My brother has a ghillie suit (fake leaf camouflage) that he borrows from my dad. It is his favorite thing to wear when he goes turkey hunting. The ghillie suit isn’t even a fully body jacket. Originally it was part of a turkey vest, meant to unroll over you when you sat down. Because of this, the suit covers your front, but flaps open in the back like one of those awful hospital gowns.
The suit is long with a hood and arms that cover your body extremely well…until you turn around and see the backside. The material is very lightweight, meant to be rolled up and stored in your pack. It’s great for warm hunting or wet conditions as it doesn’t get hot or soak up much water.
My brother has been proudly wearing the ghillie suit out in the field for a number of years now. He fearlessly dons his suit and strides across the field, edges flapping wildly around him. The ghillie suit does not have strings or ties of any kind on it. This makes securing the suit a challenge. It also makes the suit look completely ridiculous. Super camo and covered in the front…nothing but human in the back. If the suit was white the wearer would look like a half-dressed ghost.
Often times we tie up the edges of the ghillie suit in the back as best as we can for my brother, but it doesn’t like to stay tied. It won’t be long until it’s back to flying around like a backwards cape in the wind. Personally, I wouldn’t be caught dead in anything so ridiculous. My brother on the other hand has decided to rock it. This last spring, he even wrapped it around himself like some sort of bizarre toga, posing for pictures.
He has earned the name bush boy for obvious reasons. Now as much as we make fun of him for his fashion faux pas he is probably the best hidden of all the hunters when it comes time to actually hunt. When he is nestled up against a tree or other shrubbery he blends in with astonishing ease. It takes his sharp unnatural outline that looks terribly human and turns it into a natural part of the forest. I can’t tell you how many times he has had critters of all sorts walk past him without a second glance. Quite amazing!
So what is the lesson to be learned here? Is the ghillie suit fashionable? Does it make the wearer look rugged and strong? No! But it is functional and IT WORKS. The ghillie suit is proof that functional is more important than looks. This is something that we should take to heart. The path to success is rarely pretty. Sometimes we need to allow ourselves to do things outside of the box. We might tease my brother, but none of us can deny that the ghillie suit is effective. Bush