There are two basic types of materials used to make a ghillie suit: jute strands and synthetic strands. Jute is a natural material, and synthetic material is man-made. Both types of ghillie suits are popular, and both have their advantages and disadvantages.

What Is the Difference between Jute and Synthetic Ghillie Suits?

So Which Is Better?

Although up close you might see minor differences between the two types of materials (jute strands tend to be straighter and synthetic strands slightly curled), synthetic and jute ghillie suits are equally effective at blending in with the natural environment.

Some hunters prefer synthetic ghillie suits because of their light weight and their ability to keep the body cool in hot, sticky climates. Other hunters prefer the traditional choice of jute material. The choice between the two types of material is primarily a personal preference and not because one provides better camouflage than the other.

Camouflage patterns come on everything from ground blinds and clothing to ghillie suits, gun wraps, and more.

So What Makes a Good Camouflage Pattern?

For most hunting situations, how the pattern breaks up the silhouette is more important than the pattern itself, and contrast between light and dark areas is more important than color. In paintball, airsoft, and military use, however, color and pattern are more important, since you are disguising yourself from humans rather than animals.

Most experts will tell you to choose the camouflage pattern that most closely matches the environment you will be using it in. So what do you do if you hunt in a number of different environments? Or what do you do when the environment changes—for example, the leaves changing color in the fall or seasonal vegetation changing the landscape? That’s a lot of camo patterns to buy. Not to mention the variety of hunting blinds, clothing, ghillie suits, or other gear you’d need.

How Do I Choose the Best Camouflage Pattern?

Does your camouflage clothing
blend in this well?

Ironically enough, a pattern that might look wild and intimidating up close can become completely invisible at a greater distance. The choice many hunters make is to select a camo pattern based on how attractive it is. Unfortunately, attractiveness has nothing to do with how effective a camouflage pattern will be.

Loose patterns often work better than complex, detailed patterns. Also, patterns laid out over an open or neutral background help break up your profile no matter where you are hunting.

Look for contrast between light and dark. If the pattern is primarily dark and complex, it will blur into a solid color and pattern from a distance.

The best camouflage pattern is one that breaks up well in a variety of different environments. Choose your camouflage wisely, and it should work well for you in almost any setting.

New Ultra Light Ghillie Suits are now available at KillZone Hunting! These camouflage suits come in 3 patterns: woodland, desert, and mossy camo. The suits are constructed with lightweight synthetic strands sewn on to a mesh suit. An ultra light ghillie suit is perfect for staying cool in warm temperatures and roomy enough to slip over layers of clothing in cold weather.

All of KillZone’s Ultra Light Ghillies are water resistant, rot and mildew resistant, and hand washable!

Woodland Ghillie Camo Suit

Desert Ghillie Suit

Mossy Camo Ghillie Suit

Another creative use for ghillie suits. Check out this music video by OK Go, featuring the Notre Dame marching band.

Ghillie Suit with Natural Jute Strands

As a general rule, wash your ghillie suit only as often as you need to. A dirty suit with an earthy smell will work to your advantage on the hunt or on the playing field. Also, keep in mind that the more often you wash your ghillie suit, the faster the material will break down and the less authentic it will look.

If your ghillie suit needs washing, you have three basic options:

1. Hand wash the suit.
2. Hose it down with a low pressure hose.
3. Send it to the dry cleaners.

How To Wash A Ghillie Suit

Hand washing is the easiest way to spot clean a ghillie suit. If you just need to get out a stain, only wash the area with the stain. Spot cleaning is gentler on the material than washing the entire suit. If you only wash the area where the stain is, the fibers in the suit will not wear out as quickly.

Use cold water to wash the suit. We recommend using only water, but if the stain is too stubborn to wash out with water, then you can use a mixture of cold water and mild, unscented soap. Detergent and scented soaps are not recommended, as the scent they leave behind can give you away.

Ghillie Suit with Synthetic Leaves

If the entire suit needs to be washed, you can gently hose it down with a low pressure hose. Then allow the suit to air dry completely before reapplying fire retardant mix.

Dry cleaning is also an option for cleaning your ghillie suit. It’s the gentlest way to clean your suit and doesn’t require reapplication of fire retardant mix.

Any time you wash your ghillie suit with water, you will need to reapply fire retardant mix. Natural jute is a flammable material. Your safety requires a fresh application of fire retardant to the ghillie suit after it is completely dry. Synthetic materials also require reapplication of fire retardant.

How NOT To Wash A Ghillie Suit

NEVER wash a ghillie suit in the washing machine. The jute or mesh material will not hold up to the vigorous movement, and the strands can easily get snagged around the agitator. Machine washing causes the jute or synthetic strands to degrade prematurely. These materials may rip, shred, or take on a fluffy or fuzzy appearance.

NEVER dry a ghillie suit in the dryer. The heat from the dryer will damage the natural jute or delicate synthetic material and cause it to degrade much faster than normal. Allow the suit to air dry instead.

How To Season A Ghillie Suit

The jute netting on this sniper suit is detachable,
and the BDU suit is machine washable.

Exceptions To The Rule

These ghillie suit washing instructions apply to suits made of natural materials, such as jute and burlap, or delicate synthetic materials. If you have a suit with detachable mesh netting, on the other hand, the suit itself (often called a BDU suit) may be machine washable.

The sniper ghillie suit from KillZone Hunting includes a BDU suit with detachable netting. The BDU suit is machine washable with the jute netting removed. Please read the clothing tag or check with the manufacturer to see if your BDU suit is machine washable.

Blend in like this with a customized ghillie suit!

Some ghillie suits, such as the ghillie suits from KillZone Hunting, come with extra jute threads or synthetic leaves. This allows you to easily customize the ghillie suit as needed. You can add more jute thread or leaves for thicker coverage or a slightly different camo pattern.

For even better camouflage, collect twigs, leaves, and brush from around the area and attach them to your ghillie suit. There’s no better way to blend in with your environment than to borrow nature’s camouflage!

Besides adding more jute strings and natural brush, you can also remove jute thread or synthetic leaves from your ghillie suit. This comes in handy for bowhunters who risk catching the bow or arrow on loose strings.

To modify a ghillie suit for bowhunting, remove the jute or leaves from along the inside arm of the bow hand. Also, remove the jute threads or leaves from part of the chest area, on the same side as your bow hand so you don’t get snagged on the suit while you’re trying to shoot.

Remember to customize your ghillie suit for different seasons as well. In the winter, use more dark brown colors (if no snow) or white and light gray (in snowy areas) or a combination of brown, white, and gray. In the spring and summer, you may need to use more greens to blend in with the foliage. When it comes to customizing your ghillie suit, it all depends on where you live and where you hunt or play!

A sniper ghillie suit gives you full coverage and freedom of movement.

The first step in choosing a ghillie sniper suit is to look at what you need it for. The most common uses for ghillie suits are hunting, paintball or airsoft, military and police missions, and wilderness photography. Think about how much freedom of movement and how much camouflage cover you need to figure out which suit is right for you.

How you move (i.e. at a walk, run, crawl, or crouch) will make a huge difference as to which suit you need to buy…

• If you move at a crouch, you’ll want to choose a jacket and pants set. A poncho or long jacket would only get in the way, since it hangs down below your knees.
• If you crawl on the ground, you’ll want to choose a sniper ghillie suit. A sniper suit with jute material only on the back side of the suit will let you crawl on the ground without snagging on sticks or other objects.
• If you mostly stand or walk upright, either a full-coverage ghillie suit or a ghillie poncho will work for you. If you don’t need as much camouflage below the knees (i.e. your feet are hidden by brush), a poncho will give you plenty of coverage. If you want full coverage, go for a full ghillie suit.
• If you run at all, choose a ghillie suit that lets you move easily, such as a sniper suit. Since it only includes jute material on the back side, you won’t have to worry about tripping on the suit.

Depending on how you plan to use your ghillie suit, here are a few more pieces of advice…

For the most coverage possible (front and back), choose a full ghillie suit set.

• If you use your ghillie suit for hunting, choose a suit with natural jute material to help eliminate scent. Then roll around in the dirt with your suit on to give it an earthy smell.
• If you use your suit for hunting in a treestand, get a jacket and pants set. A poncho or long jacket could get in the way as you climb up to the treestand.
• If you use your suit for paintball, airsoft, or woodsball, choose a lightweight suit to keep cool while you’re running around.
• For military purposes, you’ll most likely need a combination of lightweight material and full coverage.

Final Words of Wisdom…

• If you want the most coverage possible, choose a full ghillie suit instead of a poncho.
• If you want the cheapest ghillie suit you can find, look for a ghillie poncho. Remember that you can customize most ghillie suits to fit your needs.
• Choose a color and camo pattern that matches your typical terrain. Then customize the suit for even better camouflage.

Ghillie suits let you blend in naturally with the surrounding foliage.

Every hunter knows that one of the keys to a successful hunt is camouflage. Some hunters depend on a tree stand or ground blind to keep them hidden and conceal their movements. Ground blinds and tree stands go a long way in keeping your prey from spotting you, but they also have their limits. Moving your blind or hunting stand requires time and effort and can make a lot of noise. It’s not all that quick and easy—or quiet—to move to a new location once you’ve set up your blind or stand.

What can you do if you want to be able to move around freely instead of being stuck in one location? For hunters who like to be on the move, ghillie suits are the answer. With a ghillie suit, you can forget about waiting for your prey to come to you. You can easily go wherever the hunting is good. The ghillie suit lets you stay under cover as you move around or hide out in the brush.

Since there’s no bulky equipment to set up, you can hunt in areas with little natural cover and even wide open spaces without attracting attention as an unnatural part of the landscape. A camo ghillie suit lets you stay under the radar and frees your hunting instincts. If you want hunting without the hassle of extra equipment, try wearing a ghillie suit on your next hunt.

Blend in with your natural surroundings
with a ghillie suit from KillZone Hunting!

Ghillie suits allow hunters to get closer than ever to deer, turkeys, and other game without spooking the animals. They keep the hunter well camouflaged while hunting on the ground, on the move, or from a tree stand. Hunters who prefer a stalking technique over hunting from blinds or stands often wear ghillie suits to conceal themselves from their prey.

Ghillie suits allow paintball and airsoft players to remain incognito while sneaking up on the enemy in simulated combat games. They also allow wilderness photographers to get close-up photos of animals in their natural setting.

KillZone Hunting offers ghillie suits with leaf camo, desert camo, and woodland camo to blend in with any terrain. Each suit also includes a fire retardant spray mixture and extra jute strands that allow the user to customize the suit to a specific environment or activity.

The ghillie poncho is available in either woodland or desert camouflage. It’s a lightweight cover made from natural jute strands tied to a comfortable netting underlayment that easily slips over the user’s clothing with a universal fit.

The sniper ghillie suit is available in two sizes with a woodland camo pattern and includes a BDU tactical jacket, pants, and hat. This suit is also made from natural jute strands attached to netting. The BDU suit is made from a durable cotton/poly blend. The pants include 10 pockets and the button-up jacket includes 4 pockets.

The 3-piece ghillie suit is available in two sizes with woodland or leaf camo. This suit comes with a zippered net mesh jacket, net mesh pants with an adjustable drawstring, and a net mesh head covering. The natural jute strand material can be added or removed as needed.

For more information, see the full ghillie suit product description.