save money on your cam clothes

[yorkshirelad]

right guys save cash and make your own suit :unsure:

 

A.Tubes of Shoe Goo or Goop

(these are the small ones, if you get the big tubes, you only need 5)

 

B.Hot glue gun (Optional)

 

C.Big pack of glue sticks (for hot glue gun) (Optional)

 

D.Military cordura canvas duffle bag or some sort of reinforcment fabric

 

E.Pack of sewing needles (Optional)

 

F.Pack of sewing pins with a big round ends

 

G.Camouflage BDU Jacket (AND)

 

H.Camouflage BDU Pants (OR)

 

I.Olive drab flight suit

 

J.Camouflage Boonie hat/BDU hat

 

L.Nylon Netting

 

M.Pack of Walgreen’s brand dental floss, non-waxed, non-scented (200 yds) (Optional

 

N.Powder dye packets of Rit-Dye (quantity depends on how much used and different colors)

 

OCan of Flat Black spray pant

 

P.(or so) yards of burlap (about 25 feet)

 

Now lets start

 

 

a:

 

The purpose of the Shoe Goo (or Goop) is to protect the knots of the netting where it is sewn into the fabric, or using it as an alternative to sewing the netting with a thread and dental floss. I found out that not only is gluing the netting on a lot easier then the sewing method, it yields practically the same results. I don't know what the heck they put in it to make it so strong, but it's like liquid concrete. It will not crack or wear off as easily as well, especially when you compare it to other glues. You can also use it for attaching canvas to the BDU's or Flight Suit (you could sew the canvas, but I found it was easier to glue it and that it works better). You can get this at K-Mart, Wall-Mart, or some Walgreen’s Pharmacies carry it. The big tubes you can get at a hardware store such as Home Depot (better value).

 

b-c:

 

The purpose of the hot glue gun (and the its sticks) is to seal the ends of the canvas on the suit so it doesn't pull off when crawling. Why not just use the Shoe Goo or Goop? I don't know, why not? I found that sitting down with a hot glue gun and sealing the ends of the canvas A LOT easier then messing around with that sticky Shoe Goo/Goop. It's really just a matter of personal choice, and you could still use the Shoe Goo or Goop for this purpose with the same results. You can get this at K-Mart, Wall-Mart, or a Pharmacy.

 

d:

 

The purpose of the military canvas bag is optional. ** It is used to shield and cover possible areas on the ghillie suit that are rubbed up against when crawling (PS: it is much easier to protect the BDU's or Flight Suit with another material then patch up the existing whole garment). Make sure that you get one made out of Cordura Canvas, not just regular canvas. To find out if you have it or not, feel the material. If it feels like it is waterproof, this is Cordura. It is a lot lighter then the older canvas, it has more water resistant properties, and it is made specifically so that is does not snag or tear on brush. You only need one to cover up most of the front side of your suit, with the proper cuts and preparation of course. But we'll cover that later (no pun intended). Actualy, you don't really need this canvas if you can't find it. Any thick material that has some sort of water resistant properties is good for reinforcement purposes, and you want enough to cover the front of your suit, as you can see here. You can buy the canvas bag on ebay used, but I would much rather buy it at an Army Navy store where I can feel the fabric myself and inspect it for rips or tears. **(NOTE: The people at Snyder Creek sell already camouflaged 330d water resistant Cordura canvas, which is perfect for the patches needed for a suit. It is BY FAR easier then the duffle bag method, and at $14.95 a yard, it's MUCH cheaper and less aggrivating). I would HIGHLEY recomend this option over the canvas bag.

 

e:

 

Ah, very important. The sewing needles. These are for sewing the netting into the suit (or you can use Shoe Goo or Goop, it doesn't matter and does the exact same job). You need 5 of them (or more). Quite simply, they break. After such hard use of pushing them thru fabric and other things, they occasionally snap under pressure (I myself have broken 3 making my last suit). Plus, having 3 needles already threaded is much easier then threading the same needle after every knot. You can get this at K-Mart, Wall-Mart, or a Pharmacy.

 

f:

 

These are used to pin down the netting so you can get a good feel on how it is suppose to be attached to the jacket/pants/flight suit.

 

g-h-i:

 

The choice of these garments is a matter of opinion and personal choice. However, their are pro's and con's to each of them, and things you need to know before you just go out and buy one. Remember, however, that these are only the most widely used and popular types of bases for the suit. You may want to make a poncho out of the netting your using, or use some type of mesh clothing, not even make a wearable suit and just use a blanket or US. Gov’t Issue camouflage netting for the base. You can cut up some old cloths and glue then together with some netting and make yourself a nice little rifle cover, or a small poncho. Let your imagenation run wild and be creative. The two main bases I am going to be covering are the BDU's and the Flightsuit.

 

The BDU's will give you more versatility and freedom of movement, since it is a two peice thing, which in my opinion is important. The Flight Suit is easier to put on and take off fast and has zippers on the bottom do you don't have to take off your boots to put it on, and it is a one piece thing meaning that any bugs or underbrush won't creep it's way inside. Ether way, it is very important to realize that you will most likely be wearing your ghillie suit over some of your cloths. What, you actually thought that after you take off your ghillie suit you'd be in your underwear?! The point is, is that you want to buy the BDU's or Flight Suit a full size bigger than your actually size of clothing (I have a link to the measurements and other useful size charts here, taken from the very nice people at U.S. Calvary and left in its original form so as not to infringe with Copyright laws). For instance, I wear a size Small Regular jacket, and a size Small Regular pants. Therefore, when I went to buy a pair of used BDU's, I got a size Medium Long jacket and a size Medium Long pants (it is important to get Long even if you are not, you want the most room you can get, and you can always fold up sleeve or ankle). And I wear something like, a 40 Regular flightsuit, so I got a 42 long. Also take note you need the extra room for air circulation and extra cloths in case its cold outside. Remember, get these items USED. You are going to be sewing knots and messing up the garments anyways, why buy something new and pay twice the price? Also, it doesn't matter if they are 100% cotton or a blend of Nylon's and Cotton. You can buy these on ebay cheap, or an Army Navy Store.

 

j-k:

 

Again, the choice of these garments is a matter of opinion and personal choice. However, it is probably a lot easier to use a Boonie hat or a BDU hat. All your looking for it something to cover your head and neck area, and with the wide brim of the Boonie hat, this accomplishes that job and give you room to move about (you may want to consider a scarf for you neck, or to sew in a flap of a peice of cloth in the back because the burlap may irritate your neck). Its probably a better idea to get some regular fabric to sew on the back on the BDU cap or Boonie hat. Be creative though, you don't have to use a Boonie or BDU hat. A piece of cloth, an old helmet cover, anything will do. I chose to make my last suit with a helmet cover rather than a Boonie hat. Really, I've made so many damn different variations of the ghillie that covers your head I can hardly keep track of them all. What's nice about the helmet cover is that it has these little velcrow ties on all of the sides, which makes it possible for you to hook it onto something. I made it an almost integral part of the jacket by sewing on little loops of shoelace on the neck area of the jacket and looping the Velcro strings (part of the helmet cover) around the shoelace. To wear it, I usually put on a regular BDU hat and cover it with the helmet cover. This type of design could help out in Paintball, where you have a bulky mask that on your head and can't fit into a hat. For all of us regular grunts, I suggest the boonie or BDU hat method. It's easier to work with and fits your head. You can buy these on Ebay or an Army Navy Store.

 

l:

 

This part of the suit is very important. The netting is what holds all of the burlap to the suit and/or other natural foliage. Forget what you’ve heard about a person sewing the burlap directly to the BDU base or something like that, which is ridiculous. Really, it can be any type of strong nylon netting, from a Volleyball Net to a Hockey Net, a Marine (boating) Net, an old thing of Camouflage Netting (after you remove those metal clips and fake cut rubber camouflage), or those cheap piece of **** nylon hammocks. Any type of netting that has a knot where the netting forms a "+" will work for this purpose. Personally, I used a Volleyball Net that had about 3 and a half inches of space between knots, since the Hockey Net has closer knitted knots, which makes for more unnecessary sewing knots (if you sew all of the knots) and more work, which we'll cover a little later. It doesn't matter what you used, however make sure that there is a knot whenever the nylon crosses each other. You can buy the Volleyball Net or the Hockey Net at Wall-Mart, and the Marine (boating) Netting from a boat catalog and/or a marine store.

 

m:

 

The Dental Floss is the thread you will be using for sewing the netting onto the BDU's or Flight Jacket. Why use dental floss and not anything else like regular thread, fishing line, or nylon twine? First off, dental floss can be found at any pharmacy in a large quantity. It is stronger that regular thread (if you examine it closely without the wax, it is actually many strands of thread all waxed together). It is also easier to work with than fishing line. And have you ever tried finding nylon twine without specially ordering it? You can buy dental floss (non-waxed, non-scented) at any pharmacy (however, I found that the Walgreen’s Pharmacy has a large, 200 yd thing of dental floss for cheap, and you DO go through about two of them). You could use 12 lb fishing line instead, or not even used thread at all and use the shoe goo. It's your suit.

 

n:

 

The type and quantity of Rit-Dye you get depends on the environment for your ghillie suit and how many different colors you want to use. Me, personally, wanted a ghillie suit that could be used in the most amounts of environments and terrains. Obviously, you can make that possible if you attach natural foliage from the environment you are in (which you should always do anyways). In my opinion, when choosing what colors you want to put on your suit, start with the bases, what most or all of the varied environments have (with the exception of an artic environment). Avoid choosing colors that are extreme and specific to a certain environment. For example, red, white and black. Grey can be used sparsely. But, we'll get into the blends of colors later (for all of you lazies out there, here is the link to the information on the color blends and which colors to choose). You really only need one packet of each (regardless of what the Rit-Dye packet says about the pounds of fabric or any of that stuff). You also need a big plastic water bucket to dye the fabric in. The color combinations for a ghillie suit are listed later on in this website. You will probably need a big, 2 or 3 gallon sized bucket to dye the burlap in as well. You can buy these (and the Rit-Dye) at K-Mart, Wall-Mart, or some pharmacies (not many). Important!, read everything about buying and blending colors before actualy going out and buying them.

 

o:

 

The Flat Black spray paint is for panting over the knots of the netting and seams of the canvas with the Shoe Goo or Goop on it, since it gives off a shine. Applying two or three coats of the spray paint dulls the shine. Also, you are not limited to just black spray paint. Don't particularly like the way the colors blend on your suit but don't want to dye more fabric? Just buy some spray paint and go for it! Customize it as much as you want. The spray paint doesn't damage the burlap in anyway, and does not make it sticky or clumpy. We will get into the shades of spray paint later, because it is solely dependent on which type of base color you have on your suit.

 

p-q:

 

This is going to be the effect camouflage in your suit. It is important to realize that there is no wrong was to attach the strands to the suit. Some prefer the strands with the little horizontal strands still in it. Some prefer it shredded. Some throw in a couple of feet of frayed natural rope or cut up strips of fabric. It doesn't matter! They are all good ideas and all options for the suit. Remember that burlap manly comes in a vertical and horizontal sheet (not of fabric, of strands). Why use burlap? It is a very big fiber and fluffs up very nicly when it is attached to the suit, making you look more moundy. Remember the reason for wearing a ghillie suit? To break up the human body. It also has a lot of other qualities that make it excellent for dyeing it and working with. You can also attach other things too. It's your suit! Customize it however you want.

[Guest raymond1]

just buy a suit of "pro logic" material, the yanks have done there home work on that camo gear and it works extremly well ,so well when we have our duck shoots they dont see anything, saves a lot of hassle :unsure:

[yorkshirelad]

i do understand mate but some people out their need cam clothes and cant aford the price... i do no that the realtree stuff is super i do use it my self but this is just anouther alternative that is without a doubt the best cam you will get if it is made proplrly as you are using the folage from around you

[starlight32]

If there is any chance you could adopt these skills to making womens clothes, and start a skills workshop to do it you will find a great many on here would have greater funds available for shooting.

[farmer]

If there is any chance you could adopt these skills to making womens clothes, and start a skills workshop to do it you will find a great many on here would have greater funds available for shooting.

 

I'll pre book my Mrs up for 6 months of that please do evening classes aswell and I think you'll be on a winner there

[Highlander]

Not only do you look like SBC but you're winding everyone up like him too! You're havin' a laff!

[JohnGalway]

this is a project I have had in the works for soem time now. Been held up on ingredients for it and now I'm just being lazy in actually doing it Mine will work out more expensive than buying on but I like making things and I can make it to suit where I am, something to do for the long winter nights!