I love all of the "Yeah, I spotted them right away" comments. YOU HAD TIME TO EXAMINE THE PHOTO!! If you're on a fire team, you WON'T KNOW if you're walking into an open field toward a sniper's target zone, you won't know it... until someone gets hit.
The funny thing is that 90% of camouflage is just holding still.
I've had guys walk right up to me before, without seeing me, and I wasn't even wearing camo in the traditional sense - just earth tone clothing.
A person's mind will talk them out of seeing things if they don't see movement.
It doesn't make sense that an enemy combatant wouldn't be moving as you approach, so even if you see him, your mind will try to talk you out of seeing him, telling you it's an optical illusion until you actually see movement.
Whenever I encounter new hunters debating which brand of camo is best for deer or elk or whatever, I generally laugh my butt off.
I've had elk and deer both walk right up to me, when I was wearing bright colored, single-tone clothing in the forest, because I held perfectly still. The second you twitch a finger, they're off like a shot...
And humans don't even have remotely close to the sense of smell one of those critters has.
Sniper camo is important, but it isn't as important as the discipline to just hold the hell still and be quiet. And I mean if your nose itches, you don't twitch it to stop the itch.
Alas, it's the way the web page is formatted at weather.com. Heck, can you spot the sniper in this picture? Me neither:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.rgbstock.com/cache1rnFPC/users/m/mi/micromoth/300/nfDQGTY.jpg
Doesn't mean he's good, though...as you note in your last sentence.
I spoted 3 out of 10. I'd be so dead.
ReplyDeleteI love all of the "Yeah, I spotted them right away" comments. YOU HAD TIME TO EXAMINE THE PHOTO!! If you're on a fire team, you WON'T KNOW if you're walking into an open field toward a sniper's target zone, you won't know it... until someone gets hit.
ReplyDeleteThe funny thing is that 90% of camouflage is just holding still.
ReplyDeleteI've had guys walk right up to me before, without seeing me, and I wasn't even wearing camo in the traditional sense - just earth tone clothing.
A person's mind will talk them out of seeing things if they don't see movement.
It doesn't make sense that an enemy combatant wouldn't be moving as you approach, so even if you see him, your mind will try to talk you out of seeing him, telling you it's an optical illusion until you actually see movement.
Whenever I encounter new hunters debating which brand of camo is best for deer or elk or whatever, I generally laugh my butt off.
I've had elk and deer both walk right up to me, when I was wearing bright colored, single-tone clothing in the forest, because I held perfectly still. The second you twitch a finger, they're off like a shot...
And humans don't even have remotely close to the sense of smell one of those critters has.
Sniper camo is important, but it isn't as important as the discipline to just hold the hell still and be quiet. And I mean if your nose itches, you don't twitch it to stop the itch.