Re: Snow Ghillie's hunting camo fabrics
I think our friend from Finland said it pretty well.
I am from a relatively cold and snow-infested place myself.
What I found when it comes to camoflage is that little varies as much as the winter. Start in the valley with patches of snow on the ground and bare trees, require overwhite pants and regular jacket etc for upright movement. Setting up camp, lookouts etc, you may have to use white camo for low positions, but then stay away from the bare ground while camo`ed up. Moving uphills, snow covers all ground except under larger trees. Camp in whites under one of those and you will stick out like a sore thumb. Juniper bushes are better because they will be dense and keep the snow on top better, and be darker underneath providing more shadow allowing use of regular camo. Footprints are easily seen, especially when/if wearing pull-over cover boots with larger footprints and bulkier, not so gentle movement as combat boots.Even higher, snow on ground and in trees. Disturb a tree, and the falling snow can be seen for hundreds of yards (especially if the snow is dry and "shiny" and reflects lots of light) and immediately draws attention.
Moving around in wintertime is in my opinion more about knowing where to move safely with speed, and then moving with extreme caution in unknown areas. Using the depth of the terrain as a barrier and minimizing movements is even more important when the terrain is covered in soft white curves and more "easy" on the eye, making the eye more receptible to movement and things that should not be there/were not there a while ago.
One should never walk on the front of a ridge if it can ever be avoided, stay just a foot or two behind and your tracks or footprints remain unseen. If you have to move along the front of a ridge, try to stay in at least relatively flat areas as footprints in slopes are easier to spot from a distance.
When crossing over a ridge, do so behind a rock or bushes to cover your tracks just when you cross, as anything (tracks, movement, disturbed snow etc) on top of a ridge stands out even more than on even ground.
Footprints/ski tracks can swing both ways though, use map, plan ahead and go fishing
What it comes down to is that you sometimes have to be even more aware of your surroundings in wintertime and change/rearrange camo way more often, depending on how and where you operate...
White will never be just white, so I would go with something whitish with specks or stripes in it to blend in with vegetation etc as one cannot expect the white color itself to blend with the snow.Overwhites/winter camo should be just that, nothing to rely on for anything but some degree of concealment, since they will easily reveal you in the wrong spot if you rely on them for warmth/cover.
Some common advice on winter adventures (most of you will know this but if it can save a toe or two...):
Clothing is layered,providing insulating air between them and easing temp adjustment, whatever materials suits you but wool should be involved. Newer wool fabrics will not itch like in the old days and will let sweat through and most important; they are warm even when wet.
Some synthetics are OK (expensive superunderwear etc) but others will kill you if(when) you get wet (and you will!) so be aware of what you buy.
Never wear more than required, if you dont feel cold after a few minutes rest you are overdressed and will work up a possibly dangerous sweat when moving.Keep one dry set of at least underwear and socks, for use when resting/sleeping only.
Though it may seem tempting, put on the wet ones (dried as much as possible during the rest, on your body
)and save the dry stuff until you really need it.
If hands are cold, put them in your armpits skin-to-skin (its only cold for a few seconds) and cold feet are warmed up on your buddys bare belly, take turns doing this, warming the underside while massaging the top of the feet and lower legs.
Stay clean but dont overdo it, as the body will "grease" itself up especially face and hands to keep warm. Head/face, wrists,hands, knees and feet are the body points that let off most heat and should be protected. (The rest of the body will most likely be properly dressed anyway, but for example too short gloves or shitty head gear can cause you to loose body-heat).
Stay cool
John - out