Nets, burlap and tape: Cloth Camo Tips?

[+d+n.s]

Let's take a short break from Mission 9 talk...

 

A fellow cacher and I have found a place that we could potentially hide a nice large.

We want to do something special with the camo beside just painting the things and we were thinking of maybe doing some sort of netting with vines weaved into it?

We want to do SOME sort of fabric or cloth camo with less "edges" to hide it, but we're not knowledgeable in this area.

Anyone have experience with this sort of stuff? Any photos, tips or tricks?

What sort of "fake plants" hold up outdoors? What kind of nets/fabrics should I be looking for?

 

There is also some debate over the container.

I'm a bit partial to the idea of building a locked wooden chest containing two ammo cans of a larger variety since we are both somewhat handy. He worries it lacks a "wow" factor.

My friend is a little more interested in getting a large military container. I worry that it might be a pain to carry out there and/or hard to replace!

Any opinions on what you'd rather find?

[Clan Riffster]

Glad to hear there are other proponents of physical camo!

 

I've long held the belief that the function of camo is to make an otherwise ordinary object indistinguishable to the human eye. Science tells us that human vision is really good at picking out straight lines, as they seldom occur in nature. While spray paint can work wonders in making an ammo can look way kewl, it cannot change the straight edges on all sides. Physical camo, on the other hand, works great!

 

Your mention of netting and burlap brings back memories of my time in the Army. I have tried making a mini Ghillie suit for an ammo can, but ultimately failed, even with several different netting sizes. The whole was just too small to give the desired effect. If you are able to come up with a workable process, I hope you'll share. I'd love to see it. The only thing I can add to your efforts, if you prefer to stay this course, is don't use dental floss to bind the knots of burlap thread to the netting. While that worked wonders 30 years ago, there's better stuff out now. A dab of Shoe Goo in each knot, before you pull it tight, will last dang near forever.

 

What I came up with is a bit of a compromise, using different types of moss, as well as camo printed burlap, attached to the can with an adhesive. It's not as neat as a Ghillie, but it does the job.

 

I made a Facebook tutorial on this technique, which you can view here:

 

[+Ms.Scrabbler]

I used a large cooler - edges are rounded. I used black, green & tan spray paint and it looked really great. I kept it out in the yard for a few weeks, we had a lot of rain but it stayed dry inside until one storm blew it around, same storm that landed a tree on our house.

 

If you really wanted extra large use one of the coolers fishermen use on boats.

 

Not sure why you would put 2 ammo cans in the wooden box. The wooden box will get nasty after a while.

 

Silk and plastic plants hold up, I have 3 caches I've used them on.

[+briansnat]

There is also some debate over the container.

I'm a bit partial to the idea of building a locked wooden chest containing two ammo cans of a larger variety since we are both somewhat handy. He worries it lacks a "wow" factor.

My friend is a little more interested in getting a large military container. I worry that it might be a pain to carry out there and/or hard to replace!

Any opinions on what you'd rather find?

 

I'd rather find a cache in an interesting location. That is the wow factor to me. The container itself has little relevance. As long as it keeps the logbook dry I'm happy.

[AZcachemeister]

He worries it lacks a "wow" factor.

 

 

Mostly you'll end up with 'WOW! That's big....and empty'.

[+Ms.Scrabbler]

Wow factor - the cooler we put out was easy to name "WOW" - it's inside a tree trunk

 

http://coord.info/GC2TEEG

[+kunarion]

Fake plants fade, and it makes the leaf colors very strange in some cases. They are often a kind of cloth, and are so loose on their stems, the leaves come right off with even a gentle tug. After a couple of people had found my ammo box concealed with fake plants, there was no foliage left but the stem.

 

If you use cloth leaves, or cloth cut you've cut in small shapes, paint the leaves to match the site, then coat them with polyurethane spray sealer. Then secure them to the box, or the covering for the box. Sealed cloth holds up pretty well, and you can touch it up later, when it starts fading. Burlap frays and breaks up, which may be good or bad depending on the effect you're going for.

 

I've had some success using big wads of local grasses, and just gluing that to the cover that hides the box, along with a couple of twigs. When I visit the cache, I add a new layer of grass if necessary.

 

Good luck!

[+A & J Tooling]

The biggest give away I've seen in my limited time is the wrong colors of tape being used. Greens when bark should be used and greys/browns when greens snould be used.

 

Pick a bland color clothe of brown/tan/olive drab, slice small 1/2 inch cuts in it and then stuff local foliage in it. Fake is better since real stuff dies off quickly and changes color.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

The biggest give away I've seen in my limited time is the wrong colors of tape being used. Greens when bark should be used and greys/browns when greens snould be used.

 

I've also seen cases where fake green ivy leaves were used. It works okay during the late spring and summer but in the fall when all the other leaves turn orange/red/yellow or fall to the ground in the winter, those fake green leaves are pretty obvious.

[+Ms.Scrabbler]

those of us in the south always seem to have ivy growing. One of mine is more visible in the winter but still blends in. I tend to get DNFs in the summer.

[+huntingwithtrolls]

I used burlap to 'gillie' up a lock n lock.

I ripped the burlap into about 10-12" strands and 'knotted' then in the middle then glued the knot to the top.

Using anywhere from 2 to 10 strands at a time. Where the knots are I used fake moss and other smaller shredded

burlap.

Took a while but the end result was amazing. If I were to place that container in long grass it would be darn near

impossible to find. It blends in nicely so a muggle will walk right on by (I hope).

[+Planet]

I glued camo burlap to a rubbermaid jar. Mice/critters stole ALL of the burlap that wasn't glued down for their nests. What was left still looked good though. I also had a cache that was a a rubbermaid jar with fake fern attached to the lid. Fooled a lot of people. Even in winter, I think Briansnat stepped right on it in the snow before he saw it. Unfortunately, it was a party island spot, and its replacement is now very, very much harder to find. It is still active, so I'm not saying what it is now!

[+A & J Tooling]

I used burlap to 'gillie' up a lock n lock.

I ripped the burlap into about 10-12" strands and 'knotted' then in the middle then glued the knot to the top.

Using anywhere from 2 to 10 strands at a time. Where the knots are I used fake moss and other smaller shredded

burlap.

Took a while but the end result was amazing. If I were to place that container in long grass it would be darn near

impossible to find. It blends in nicely so a muggle will walk right on by (I hope).

 

I like the idea of the knots. I usually just thread the burlap strips through holes or use rubber bands (something like a rubber band). Of course, I wan't camo'ing a cache but the same principle.

[+d+n.s]

Lots of good posts here. Apparently I need to google the term "gillie? or "Ghillie"?

I was actually thinking of a cloth you'd just drape over the container, but you guys seem to prefer attaching it. Good stuff.

 

I mostly juts want to hide the cache from muggles. It doesn't need to be d4 or anything. I don't think the trail gets much traffic at all, but I like to be careful.

Your mention of netting and burlap brings back memories of my time in the Army. I have tried making a mini Ghillie suit for an ammo can, but ultimately failed, even with several different netting sizes. The whole was just too small to give the desired effect. If you are able to come up with a workable process, I hope you'll share. I'd love to see it. The only thing I can add to your efforts, if you prefer to stay this course, is don't use dental floss to bind the knots of burlap thread to the netting. While that worked wonders 30 years ago, there's better stuff out now. A dab of Shoe Goo in each knot, before you pull it tight, will last dang near forever.

 

What I came up with is a bit of a compromise, using different types of moss, as well as camo printed burlap, attached to the can with an adhesive. It's not as neat as a Ghillie, but it does the job.

 

I made a Facebook tutorial on this technique, which you can view here:

 

Awesome stuff, thanks. Will definitely post pics if we ever get it done.

 

I'd rather find a cache in an interesting location. That is the wow factor to me. The container itself has little relevance. As long as it keeps the logbook dry I'm happy.

This is my philosophy as well. We have the location, and we think it will support a large. Now we're thinking about how the overall presentation will be...

 

I used a large cooler - edges are rounded. I used black, green & tan spray paint and it looked really great. I kept it out in the yard for a few weeks, we had a lot of rain but it stayed dry inside until one storm blew it around, same storm that landed a tree on our house.

 

If you really wanted extra large use one of the coolers fishermen use on boats.

 

Not sure why you would put 2 ammo cans in the wooden box. The wooden box will get nasty after a while.

 

Silk and plastic plants hold up, I have 3 caches I've used them on.

 

Thanks for the tip on silk plants.

 

I was thinking it might be fun to find a large wooden treasure chest with ammo cans for actual protection.. I suppose it might get a little gross though... we were planning on treating it and stuff, but sill...

[Clan Riffster]

I was thinking it might be fun to find a large wooden treasure chest...

There's a cache a bit southeast of me,La Caza del Camaleon, that has evolved, over the years, to become a "Must Do" destination. The final is a chest like what you described, though a bit smaller, and containing only a single ammo can. It was placed in 2004, and time has taken its toll, but the chest is still a way kewl thing to find at day's end.

[+d+n.s]

I was thinking it might be fun to find a large wooden treasure chest...

There's a cache a bit southeast of me,La Caza del Camaleon, that has evolved, over the years, to become a "Must Do" destination. The final is a chest like what you described, though a bit smaller, and containing only a single ammo can. It was placed in 2004, and time has taken its toll, but the chest is still a way kewl thing to find at day's end.

Exactly what I'm thinking but a bit larger, like you'd said.

If this were the case we'd probably drape something likethis or this (just random examples) over the cache with a few fake plants (I'm thinking plain brown vines) to accent it.

 

Not sure if this is a foolish Idea. I found a large in Seattle just under a sheet of burlap and decided it was a cool idea, but I haven't considered every con I'm sure.

Edited June 15, 2011 by d+n.s

[+Ms.Scrabbler]

Go for it! if after time the wood starts to suffer you can always replace it.

 

I would suggest putting something under the box to lift it off the ground, that will help protect it from all the squirmy things that hide under things.

As for plants on the fabric, ivy comes in vines so it would make adding them easier.

 

Make sure you post a picture!

[Clan Riffster]

we'd probably drape something likethis or this over the cache

Of the two, I think you'll find the camo burlap bettersuits your needs. The camo netting is really for large scale applications, masking them from view over long distances. It does very little up close. Maybe add a few of these for depth? I think your end result is going to be an awesome cache!

[+d+n.s]

we'd probably drape something likethis or this over the cache

Of the two, I think you'll find the camo burlap bettersuits your needs. The camo netting is really for large scale applications, masking them from view over long distances. It does very little up close. Maybe add a few of these for depth? I think your end result is going to be an awesome cache!

Great great great! Thanks!

Now to look at the plants in the area...

 

EDIt: It would be funny to have a seasonal change of camo! lol

Edited June 15, 2011 by d+n.s