Hide Another Day...Urban Camouflage

[Music] [Applause] ever since the concept of total global warfare came about in the early parts of the 20th century militaries around the world have made attempts to camouflage their troops and equipment the entire concept of camouflage really did not even exist in widespread military usage before world war one but by the end of the first world war not only were nations trying to figure out how to hide individual soldiers and equipment but also entire civilian cities one little-known example is that the entire city of paris was camouflaged against nighttime bombing raids by instituting a strict blackout policy for all citizens in the city while at the same time erecting gargantuan massive scale electric lighting structures meant to fool german zeppelin pilots into dropping their bombs into unused farm fields just outside the city granted this project wasn't completed before the end of the war so it really didn't come into full usage but as nations in europe muddled through the inner war years of the 1920s and 30s military tacticians were hard at work in the field of camouflage jumping forward just a bit the u.s and other commonwealth nations that saw service in the middle east and ere hard at work in the field of camouflage jumping forward just a bit the u.s and other commonwealth nations that saw service in the middle east and southeast asia learned quite a few lessons the hard way as well the u.s was entering a new phase of warfare urban close quarters fighting where the camouflage tactics of old were all but useless an adversary with little to no aerial combat power an environment that is heavily urbanized and with a populace that knows the terrain and isn't particularly friendly towards the us invasion this is the story from hue city to baghdad to arnhem to seoul and every conflict in between the us military has learned almost all of its lessons the hard way and has most certainly gained more collective combat experience over the past century than any other military before it the current vast and widespread us doctrine of military operations in urban terrain is most certainly a major part of all military operations today however when it comes to camouflage very few militaries around the world have actually figured out how to camouflage men and equipment in the urban environment this isn't for lack of trying billions of dollars over the years have been sp figured out how to camouflage men and equipment in the urban environment this isn't for lack of trying billions of dollars over the years have been spent attempting to research and develop some kind of urban camouflage doctrine but all attempts have either outright failed or not exactly been feasible or effective and when one dives into the study of camouflage doctrine one rapidly realizes that this subject is quite multi-layered requiring a lot of background research to understand the basic tenets of camouflage as a reminder we have briefly touched on this topic in a previous video so make sure to check that out if you're new to studying the field of camouflage so breaking down just one element of camouflage some camouflage patterns and colors have had pretty good success like this block style camouflage that was used in a few european urban areas during the cold war but all in all every camouflage pattern has its downsides as much as the us military wants to make a single camouflage pattern for every environment this is simply not feasible or even possible which is why many experts in the field or rather real experts who also don't happen to be dod contractors selling uniforms ha easible or even possible which is why many experts in the field or rather real experts who also don't happen to be dod contractors selling uniforms have tried to make the case for a family of camouflage patterns instead of one pattern to rule them all that is intended to blend in everywhere and when it comes to urban environments in most cases the achilles heel of urban camouflage development is the very first step defining the operational environment what does it mean for a camouflage scheme or doctrine to be urban generally speaking this could be very wide ranging depending on so many factors for instance a highly urbanized city center in iraq looks very different from what we might call an urban center in the united states various micro terrain is also a major barrier to the effectiveness of urban camouflage for instance a soldier can be standing in front of a bush or some shrubbery then take two steps and be in front of a brick wall and then take two more steps and be in front of a large reflective glass window or a brightly colored car this presents significant as yet unsolved problems in the field of urban camouflage the operational environment also has size considerations as ed car this presents significant as yet unsolved problems in the field of urban camouflage the operational environment also has size considerations as well such as what are the boundaries of what we might call the urban environment anyway does that definition cover an entire city from the downtown area to the outskirts or even the suburbs what defines the transitional areas or the areas where the city starts becoming the countryside these questions have yet to be answered by most military experts the u.s marine corps military operations and urban terrain manual for instance defines an urban environment as quote any environment where man-made construction is the dominant feature which one can see is a pretty wide-ranging blanket definition that is of zero help when it comes to camouflage methods so there are a lot of problems right to start with considering that we cannot even adequately define what the urban environment is and this directly translates into camouflage difficulties as i mentioned the various differences in micro terrain within western or european cities is a major challenge for camouflage doctrine even small cities are quite large in terms of developing tactics and t within western or european cities is a major challenge for camouflage doctrine even small cities are quite large in terms of developing tactics and techniques and have a very wide variety of highly diverse color schemes for instance you can give a soldier this uniform which would work quite well within the industrial sector of a city where the most dominant colors are gray dark gray light gray and more gray this particular pattern also addresses the camouflage principles of sheen and texture as well which is great but if you go into the residential suburbs where there is a lot more scenic greenery but still a blend of black tarmac red brick gray concrete and other vibrant colors this person would most definitely stick out another major consideration that directly applies to our current situation is that all urban camouflage attempts every tactic and technique that has been developed has been focusing on urban warfare think about it almost all traditional camouflage including the very first camouflage efforts conducted by human beings were taken from nature such as artists observing how animals evade detection by predators even today the civilian market has hundreds of camouflage p were taken from nature such as artists observing how animals evade detection by predators even today the civilian market has hundreds of camouflage patterns that are intended for hunters or wildlife photographers so when it comes to traditional camouflage for natural environments there are many different avenues of development with many different communities developing camouflage for their respective purposes but in the urban environment things are different there isn't really any community surrounding urban camouflage it's not like most photographers in the city need to set up a hunting blind to hide from their subjects the core tenets of urban camouflage may be the same as traditional natural camouflage but the individual basics used to achieve these goals are vastly different in the urban environment most of our doctrine comes from combat a situation where one can easily knock holes in a building or cut a loophole in a rooftop for an observation point or sniper nest or something but what about an urban cold war or a situation much like our own where we are not so much concerned with urban street combat as we are about easy consistent camouflage efforts that can be used in a soc like our own where we are not so much concerned with urban street combat as we are about easy consistent camouflage efforts that can be used in a society that hasn't devolved into like a total war sure it would be nice to be prepared for a military invasion of your local area but at the same time we prioritize things like logistics observation intelligence gathering preparedness training and underground networks over stuff like open conflict setting up a machine gun nest in your driveway might be great for defense but it's not practical when there's a riot going on in your neighborhood and all you need to do is keep an eye on things from a concealed position so the challenge is not necessarily to create a camouflage pattern that works in a specific area that's quite easy to do the real challenge is to create a camouflage pattern that works in a wide variety of cities districts and even suburbs the catch is why most urban camouflage doctrine is lackluster most doctrine really just encourages soldiers to do their best when it comes to camouflage in the urban environment or rely on things like cover is the primary form of concealment by and large most militaries have more or less com camouflage in the urban environment or rely on things like cover is the primary form of concealment by and large most militaries have more or less completely given up on the pursuit of urban camouflage some militaries but not all enter taiwan taiwan as an island nation is quite small and based on the complex and tumultuous history between taiwan and their not so friendly neighbor china taiwan has been forced to think outside the box as one might imagine taiwan's military is miniscule compared to the billion person fighting force that china can bring to muster so when it comes to defending taiwan against the always pressing threat of invasion the taiwanese military has always had to rely on brain power to even the odds against a far more numerically superior invasion force and one of the ways that they have done so is by becoming pioneers in the field of urban camouflage rather than adhere to the normal traditions of camouflage some taiwanese armored divisions have been observed to disguise their equipment in unique ways in this case this vehicle is disguised as a crane or some other construction equipment this specific tactic is drawing on the doctrine of mimicry which itself is di his vehicle is disguised as a crane or some other construction equipment this specific tactic is drawing on the doctrine of mimicry which itself is directly taken from nature bugs and other animals that don't even try to camouflage their existence but fully show themselves to an adversary but pretending to be something they are not in this case this cm34 infantry fighting vehicle is disguised as a harmless construction crane which is an extremely common sight among the urban landscape of taipei and most certainly not directly threatening obviously it's not perfect but total concealment is not the goal the goal of this type of camouflage is to cause gunner hesitation to make a chinese tank commander second guess his target and react just a second too late a second that the taiwanese commander has to get a shot off or evade if he so chooses same idea with this main battle tank with the exception of the barrel one cannot even see the tank even when you are told that there is a tank hiding in this scrap heap and let's not forget the traditional camouflage tactics too cities particularly in wealthy and well-developed nations actually have quite a lot of greenery in the downtown area so tional camouflage tactics too cities particularly in wealthy and well-developed nations actually have quite a lot of greenery in the downtown area so as the taiwanese defense forces have discovered there are small pockets all around a city in with which to take advantage of natural foliage camouflage such as this line of apcs parked under a bridge that are ready to roll out to a city park nearby maneuvering into positions with this type of foliage-based camouflage would be risky but once these vehicles take up positions in a folius dense part of the city these camouflage efforts become vastly more effective so as we have shown the field of urban camouflage is massive but not something that is heavily developed when it comes to warfare and when it comes to that weird situation that we find ourselves in these days in many cities which is not quite a total war but it sure feels like it sometimes the concept of camouflage isn't really talked about at all because not very many people have figured it out sure the idea of the gray man is very popular these days but it's become more of a fashion statement than a real camouflage attempt and even when one's city isn't burning simply survivin y popular these days but it's become more of a fashion statement than a real camouflage attempt and even when one's city isn't burning simply surviving and going about daily life without being spied on to an insane degree is not something that's really possible in most major cities also taking into account that the field of urban camouflage will require pretty shocking departures from traditional normal activities and require the changing of one's lifestyle urban camouflage tactics and tools are not something that everyone will consider to be viable options but with all of that being said we wanted to kick off our own ideas when it comes to the massive field of urban camouflage with five tools that can be used to increase one's concealment capabilities in urban environments we will admit up front these tools are not for everyone and might seem a bit extreme or labor intensive but we think that if you have a certain mission to complete these tools and tactics might be of some use so first up is a tool that helps us with one form of camouflage mimicry just like insects and animals can pretend to be something else entirely we ourselves can take advantage of an unfortunate reality of u ouflage mimicry just like insects and animals can pretend to be something else entirely we ourselves can take advantage of an unfortunate reality of urban areas homelessness it truly is unfortunate but homelessness is common in every single urban settlement in the world so much so that most people going about their day turn a blind eye to homeless people as a result possessing a small ragged looking cardboard sign such as this one would be a great way to hide in plain sight in most urban areas again this is not something that everyone would be okay with doing things would have to be pretty extreme for one to pretend to be homeless in order to conceal oneself in an urban environment or one would have to have a very specific mission but it's not as crazy as it sounds police departments all over the country dress officers up like homeless people and really get into character in order to catch people speeding so having a pre-made cardboard sign like this one doesn't take up too much space in a bag or a pack and offers a lot of capabilities as one can probably guess it takes a lot more than a cardboard sign to really blend in as best as possible in other words it would look pretty suspi s as one can probably guess it takes a lot more than a cardboard sign to really blend in as best as possible in other words it would look pretty suspicious for a normal looking person to be holding a sign on the street so being able to dishevel one's appearance very quickly is also a very important thing to do as well up next is a classic in the military world with this neat trick being used by soldiers for decades and this is the common bug mesh or window screen trick here's how this works you take some bug mesh or any ordinary window screening material and you either hang it up in the back of a room or drape it over yourself when you are concealed inside a room this way any observers looking through the window will see the mesh and not you mesh either the window screen stuff or ordinary bug mesh has this unique ability to look like a solid fabric from a distance also color matters quite significantly too there's a reason that almost all bug mesh and mosquito netting in the world is black in color if the bug mesh were to be white it would be very difficult to see through whereas bug mesh that is black is pretty easy to see through even if the little holes in the mesh are all the s would be very difficult to see through whereas bug mesh that is black is pretty easy to see through even if the little holes in the mesh are all the same size right very interesting phenomenon considering the nature of light reflectivity so when it comes to setting up an urban observation post the classic tactic actually one of the only tactics that is actually written about in doctrine is to hang this mesh up or the screening material hang it up to make it look like a wall behind an open window concealing your observation post quite nicely there are several companies out there that put together commercial mesh screening kits for the military but most of these companies will not sell bug mesh to civilians in classic tyrannical company form but that's okay because it's easy to make your own simply order whatever bug netting you like from most fabric or diy websites and that's really all you need if you wish you can sew in a hem to increase durability or add in some loops on the corners to more easily tie it down or hang it up but yeah that's pretty much it having some stick on command hooks or other hanging implements like paracord would be handy but these really can be improvised a that's pretty much it having some stick on command hooks or other hanging implements like paracord would be handy but these really can be improvised as you need them and since a sheet of bug mesh is really lightweight and small it's easy and inconspicuous enough to carry around pretty much wherever you might need it we don't mean to knock religion or anything but one of the most annoying things that a person can experience is a person standing on a street corner handing out religious texts or even worse coming onto someone's property to talk about their particular religion however people who tend to do this are also largely ignored by society especially in public if anyone ever wanted a bit of peace and quiet and solitude all you've got to do is grab a clipboard and stand on the street corner people will avoid you like the plague well for the most part see if you do this in order to surveil a target or something and you pick a random cause to stand on a street corner about make sure it isn't a cause that people might actually be willing to talk to you about the first time i did this personally i made the mistake of choosing an issue that was of particular interest to the area i was ng to talk to you about the first time i did this personally i made the mistake of choosing an issue that was of particular interest to the area i was in i had simply printed out a change.com petition for like save the whales or something honestly i don't even remember looking at it before printing it out which was a mistake because i was conducting this operation in the pacific northwest hordes of unwashed hippies surrounded me all day long and would not leave me alone here i was trying to conduct a surveillance training mission and people would constantly come up to talk to me about the whales i got over 300 signatures in like two hours so yeah be advised that in some parts of the world this might be a magnet for attention but in some situations this could be a quite handy way to loiter in an area without arousing suspicion one of the more interesting bits of kit that we have come across over the years is the concept of the undercover policeman's cap the idea behind this is that this hat is a way to quickly and passively identify undercover officers or off-duty police officers in the event that something goes down now obviously we don't want to impersonate a police officer and go dercover officers or off-duty police officers in the event that something goes down now obviously we don't want to impersonate a police officer and go directly to jail without passing go or collecting 200 so we can use patches that say security in most cases it's perfectly fine to wear security personnel gear but obviously check with your local laws you can buy these kinds of hats online but we will not be advertising the company that makes this particular hat because they refuse to sell the ones that say police to civilians even though it's perfectly legal to own patches that say police on them granted it's not a swell idea and we would never do that but we've had it up to here with tyrannical companies making our decisions for us when it comes to their products so we don't want to support them fortunately it's really easy to either make your own soft hat or just use a normal baseball cap that you squash down in a back pocket or something when it comes to potential uses for a hat like this the intended usage is pretty much the same as everywhere else in the world let's face it when shootings happen in the united states and there is a good guy there with a gun to stop the bad guy t s everywhere else in the world let's face it when shootings happen in the united states and there is a good guy there with a gun to stop the bad guy the sad truth is it is becoming all too common for law enforcement to show up to the scene and immediately shoot first asking questions later so this hat could be used in the event that you have to use your defensive tool the hat with its reflective security patches comes out and goes on your head then when the police show up to the shooting seeing this hat could cause hesitation on the part of the police officer and potentially saving your own life from a case of mistaken identity think about it an officer shows up and sees a guy with a gun he is extremely likely to just start blasting away but an officer that shows up and sees a guy wearing a hat that says security well he might still blast away but it's much less likely at least in theory in any case i can't think of a situation in which this tool or tactic would be harmful but again don't listen to me or even the comments section on this video make sure to check out your own local laws but i personally carry one of these kinds of hats every time i carry a defensive tool and thankfu his video make sure to check out your own local laws but i personally carry one of these kinds of hats every time i carry a defensive tool and thankfully i've not had to use it yet and again this kind of thing might seem a bit mall ninja-ish with a one in a million chance in actually it getting used and even then it's not a guarantee that you won't get shot but if you have the unique considerations that we have something like this might be right up your alley this gadget might not be a traditional form of camouflage but this is a great example of a situation in which we can take advantage of the tenets of camouflage in order to cause hesitation at the scene of a significant event which can potentially save your life and if other law enforcement agencies around the world use this exact tactic to avoid shooting their own officers it might be a great thing to add to your toolkit even if it might seem a bit odd or not be common at all in the united states just yet and finally the one item that by now most people already know about the high visibility construction vest now we here in the shop are not particularly fans of this kind of thing but i'll go over the idea anyway just in case y h visibility construction vest now we here in the shop are not particularly fans of this kind of thing but i'll go over the idea anyway just in case you're interested the concept of having a high visibility vest on hand is in order to take advantage of a long proven psychological trick in order to blend in taking pages out of the milgram experiment research has strongly indicated again and again that a person wearing clothing that implies authority often has authority granted to them solely based on this clothing so in other words by wearing a high visibility vest people who see you will simply assume that you're supposed to be there which can be great for surveillance missions or for egressing from an area and there have been lots of people all over the internet using this kind of camouflage to do things like urban exploring and gaining access to areas that they really shouldn't have access to in normal situations so on the surface this seems perfect you just pop into a storage closet put on this reflective vest and boom you have the keys to the city well it's not quite like that remember you are not agent 47 and life is not a hitman game it doesn't work like that in real life at keys to the city well it's not quite like that remember you are not agent 47 and life is not a hitman game it doesn't work like that in real life at all for this kind of camouflage to work there are several criteria that must be met for one the rest of your clothing must match how many times do you see a construction worker wearing a suit and tie or even normal street clothes so for this camouflage to work you will have to carry dirty looking work clothes anyway and in our opinion if you are going to carry a full change of clothes anyway just carry a different set of clothes than what you're currently wearing going into a bathroom and changing from one set of street clothes into a completely different set of street clothes is way more effective than changing from one set of street clothes into construction clothes at least that's been our own experience also again you will need to carry extra gear with you you will need to have props in order to sell the image how many times do you see a person wearing a reflective vest without wearing a scuffed up hard hat so again this is possible but once more you're adding more and more stuff that you will need to sell the disguise if you've g ng a scuffed up hard hat so again this is possible but once more you're adding more and more stuff that you will need to sell the disguise if you've gotta carry around a suitcase full of disguise materials for the one in a million chance you might have to use it you might as well take along just a simple change of clothes which will be much more useful in everyday life and be just as effective in the end also to sell the construction worker slash maintenance personnel camouflage you're going to need some kind of tool or something and actually be engaged in work one does not often see a single solitary construction worker just standing around doing nothing unless you work for the department of transportation i guess but again the point is that in order for this camouflage to even be partially effective you're talking about bringing along a change of clothes a hard hat some kind of tool and maybe even work boots as well by the time this disguise or camouflage attempt begins to even be kind of effective you could have simply changed clothes or egressed from the area or if your mission is surveillance you could have just used any number of surveillance techniques that are more effectiv hes or egressed from the area or if your mission is surveillance you could have just used any number of surveillance techniques that are more effective and don't have you dressing up like the village people and if you get caught or questioned by governmental agents while wearing this get up you will certainly have some explaining to do so hopefully this was helpful in breaking the ice into the ocean of urban camouflage even though this subject is kind of counter-intuitive to this particular series in that there's no one gadget that you can buy to make yourself invisible in the urban environment little tips and tricks can certainly be of help in the event that you have to wade through the waters of overwhelming surveillance in the modern world [Applause] you