On Camouflage and Hobbits

by Serra

Everyone knows what camouflage is. That is the easy part – or should be. In real life, there are many misconceptions.

Let’s begin with the goal of camouflage: getting the task done.

That could mean wearing red and yellow garments and sporting a regimental tie. Or it could mean being the country boy in a Huge-City mall – buying new urban garments. You know, new in town and eager to start a new adventure at Acme Inc., 45th Street.

Let’s get practical

John Doe has a problem: some bad guys are robbing and terrorizing the area where he lives. You know, in some parts of the world, criminal gangs use these methods to reduce local populations into submission and obedience. At any rate, those are dangerous and armed guys. Maybe they get information from someone living in the area, who knows?

The police are nowhere to be seen. Maybe they are too few, maybe there has been an earthquake in the neighboring Shire – you know, John Doe is a Hobbit.

Our hero – John Doe – lives in the countryside (either in late Spring, Summer, or early Autumn), and it is not going to rain. Moreover, John is a customer of a camo shop – at least today. That means no ghillies or other special paraphernalia.

By the way, John doesn’t own—or is not allowed to own or bring along—a firearm. This means going undetected is of paramount importance.

John’s goal is to locate the black hats and obtain information on their movements—maybe to sound the alarm and save lives.

The first question John Doe asks himself is: Who could be interested in spotting me, and what means could he use?

Drones? Not probable, but one never knows. Okay, then what kind of drones and with what sensors—daylight camera, IR, FLIR? On this occasion, commercial daylight-camera drones are the worst scenario, but wars have been lost just because one never took one step more during planning. By the way, criminals are making use of drones in some countries, so John is going to be ready for drones with IR equipment.

Long-range firearms? That could mean binoculars and other optics – you know, those things are NOT ONLY are useful to take out innocent Hobbits, they magnify everything. Oops! We are spoiling many wonderfully-crafted videos – such as those on camo comparisons and supposedly concealed observation posts. The fact is, John never stumbled upon – his fault – a single video in which binoculars were used.

BTW, basic binoculars (4x or 8x) are cheap and maybe the bad guys own one – even if they are too lazy to go around with long-range firearms. Or maybe a local informer owns binoculars – perhaps, quite powerful ones.

As for the who, informers are often ordinary people. Besides, even upstanding Hobbits could love gossiping for the sake of it – or be loose-tongued.

Let’s stop here, lest we run short of parchment.

Let’s begin with IR (infrared)

To begin with, John buys, as far as possible, NIR compliant camos. NIR stands for Near Infra Red: in a few words, the IR band most commonly used (till now) in IR devices.

In a few words, NIR compliant means John’s camos will stay camos when observed with an IR device – but without colors.

How can John be sure a garment is NIR compliant? He tests it with an IR device – one with an IR spotlight is perfect (obviously, John uses such a device only for tests).

One never knows what the bad guys could field. Besides, unless one is rich, one will wear those camos again – maybe in another scenario.

John never forgets a camo – NIR compliant or not – is no formula for invisibility. It is just a camo.

Back to visible light

A good camo should not only conceal (as far as possible) John, but should also disrupt his shape – the human eye is very good at detecting it. That is the main reason why Hobbits usually prefer not to use – or at least use in specific environments only – one-color camos.

Now it is up to John: he knows what works well in The Shire in that season – or better in that specific lapse of time and weather.

Colors and patterns should be chosen according to the environment. There is a caveat, though: unless he is a lucky guy, John will have to go for a camo effective on x% of terrain – or for a compromise.

In a fully forested area, the choice will be easy. If it is mainly vegetation and cultivated fields – Green? Dark brown? Light brown? Sand? Lavender?  – the choice will be a bit more difficult. But if the area is quite populated – or a varying mixture of colors/shapes – the choice may be very difficult.

Now you know why the multicam camo is so popular with many armies: quite disruptive, it does a decent job in many environments. That does not mean it is the right choice for John, though. It may be, or it may not.

Besides, John knows the best daylight pattern could be the worst night camo, and vice-versa.

It all depends on John’s needs. Maybe a forgotten – NIR compliant – pattern used long ago in a little kingdom is the best solution for the task.

BTW, John Doe never forgets what binoculars can do.

Enters the scrim net

John is a lucky guy: his cousin traveled a lot – as you know, this is a rare event among Hobbits – and brought home a scrim net (aka sniper veil in the Duchy).

For the sake of brevity, let’s say a scrim net is a scarf with many bores. It allows one to see through it while concealing one from view.

One may buy/make camouflaged scrim nets of a size sufficient to conceal oneself and his equipment – or just to disrupt the shape of his head and upper torso.

Scrim nets take little space, so John can bring along more than one. I am sure you have the solution: the scrim net is a portable camo. In case of need, John can change his camo on the spot. He just dons it over his regular camo.

By the way, it is not always possible to avoid open areas. John just takes a less visible posture and throws a scrim net upon himself.

And… he never ever forgets it is just camouflage, not a cloak of invisibility.

Hands and face

Hands and face are visible from quite far away, even without binoculars. They often gave John away.

IR-compliant face cream is a solution, but John prefers gloves and a shemagh. A shemagh can be useful under many circumstances and shields John from wind, snow, the sun, and so on. It can be donned as a big scarf, and if necessary, it can shelter all the head. By the way, a not-too-small scrim net can be used as a shemagh.

To complete his set-up, John uses a Boonie – his cousin advised him to add some local vegetation.

Poncho

A poncho can be very light – John uses the same fabric used for scrim nets – and is a good solution if he must change his camo pattern and keep going. Besides, it conceals not only John, but also his equipment.

John got a great idea from his cousin: if necessary, local vegetation can easily be added to such a poncho – and to a scrim net, obviously.

And the winner is…

All said, for John the best camo is… as far as possible, being/moving where no one can see him – no naked eyes, no binoculars, no drones, no IR, no Flir, no informers, and… no long-range shots.

What about you?

What is your go-to camo set up for your area? How do you stay invisible? What technology concerns you most where you live?

Let’s discuss camo (and Hobbits) in the comments section.

About Serra