Burlap: To shred, or not to shred?

[Paintman]

I've been researching various ghillie suit designs lately, noticed that some designs call for shredding the burlap, and some designs leave it in large strips. I am calling on a knowledgeable soul to tell me the difference. Is shredded or non-shredded burlap useful for different types of terrain? Or is there another reason?
Another question while I'm at it. Many designs call to soak the suit in water for an extended period of time. Reason?
Many Thanks,
Chris

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"Onward we stagger, and
if the tanks come, may
God help the tanks."
Col. William O. Darby

[josepy]

After many days and countless bottles of shoegoo I thought I had the perfect ghillie. Burlap was shredded while a very few was not, it gave it the nice texture. Washing the ghillie gave the green burlap a more natural color and some tan spraypaint to the dark areas made for the quality ghillie.

Of course when I got out on the track and got a "Zero" I figured out I had too much burlap and not enough natural veg. The scissors and I had some work to do.

My point is while I made some mistakes they only applied to Campen stalks and the imfamous "Tunnel".

Trial and error has to be learned on your own and camouflage is continuous.

[Sharky]

Josepy is pretty much right on the money. Mine is always shredded. After spending six years watching students stalking through a pair of binos I can tell you that a strip of burlap at 500 yards looks like a strip of burlap. Same with that camo netting except ten times worse. Just my opinion.

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F.I.D.O.

[jcollettusa]

Like mentioned before, you don't want your ghillie suit to look to artificial, you want it to be as natural with the environment that you are in as possible. That is why natural vegetation works the best. I have seen some guys use artifical veg, but I still prefer natural. Making a ghillie suit stops where your imagination ends, but like I said before, don't over do it because you want it to look natural.

Another reason I prefer shreding the burlap is when you encounter thick brush. It is already hard enough to get through the brush with a ghillie on, but with burlap not shredded, no thank you.

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Semper Fi

[Sharky]

Thank god for pruning shears, huh JC?

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F.I.D.O.