Monday, April 20, 2009

Ghillie.

This is coolbert:

Here with a photo, just from yesterday, of Iranian "snipers" parading in a ghillie suit of indigenous design.



"Iranian snipers wearing their full camouflage kit marched in the Army Day parade outside Tehran yesterday."


I don't think those Iranian "snipers" are going to do a lot of long-range sniper work if they are wielding only those AK. Maximum effective range of an AK is about two hundred meters [yards]?

Here is a U.S. Marine more properly attired in a ghillie suit, carrying a long-range weapon with sniper scope:



"A ghillie suit, or yowie suit, is a type of camouflage clothing designed to resemble heavy foliage. Typically, it is a net or cloth garment covered in loose strips of cloth or twine, sometimes even made to look like leaves and twigs. Snipers and hunters may wear a ghillie suit to blend into their surroundings"

"The name was derived from ghillie, the Gaelic for 'servant' . . . used to refer to those assisting in deer hunting or fly fishing expeditions"

"The ghillie suit was allegedly developed by Scottish gamekeepers as a portable hunting blind"

Surprisingly, the use of the ghillie suit dates to the time of the Boer War [1900]. Scouts organized by the First Lord Lovat functioned as snipers for the British side. Men recruited by the Scottish Lord from his subjects, gamekeepers, "ghillies" and those persons adept at the outdoor life, hunting, woodcraft, etc.

Also fought as a unit, highlanders, as snipers, observers, etc., during the First World War too:

"The Sharpshooters were formed from gamekeepers or gillie of the highland estates and were used in an observation and sniping role on the Western Front until the end of the War"

Ghillie suits, however, have a drawback in warm climates:

"They tend to be very heavy and hot. Even in moderate climates, the temperature inside of the ghillie suit can soar to over 50 °C (120 °F)."

Wearers, too, are subject to counter-measures of the FLAME VARIETY:

"The burlap is also flammable, unless treated with fire retardant, and the wearer may be exposed to ignition sources such as smoke grenades and white phosphorus."

coolbert.

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