Concealment for Stealth Camping
The art of concealment is an age old strategic art first employed in military campaigns such as those in the colonial wars of countries like Canada. Concealment and deception is a form of military science and fundamentally uses landscape features; topography, hydrology, vegetation, shadow and colour to conceal military apparatus and personnel. In stealth camping we have to treat everyday people and animals as the enemy! We are playing the role of a Special Forces soldier behind enemy lines, no man’s land!
There has been some debate over the years as to what is the best clothing to wear when stealth camping. In concealment terms the traditional military camouflage trousers and jackets are first thought of as a good choice. Just remember full grown adults dressed in this way can rouse more suspicion than just normal coloured clothing. Camouflage can make you like either like army personnel or poachers either which will cause some emotional response as through fear, or suspicion when wearing this sort of clothing when stealth camping. I actually find wearing normal hiking equipment and believe it or not a high visibility vest will give you an air of industriousness when walking down steep wooded hillsides from wooded pathways. Usually when set up within your small camp everything has to be concealed so If I have to I change in to my camouflage camp clothes when set up.
To ensure absolute concealment when you are stealth camping your gear as well as your clothing should attract as little attention to you as possible. Brightly coloured bergens and reflective badges and stripes should be avoided or the camp set up in such a way that gear will not be exposed to torch light or any plane of vision which could destroy your ability to remain concealed. This where camp location and set up is key to perfect concealment when wild camping. Over the years I have found some exceptional stealth camping spots including within the shelter of hollows under the root mass of fallen trees. In locations such as these a bit of creativity with a tarp and camo net can render you completely invisible within the landscape. A stealth camps elevation, vegetation density or just general low human population density are factors when remaining concealed during stealth camping.