After being made unintentionally homeless I spent one year 'wild camping' in the uk. Being a country rather than a city boy I slept in woodland with my tarp/basha changing location every night as I wandered around the UK. This was long before my army days. I was never disturbed even once. Key points were that I would reccee my campsite in the daylight (checking for comfort by lying on the ground, visibility, approach routes etc.). I would then go well away and make my supper and a mug of tea. Then at dusk I would come back to the site and set up my low profile shelter. Sleep, not making fire or using torches. At the crack of dawn I would pack everything away and be off. I was never disturbed. As you can imagine after a year of this discipline some things were second nature. When I finally did join the army. In my post army days I have travelled the world far and wide and wild camped many times. The very worst place to wild camp is in Greece because there are so many wild and feral dogs and they definitely do find you!

Basic Fieldcraft Lesson 1: Why Things Are Seen. A great presentation of something those of us who served were taught very early on. Smells include toothpaste, deoderant, cigarettes and body odour. I've smelt people in the bush by all of those and it is surprising how far away you can be and get a whiff of something that simply doesn't belong.

Love this guy! Glad he mentioned "Don't be seen, heard, or smelled..." I remember reading somewhere in a manual, "Don't smoke during hiding, as the smell of tobacco is unmistakable!" LOL!!!

Shape, shine, shadow, silhouette, sound, speed and surroundings all in 8 mins nice work.

I have years of experience nomad stealth camping in the city (even used the wood stove in my camper in the middle of the city!) and never once had a problem. The biggest factors that will keep the heat off you is staying clean, tidy, friendly demeanor if approached and consistently moving. If you seem like an honest person who is just out enjoying their life 99.9% will not bother you, they might get curious and ask questions. It's when you start getting complacent, staying a bit too long and look unclean, that's when people start becoming suspicious and causing issues. Look the part and play it too. I lived multiple years next to a ski hill without issue in my RV because I abided the rules and dressed my RV up to look like a mobile ski rig. If I were to try it in an industrial area I would dress disguise it as a plumbers work vehicle, etc.

Can never get enough of the stealth camping (which shows what I think of the world situation lately). New sub!

Wearing grey works very well. It looks causal to the public & it seems to blend in with browns & greens well.

Very good tips. This blending in (grey man) tactic does not only apply to clothes but also for gear like backpacks. A highly tactical backpack raises more suspicion than a normal (day hike) backpack. Cook, eat and have your coffee before setting up camp but find the right spot to camp a bit away before you cook. Learn how to set up your sleep place in low light conditions or even darkness. Most people use the paths so be aware of the angle of your shelter to the path. A camouflage net sure helps but adds bulk and weight.

Also camp where people don't expect you to camp. In this regard hammock camping has it's place because it allows you to setup over rough ground or on sloping ground where people, who think only in terms of tents would not consider as a feasible camping spot.

Another plus for the alcohol stove, although there is some odor it’s far less than a campfire, and is absolutely silent. Saw vs axe, that chopping noise will carry for a mile! Nice video.

And that my friend is why I solo stealth camp. You wouldn't believe how many "bushcrafters and self proclaimed woodsmen" have asked me to go on a stealth camp with them, then have told me they like a real fire. I am itching to get out in the hammocks again, but am waiting for the foliage to emerge again, before I get out again, so I can blend in to the surroundings easier. Never have fires myself, usually an alcohol stove, or a jetboil for a brew, or a bite to eat. Good video, with important tips...subscribing

Wonderful insight, and we didn't have to enlist to receive it. This information is even helpful with a simple day hike or nature walk. Often on my strolls through the local woods I encounter people wearing loud colors and speaking loudly -- but they never see or hear me. Muted colors and sounds just make nature more natural. Thanks

Karl Bushby from Hull in the UK, a former paratrooper, is walking around the world. He passed through the Darien Gap one of the most dangerous places on earth. Drug barons passed within ten feet of his hamoc and had no idea he was there. He floated downstream in a river for three days disguised as debris to avoid danger!

People are not really a problem, their dogs are. You really don't need all that camo stuff, just use a black tarp and only deploy it when it's dark. Leave early in the morning and you'll be fine. And don't forget to leave the place as clean as possible.

I've wildcamped in NW Europe in normal tents, though green in colour, as well as under tarps and have never bothered disguising them. Never once been found by anyone just as long as I set up and break down around dusk.

@8:15 Or do your cooking in one spot, clean up, and move farther away to set camp. This is how to avoid bears in North America.

Great sharing

It's brilliant! sometimes things don't work quite as expected, that's life not failure. One thing I noticed is one wheel seems stuck and the other spins, on a 'normal' 4x4 you'd use diff lock to get the power distribution right. Not sure if that applies on hydraulics / when there's no axle

Watching stealth camping techniques always makes me glad I live in Snowdonia, so much easier wild camping in the hills, I used to live in Stoke and this just makes me imagine trying to stealth camp in Hanley Park!

It's funny I've just spent the weekend hiking and by the end of it I noticed I was smelling peoples fabric softener as they passed. I couldn't smell myself at all but I was told to take a shower as soon as I got home 🤣

Good stuff! Thanks!

Really informative video and appreciate some of its common sense stuff, a great refresher and reminder i've subscribed and will be looking at your other stuff, Thanks.

What a brilliant quick and concise package of very useful information. You have just earned your self a new subscriber.

GOOD SHIT. MANY THANKS.

A very useful video, many thanks. I was taught "shadow" slightly differently. It was about the shadow I (or my shelter) threw. Re the shelter, the idea was that, in nature, heavy shadows (like straight lines) are surprisingly rare, and indicate overhangs (such as a cave) which naturally draw your eye to that point (it seems to be hard-wired into us). So, avoid setting up a hootchie (as we called them) so that it throws any kind of dark 'overhang'-type shadow. In practice that means keeping the tarp angles shallow (relatively-horizontal if possible), close to or touching the ground, and placing the entrance away from likely lines-of-sight. That way, insofar as possible, the shelter will be lit the same way as the surrounding ground, and not throw any heavy dark shadows which might either suggest a 3D object or worse, a 'cave-like' entrance or door. In terms of your own shadow, it was about being aware not just of being silhouetted (as you pointed out), but also ensuring that your shadow (particularly acute issue when the sun is low) isn't telegraphing your presence/location, by eg flashing across trees, etc as you move...

brilliant video thanks so much!!!

Got yourself a new subscriber from Portugal , i have seen lots of Bushcraft channels in which they say they go stealth and allways have to light fire with the firesteel , they would always get caught , in general they don't know or use light and sound disciplines ...

Awesome video--I agree

Happy to know my common knowledge of this is many levels above this and see a good basic for beginners

Good job!

Great video.

Love the idea.

Thank you for your video. Very smart and useful.

Good Stuff. Thanks

Good video good advice.

You just got a new sub trooper! Based on intelligence, logic, critical thinking and a good splash of knowledge.

Well done

Did you purposefully make a "Trigger Happy" reference? Brilliant!

When I wild camp in forests, fallen trees or natural cul de sacs with bushes are great at shielding you from view and act as natural wind screen.

How have I not seen your channel until now? bloody great channel it is too. Where I live my local woods is pretty realaxed. But I do get the odd idiot who tries to tell me the law, even though I have permission. I'm so glad I've found your channel. You seem pretty down to earth and very informative.

I have spent many years hunting wild turkeys. Hunters are in full camo, so I have become adept at looking for camouflaged things. One of the things I picked up on right away with your netting was the line the cord made going around the tree. If you lay out three poles such that two are going one way with the third between them going the other way and bind them together, they will make a nice tripod. Using different height tripods, you can deploy your netting such that there is no cordage line around a tree, and you don't create a straight line between the top of your "fake vegetation" and the horizon created by the remaining woods that are at a longer distance. The varying height of your netting will be a great improvement.

Another brit blissful video.

1:42 I expected a spinosaurus to come running towards him

Here in Finland and elsewhere in Nordic Europe we have rules that landowners cannot prohibit other people to access their own land if it's not right next to homes or other living spaces. What it means is that I have never heard of stealth camping. Just something that people do in other countries far away from here.

This was a really nice overview, spot on, good examples with relevant arguments why it is important to think about them.

Good video. Another thing to avoid is unnecessary movement, I’ve found.

Nice video!

The 5 S’s all soldiers are taught in basic gold! 👍🏻

excellent tutorial , could drop this in to any army basic training ( boot camp to you over seas cousins ) and it would fit . Camouflage & concealment , to camouflage is to take an item and make it look like something else , concealment - hide it completely again another no nonsense vid .

Yeah! Great show! Nothing like letting the cat out of the bag. LOL.

As a solo woman addicted to long rambles in the woods I want to thank you for this. I walk with my two little dogs and have sometimes felt the need to melt into the background (usually when I spot a lone male without a dog, sorry guys) and it's amazing how my dogs know to keep quiet. I spend hours just finding a quiet spot, sitting and observing. Not brave enough to camp overnight (yet). Any safety tips for taking dogs on adventures?

That nearly right angle really makes your camp stand out. Lean up a bit of brush there to soften it and that would help a lot (though the nearly horizontal line at the top is also problematic).

If you carry on like this you’ll have tonnes more subs. Really enjoyed the simple stupid way. Hope that’s come across how I meant it? It’s too easy to fall down the rabbit hole when it comes to camping/bushcraft

Good video thankyou. I never thought much about this until my last Motorcycle and sidecar trip. I camped at public in the outback camped I counted 9 dingos and 2 wild dogs (they are the problem, usually) So Trangia cooker and tinned food, yuck. lols. Yes never leave a smell! If they do come they are usually just looking for a quick meal. Oh btw I dragged back the carcass of the 'man' they ate well. Nah tempting it was road kill actually. Jim of the Outback.

great info good points have a great week mate ps need to meet so i can give you that book

Actually, if I am gonna go into the deep woods in the area where I am living, the camouflage doesn't exactly make me stand out, because everyone around here sees me wearing it all the time, so it's not really unusual to them. Of course, that's just in this area I live. In other places, yes, I would stand out.

Important note: try to avoid areas where people walk their dogs. The dogs will most likely give your spot away and then you're done.

I learned everything I need to know from Monty Python’s “How not to be seen” tutorial. 😂😂😂😂

Hi Dad, great stuff! This is the 1st video I see from you 💯 Some good honest advice, thanks! Especially if you go with 2 happy dogs too😂 Subscribing then 😁 keep them coming 👍

6x4 piece of camouflage burlap works great. It's dull and has browns and light greens. It's light and disposable. Meaning cheap.

Thank you

I wouldn't be stealth camping unless I was a fugitive. No fire, no good food sucks. Basic infantry training would come in handy if one did become a fugitive but in the UK how long could one keep it up and stay hidden from everyone? Much more land here in Canada but we also have bears.

Excellent video, and looks like a channel for me to sub. I found a small wood to camp in on my last trip, didn't think the pheasant feeding stations were too much to worry about, but had a farmer come past about 50 feet away both in the evening and morning. In the evening I was boiling water on a stick stove, but luckily it had just gone out (again!) and I think I was down-wind, so got away with it. In the morning, I was packing my gear up, so some brighter coloured stuff was out of the tent. That time he seemed to be engrossed in his phone, despite driving a quad bike, and somehow missed me again. I've switched to boiling water with what I thought was going to have no smell, mostly ethanol (Fire Dragon "firelighter" liquid). It does smell a bit, but it's much better than stick stoves that chuck out a load of smoke as well. I know about arriving (or setting up) late and leaving early, but I'm too lazy and enjoy a relaxed evening by the tent and a slow start in the morning, or even a whole day in one spot and a second night. I guess I just have to get even further away from people and their blumin' dogs.

Hey new subscriber here great video mate thanks 😊

Looking like a lost squaddie, dressed in camo definitely attracts attention, brown is good for UK woodland, if going up Mountains, take something bright light blue in summer and dayglo orange in winter, should search and rescue need to find you, could be a simple as a bright dry sack. Bright head torches are a dead giveaway, have a red light and keep static, bobbing lights, cigarettes etc, give away. Hammocks and bivis are good for rapid deployment, especially if no rain forecast. Ive camped in busy in places in Surrey quite openly by carrying a camera and saying I was a nature photographer.

The horizontal lines give you away. Break up the lines with natural vegetation. Better yet actually set up in some natural vegetation and remain quiet. Hammock camping is great for that type of camping. A neutral colored rain fly ( I like coyote brown ) blends in with Florida's swamps quite well. The biggest give away around here are the footprints left behind. I use to catch trespassers / poachers all the time by tracking their footprints or waiting in the bushes next to them. For some reason folks like to return the same way they went in. What they really hate are the words ... Sheriffs Office , freeze.

This video was insightful, if you watch Steve Wallis then you see him using lots of these principles. And it's fairly logical.

Just what we need in the uk!

This is homelessness 101 , show up late , leave early and don't use the same spot twice.

All good stealth techniques for sure… However, how do you avoid being found by many ticks in that woodland environment?? I’ve been wild camping for 18-months and have now clocked up 40 solo camps, and never once had an issue with people and being seen. I do most of my camping in the hills, and even there the ticks can be a real problem! I’ve now had 3 latched on to me in the last 18-months.. I personally actively avoid camping in a woodland environment, because of all the extra biting critters that live there! I much prefer a view from my shelter anyhow. 👍🏻

Shape, shine, shadow, silhouette and movement. May I ask what jacket you are wearing at the start of the video???

I'd love to know what size piece of camouflage netting you have.. , I'm guessing that you need twice as much as you'd think?

7:42 Remember, smelling is an animal's body olfactory process, everything else gives off an aroma. Calling an aroma a smell, truly is using the incorrect word. The reason folks miss use aroma for smell is it is what they hear other repeating. Hardly anyone use a dictionary looking for word meanings, they just repeat what they hear. Yes, correct word information is very important.

re; fires, people only tend to call for the fire service if it's visible, just smoke drifting along is not a reason to call, the other thing is they would need a location, so rough area is not any good, they'd need to supply an exact location. just remember there is a when, where and how for fires.

Interesting, nice. Having hitch hiked around Europe, and the US (dangerous!): when finding a place to pitch a tent, or just bivvy, walk around when & where there are few people, take your time, & when no-one's around or looking, zigzag into the undergrowth (no straight path) as deep as you can. Use a dull coloured tent with a sewn in groundsheet, never mind all those useless tarps, to keep insects, esp. mozzies & TICKS out. NO FIRES - smoke visible daytime, flames visible at night, and can be smelt far away. If in remote areas, a fire is valuable to keep bears away. Folding pen knife OK, big knives NO - offensive weapon. The biggest danger comes from PEOPLE and COPS. Hundreds of stories here.

Sorry, but every time we harboured up on Soltau training area some bloke called Wolfgang was there in his blue Mercedes burger van within 15 minutes, no matter how well we camouflaged…

Just wearing green and brown clothing rather than camouflaged will enable you to be discrete and also inconspicuous when seen by other people .

I am homeless, and have been stealth camping in the same spot for several months, and have avoided any detection. It's important to stay hidden bc it's dangerous for women. I was looking for techniques to conceal beeing seen when traveling on foot- but I thought I would watch this video to see if I could improve anything, and it appears that for not having had any sort of training, some of my thoughts on how best to hide were innate- some techniques mentioned here I thought of right away, while others don't apply to my situation, based on the natural environment, and the fact that I am intimately familar with my location- I know it better than local LE bc I grew up here- I know where I am. Would still like any tips on movement, and how to avoid being seen so I can sneak in and out of the area more discreetly- I usually only come and go at night, and I know about moving slowly, and staying in the shadows, but there is more that I don't know.

Camo clothing with a name tag saying "Ranger" or "Warden" gets around the "why are they wearing camo" issue. 😎

Good video Brother 🇬🇧 🇳🇿

1:42 was that he ring tone from Jurassic Park 3? Sounded like it to me.

A fire is a beacon of sound, sight and smell. No fires,eh? A companion = zero stealth. We humans talk - all the time, constantly. We can't help it, unless maybe we are thoroughly trained and aware commandos! Stealth camping is best done alone. Good words of advice! Greetings from the Rocky Mountains...🤠👍

New to your channel. Walking in Camo not a good look. Packed full of information thanks.

I stealth camp. One of my bigger concerns is that ive unintentionally created a trail to my camp. Also there's police helicopters with FLIR. that frequently fly by my area at night. There's also multiple hot air balloon tours that like to go low and slow in same area. Thanks for your video

What brand is your jacket?

Fun video, and good tips for those who don't know. Just subbed your one closer to getting 1k subs. I'm going for 200 subs right now. I hope I get more as I start the 1,200-mile Ice Age Trail.

So a shelter next to a clear path is going to stick out too. Shape, shadow, colour and texture. That's a fail mate. Improved after the walk to the fence. Last month 7 people with dogs walked right passed me. One of the dogs peed on the tree my basha was attached too. I got a buzz from that but bollocked myself when I got home for not seeing the other track, bad recce! Noted for best time.

I like your jacket 👍🏻

What jacket are you wearing, please? HELIKON PILGRIM ANORAK ?

7 floors up on a roof in berlin. Could smell the two stasl from 400 yards . Expensive cigars vile aftershave and a kind of sweaty smell that wreaked of fear from someone else’s body

I find if you keep still, most people won't see you , because they're looking at the ground in front of their feet, or looking straight ahead. It's their dogs that find you. Smell your scent first, are then surprised to actually have found you, and start barking 🙄

I'm surprised nobody makes reversible jackets that are 'grey man' one side for public display, and camo the other for when you want to hunker down for the night.

Arrest is just icing on the cake 😂

I did have people call the fire brigade and they couldn't find me. lol There is a house nearby where I go that uses some kind of wood stove to heat it so the smell of a wood fire is often in the air already but someone probably heard one of the branches in my fire snap because I built a Dakota fire pit and it really doesn't produce smoke. I also have built a little shelter over and around the fire, which is why I could see the fire brigade driving around with their lights on but they never saw the fire I had. One of my biggest issues is not laughing out loud when people walk right by my fort, although I've been a bit scared when the police helicopter came in low, circled, and made some announcements. Apparently those announcements were for someone else but I didn't know that until the very end. I even had a fire so I thought I was in real trouble but they caught the other person, who I assume was on the other side of the water by the road from me, and then the police went away.

Who gets caught? 😂😂😂 great vid man 👍

I once let one rip after bean stew. Needless to say, moved about a foot on immediately.

"Kids lighting fires again..." 40 years later and people are STILL on my damn back haha :-D

In the UK the wild life is not a threat its people as a women I love nature and walks in woods alone I would love to do some wild camping at night but I havent got the courage to do it alone I just would not feel safe not of the wildlife it is people

Looking for classic Monty Python sketch, "How not to be seen." Found this instead. Could use more explosives.

how sad a situation is it that people need to hide to camp