What Camo Gear Do You Use?

[Balty]

Yeah Jindy knows his stuff -- I didn't like his hunting boot selection though - really uncomfy i found in the scraggly stuff

[Travlla]

Auscam works for my mate no worries,thats him standing in the tree's with the red outline around him,sometimes i think he misses the army

Trav

Edited May 7, 2008 by Travlla

[...dan]

I think there's a couple of points to note here.

First, game animals don't see things the way we see. Mammals by and large don't percieve colour very well, or the way we do. Deer for example aren't even equipped to perceive the longer wavelengths (red-orange) but discern blue, violet and even ultraviolet quite well, while cats and canids aren't equipped to percieve colour very well at all. Birds are a different story, generally perceiving colour at least as well as us and often well into the UV as well.

Many mammals also don't have very good acuity. Deer again are an example, but they make up for it with a very wide field and are very responsive to movement within a wide arc.

Why's this important? Among other things because many camo patterns are designed to defeat humans' vision, or else to appeal to human purchasers. The fine detail and nuances of colour and pattern are simply lost on an animal lacking good colour perception and visual acuity, and probably ends up looking like a human shaped brownish solid - some patterns look that even to humans. A pattern which breaks up the outline boldly is a better answer but the pattern on the clothing is only a small part of the story: you need to pay attention to things like face, hands, shiny gear, noise, wind and all that other stuff.

[geoffro]

Even on a winters day it can get pretty warm out in the hills, does that microfleece stuff get hot?

no not really, its light weight and breaths really well, also the pants are waterproof, check out page 37 in the may sporting shooter mag for a picture, its rrp is $169 but cleaver firearms in QLD are selling it for $99 plus postage, page59 guns & game mag

[Worm]

Why would you purchase winter and warm weather camo? All im going to do is buy light weight camo. If it gets cold just wear it over a warm jumper. Save some coin that way.

Before I go out stalking dear with a rifle and full camo for the first time, I will be heading out on my own (maybe +1) and walk around some spots. See if I can find some deer or signs of deer.

This is a stupid question, but do you guys use a compass? How do you not get lost in unfamiliar forest?

[Balty]

We have found with the R Licence hunting that a GPS is a very valuable bit of kit -- One of our blokes is a wiz on the computer and plots points which we dump onto them - makes navigation ridiculously easy -- Alot of blokes only turn theirs on Mark the car - turn it off but still a great bit of kit.

Ask the victorians about cold weather Cam's - Good thermal undergarments are the go if your just going to run a single-weather type cams

[Rono]

Mark the car in on the GPS turn it of and if you get worried switch it back on and it will tell you how far you are from the car....

[jindydiver]

The changing temperature of the places we like to hunt makes the 3D camo worth twice as much to a hunter as a set of Auscams. You just wear whatever cloths you need to under them and get out there. That photo of me with the deer was from the week before ANZAC day and the daytime temp' was over 30 degrees, and here is the same camo, still working well but with different cloths underneath, in -3 degrees (that is snow on the bushes around me)

Just buy your 3D camo with enough room so you can wear whatever cloths underneath you need to in order to keep comfortable.

Cape York, nearly 40 degrees at 10am.The boars were already wallowing and I found this guy sitting in a puddle he was so hot already. Did I say already how much I like the ASAT gear?

[...dan]

Why would you purchase winter and warm weather camo? All im going to do is buy light weight camo. If it gets cold just wear it over a warm jumper. Save some coin that way.

Before I go out stalking dear with a rifle and full camo for the first time, I will be heading out on my own (maybe +1) and walk around some spots. See if I can find some deer or signs of deer.

This is a stupid question, but do you guys use a compass? How do you not get lost in unfamiliar forest?

Call me old fashioned but I mainly use map and compass, and always have them with me in unfamiliar country.

I get a 1:25,000 map of the area, mark it up with salient features like forest boundaries, tracks etc and carry it in a plastic map case so it doesn't get ruined by rain. I also have a sighting compass so that if necessary I can fix my position by resection. In most country you can also help yourself by using features such as gullies, cutlines, tracks etc either as "handrails" or "catches" eg you might walk along a creek (handrail) until you get to a feature like a bridge or culvert marked on the map (catch), uphill to say, a cutline or fenceline and then follow that across the saddle to camp. If you work this way, and cross refer to the map it is pretty easy to keep track of where you are. It is also worth stopping to look back at where you've come from, just in case you have to backtrack.

This sort of thing doesn't work so well in featureless flat country though, where GPS units come into their own (though you can do it with map and compass if you walk to bearings and count your paces, this is hard to do if you also want to hunt). GPS units also help with things like marking where you dropped a deer for later pickup etc. The risk you run is that if you are overly reliant on them you can come unstuck if the batteries fail or the unit has a problem (or is left behind).

[Bish]

Why would you purchase winter and warm weather camo? All im going to do is buy light weight camo. If it gets cold just wear it over a warm jumper. Save some coin that way.

Before I go out stalking dear with a rifle and full camo for the first time, I will be heading out on my own (maybe +1) and walk around some spots. See if I can find some deer or signs of deer.

This is a stupid question, but do you guys use a compass? How do you not get lost in unfamiliar forest?

This is exactly what I do Worm with my camo gear.

I hunt alone most of the time anyway, though if you've never done it before it might be good to take along a mate to show you the ropes so to speak.

Finally, I always have a compass and map with me, especially when I don't know the area. Just last week I found a ripper new spot with heaps of sign, but it was a ways back to the car so I left it early as I'd never been there before and wasn't sure how I'd go getting back again. Lucky I did as the two little contour lines on my map did not warn me of the cliff that I could have fallen down if I'd been coming home after dark.

[Phil]

I'm happy with my new 3D suit, nice and quiet, no synthetic crap - does fine in everything except the really thick scrub (which nobody but doggers can hunt effectively in anyway).

[hunter hunter]

Ive heard that a US bloke got a few deer in the woods in a Santa suit to prove it dosent matter what you wear, wearing camo can't hurt though

[Laser Bullet]

I can barely justify getting anything from Cabela's these days unless I have contacts in the US ship here for me!

Otherwise Cabela's charge 40% of the cost to air freight!

Basspro, are much more reasonable!

[...dan]

I can barely justify getting anything from Cabela's these days unless I have contacts in the US ship here for me!

Otherwise Cabela's charge 40% of the cost to air freight!

No they don't. Just tick the "surface freight" option, at 20%. You still get the gear by air, in about a week, and at half the freight cost. I've had several consignments this way from Cabelas.

[...dan]

Ive heard that a US bloke got a few deer in the woods in a Santa suit to prove it dosent matter what you wear, wearing camo can't hurt though

The deer probably thought it really was Santa, scouting for replacements for Dancer, Prancer, Donner and Blitzen for next Christmas's toy run

In all seriousness though, what you wear only plays a part, and in any case red is not a colour deer can perceive.

[xavie]

Ive heard that a US bloke got a few deer in the woods in a Santa suit to prove it dosent matter what you wear, wearing camo can't hurt though

lol, that's hilarious. I might just have to try it.

[BrennyT3]

so Cabela is the only crew making 3d suits yeah?

[...dan]

so Cabela is the only crew making 3d suits yeah?

Cabelas is basically a chain of stores in the US and a mail order operation. They get some stuff made under their own brand name and sell other stuff made by others. I've found them good to deal with and you can read user reviews of each product on their website before you buy it. I've been happy with what I've bought, the prices are good and so's the quality. They aren't the only show in town though.

[BrennyT3]

Cabelas is basically a chain of stores in the US and a mail order operation. They get some stuff made under their own brand name and sell other stuff made by others. I've found them good to deal with and you can read user reviews of each product on their website before you buy it. I've been happy with what I've bought, the prices are good and so's the quality. They aren't the only show in town though.

just worried about ordering an overseas 3D suit that dosnt match our bush..ive got mates in the US that could post them now worries and the price isnt too bad looking through their website..i just wouldnt know what one to get. pity they dont have as much stock here in Oz to go look at b4 ya buy hey

[Rono]

This mob in NZ do one mate looks like its the Ridgeline Brand and cheap too

3d Suit