longer shots the I would say use a ghillie suit.

why only "large heavy sniper rifles"???

VSR is tiny and when upgraded and set up its a beast.

The size doesnt matter as they're all firing 6mm..

 

[NickM]

I'm just trying to clarify the situation to figure out why people insist on wearing them when they don't actually use any of the tactics/skills/attributes of a sniper role. Or even worse actually do something that directly contradicts the use of the ghillie, like run around with a large highlighter blue bit of plastic infront of them.

 

[Nickona]

Have you heard of the concept of looking tacti-cool?

 

[Airsoft-Ed]

I find that 99% of the time, a shop bought ghillie is just an exceptionally effective way of making yourself look more obvious. They rarely blend with the environments they're used in, they make the wearer a bigger target to spot and all the loose hanging bits move around far more than standard camo.

If you want to stay hidden, crawl everywhere, be slow and be aware of where everyone on the other team is, so that you can move when they're not looking your way. Good team communication can lend a huge hand in it.

Generally, so long as you can out range your target, reload fast and have a crack shot with an accurate rifle, hiding is kind of pointless, because you'll win 75% of situations anyway.

There's a guy who plays around my area who's upgraded his AEG to DMR specs, he's gone the whole 9 yards with it, he could hit an apple at 55m within 10 shots, which is impressive for an AEG. He often gets called out by marshals for "playing dead" he'll walk around in the open with his weapon down so they assume he's planning to pretend to be dead to get one up on you, when actually he knows he's out of your range, so he just walks out in the open because he knows you won't go after him, then stands within his range, but out of yours. It's not very sporting, but it's not against the rules and it works.

Point being? You don't need any form of camo. He wears full black.

I'd say, if you're going to get a ghillie, home made is the only way to go and it's only really worth it if you're going to skimp out on the rifle, to make up for the fact you'll have to get closer to take a good shot.

Home made, using the shrubs and stuff available to you, on location, at your site, so that it actually blends. Then be aware of avoiding trees as standing next to them makes you stand out like a sore thumb, be aware that nature doesn't have standard spacing or patterns and stay as low and slow as possible.

 

[Fraser15]

For all those new to the Ghillie, its only as useful as the guy who is using it....all the other factors of ghillies come in later...such as making your suite blend in with the surroundings...other wise you are just a large walking carpet... ...so there for its all down to how you fit in to the sniper/stalker mode....in sum situations, All depending on the snipers capability to think and react, a ghillie suite may not be needed...but commonly ghillies are loads of help

 

[Fraser15]

I've just watched a video of someone in a ghillie suit using a two tone AEG and this got me thinking. What is the general airsofters opinion of ghillie suits on players. After a year of airsofting my skirmish days are becoming more and more like sniping but with an AEG and normal DPM's. I'm looking at moving towards a sniper set up possibly including my own home made ghillie.

normally home made ghillie suit's are the best

 

[weka]

I've found my SPOSN partizan snipers suit to be very effective in the sniper/ DMR roll. Its reversable so is versitle for habitat changes, baggy enough to help hide your shape and .has folliage loops for adding local vegetation or scrim if needed.

 

[Rock-climby-Dave]

after being in plain sight at 20M and not being spotted in mine? an absolute must for anyone who knows how to use it and has a basic grasping of fieldcraft.

That said, I've played the sniper role on several occasions in a black UBACS and DPM trousers and been just as effective.

 

[Dan's Ark]

The woodland we play in at my site is not heavy enough to cover someone with a shop-bought ghillie. Someone I know (Who has never been to airsoft before) was going to try and buy a ghillie that was a tan-ish colour, and a two tone Well L96. Me and my friend persuaded him not to.

I find that at my site a good set of DPM gear and some Web-Tex camo tape works great.

 

[Ian_Gere]

I do think that the amount and density of undergrowth plays a massive role, but then again, so long as you can break up the outline of your head and shoulders, you don't need a ghillie at all if the bushes etc are thick enough. Last summer I held off 4-5 ppl for a fair while, making them all regen at least once, from behind bushes and tall grass, wearing DPM and a helmet stuffed with foliage. Thing is, because of other team members wandering around, I couldn't actually move so, in theory, they all knew where I was. Even once they had me zeroed in tight to a single bush and were just blasting away on full auto, by lying down flat I still held on long enough to get 1 more...

Something that does bug me about ghillie suits is how most ppl seem to be unable to feel their hits through them. Fair enough if they're at extreme range and using their rifle to it's full potential because, chances are, I'll never hit them anyway. But crap suit, dayglo crap gun, no clue & can't feel hits is a bloody annoying combination! I've had it with a very experienced sniper too though - a situation where, with one hand I was patting my back for a surprisingly effective bit of fieldcraft which had put me in a devastatingly effective position with an AEG (in a hole surrounded by undergrowth about 15m behind enemy lines), but with the other hand I was shaking a fist in frustration because although I couldn't see the sniper when he was still, there was nothing much behind him for a way so when he moved, I could see his silhouette. Afterwards he said he could hear my shots and couldn't tell where they were coming from, but didn't feel a hit... grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

 

[TacMaster]

It isn't the tools; it's the way you use them. Put some experienced Cadets against some relatively bad airsofters, clothe them and arm them exactly the same, and the Cadets will most likely come out on top because they'll be using fieldcraft techniques and they'll be organised while the airsofters won't be.

That's why you always remember the 4s' and 1m

Shape

Shine

Shadow

Sillhoette

Movement

If you don't know these pop over to cadetdirect.co.uk and pick up a fieldcraft handbook. Most useful techiniques for airsoft, a friend and i crept up on an enemy position and took 2 of them while using fieldcraft.

 

[Ian_Gere]

And there was me thinking "shit, shower, shave, spray, move arse..."

 

[Jolley]

I don't believe that it really needs to be a sniper role tbh. The original ghillie hunters would use the ghillie suit to blend in so that they could get close to deer with out being seen then kill with a shot gun or even a knife so in theory if you use it correctly you should be able to get kills with any short range AEG or pistol using a ghillie suit. personally I think there cool but I'd never buy one because shop bought ones aren't good enough and a waste of money you need to make them for the surround foliage.

 

[lukersvich]

why only "large heavy sniper rifles"???

VSR is tiny and when upgraded and set up its a beast.

The size doesnt matter as they're all firing 6mm..

the m200 shoots 8mm with ejecting shells. well the ares one anyway.