On the base is attached a mesh, custom sewn into patterns that allow for realistic placement of burlap and holding of vegetation. It doesn't make sense to be lying in the grass with the grass you stuffed into the side of your suit to be lying down as well. The mesh is sewn in such a way that vegetation can be stuffed in properly to remain standing and looking alive. There are two types of mesh avalable, each with their own advantages. A Jute mesh will not rott and holds vegetation well should you choose to use it, but does not stand up well to abraision.. A nylon mesh will work well also but is more expensive, "indestructable" and doesn't hold the vegetation or burlap as well. Some people prefer not to have mesh on their suit because it increases the weight and warmth of the suit, but this cuts down on the versatility of the suit. A suit with mesh can be easily adapted to a new environment by adding new burlap and vegetation. A suit without mesh is difficult to repair or adapt to another environment and cannot accept vegetation without loops and ties that don't preserve the natural look of the vegetation.
Attached to the mesh is a layer of different burlaps and jute, dyed to blend into the environment. This layer needs to be thick. The idea is to break-up the human silluette so as not to be recognized as a human. The colours of the burlap are to match the anticipated environment and creates natural shadows and moves like nature does. I have experimented with at least 5 types of burlap and 2 types of jute and I use all of them for their selective purpose. Two of the burlaps I dye myself. Each sheet of burlap or string of jute is dyed in such a way that each strip contains at least 3 shades of green to beige. If you put a light green object next to a dark green object, the colours will blend in an optical illusion more and more over distance. This causes the dark green to look lighter and the light green to look darker. The same principal applies to a ghillie suit. Even though there are lighter colours on the suit, the eye doesn't notice them because a green environment will emphasise the green in the suit. This allows for less burlap manipulation to change environments because the one burlap will "change colour". For more info on this concept check out ghillie.com's info site. Burlap shredding will increase the heat of the suit, but will also effectively cause more of a blending effect. This service is available but costs for the man power.
Now that the burlap is attached the suit is essentially finished. However freshly shredded burlap will leave a trail of loose strands every where you go and so the suit goes out to be tested. The testing serves a few purposes. It allows us to make sure the suit will work better than it needs to, to make adjustments to the mesh and burlap layers for comfort and to fix "holes" in the camoflage and to get rid of all those annoying, catching loose strands. Our testing procedure includes the following:
Testing
The sniper outfits with a firearm, ghillie suit and whatever paraphanalia they choose to bring. They are given 5 minutes unobserved to set up in the playing field with a target in a safe place, where the spotter can see it, and a starting point outside of the respectable range of the target. The sniper must take a shot at least once every ten minutes from a different location each time. The objective is to last 20 to 30 minutes with at least 3 shots on target without being detected.
The spotter is outfitted with a set of binoculars and a watch. They are positioned in either the centre of the playing field in a tower or on a hill or hood of car???, or at the edge of the playing field if the field is only 30 yards in total. Their objective is to determine the sniper's location.
IMPORTANT!!! If the spotter(s) locates the sniper they are to call out that they have done so. At this time the sniper is to freeze. If the sniper is in the process of lining up a shot, he may do so. At this time the spotter must describe the location of the sniper. If they are correct the sniper must acknowledge defeat and stand. If however the spotter is incorrect, the sniper may resume with his stalk.
It is our rational that if a ghillie suit is good enough at 30 yards with a spotter who knows roughly where you will be once they locate your target, the suit should be good enough for someone taking a shot from over 100 yards away.
