Covert Camping

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Necrogue
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Covert Camping

Post by Necrogue » Fri Feb 05, 2021 3:12 am

While quick ‘in and out’ Ops can be fun, extended Ops offer new challenges and lessons that can’t necessarily be experienced through short excursions. You’ve spent hours locating a site, searching and learning all you can about it on the internet, through social engineering inquiries, and exhaustive recon before your op. After careful planning and preparation you experience the thrill of finally being inside your target location. After all your hard work the thought of walking around for a little while, snapping a few photos, and just heading home can (sometimes) feel bittersweet or anticlimactic. You’re in an exciting and unexplored new location, why not stay awhile?

Covert Camping (or Stealth Camping as it is perhaps more widely known) allows us opportunities to practice things like finding, building, and/or utilizing stealth shelters; and since you’re planning on an extended stay you might find it worthwhile to hone your skills in securing your perimeter, setting up early warning and/or threat detection devices, and much much more!

An overnighter or even just a long rest period before exfil is a great time to practice stealthy meal preparation. Learn how to cook safely and efficiently while also remaining as low profile as possible.

An added benefit of extended Ops in which you will be camping, simply cooking, or similar is that these types of Ops require more than your standard kit. This provides an opportunity to test new gear (as well as techniques, ideas, etc), to condition yourself through carrying greater loads, even learning and practicing the most optimal ways to pack your gear to reduce noise, be most effective for in field accessibility, etcetera, can all be great and worthwhile additions to the Night Ops lifestyle.

Share your own thoughts, ideas, and experiences with extended adventures!
“For a while they stood there, like men on the edge of a sleep where nightmare lurks, holding it off, though they know that they can only come to morning through shadows.” —J.R.R. Tolkien, ‘The Passage of the Marshes’, The Two Towers

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Sicarius
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Re: Covert Camping

Post by Sicarius » Fri Feb 05, 2021 1:47 pm

I am definitely going to try that out. I do believe there is a dare for it, something like a 24-hour hide. I would try something like a small ghillie blind and then a cobra ghillie or something similar. There is a company called "ProApto" and they make excellent-looking ghillie suits. They have many varieties of sizes, colors/camo, and material. They even account for night vision and thermal when designing them, and they have ghillie's that can be used as shelters and even a hammock.
"If one cannot be both, it is much better to be feared than loved" - Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince

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Xanatos
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Re: Covert Camping

Post by Xanatos » Fri Feb 05, 2021 2:06 pm

Picked up a lightweight hammock and a ViperHood-style ghillie... coat, I suppose you could call it? Would be useful for what you're talking about, Sicarius.

I've thought about doing an overnighter somewhere, but the target would need to be large enough to warrant staying overnight to explore it thoroughly. Like a ghost town or the Chernobyl exclusion zone or something.
We are all books containing thousands of pages and within each lies an irreparable truth.
What is locked, can be opened. What is hidden, can be found. What is yours... can be mine.

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Sicarius
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Re: Covert Camping

Post by Sicarius » Fri Feb 05, 2021 2:55 pm

I am looking into a viper hood for urban use as well. Viper hoods are smaller and obstruct pretty much nothing on gear, cobra hoods are larger and offer for concealment but obstruct gear and get noisy. I am still deciding, but a viper hood with an option for a "cape" sounds cool. Just tie the cape to your legs and not nearly as noisy
"If one cannot be both, it is much better to be feared than loved" - Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince

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Bruce Wayne
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Re: Covert Camping

Post by Bruce Wayne » Sun Feb 07, 2021 6:21 am

In my opinion, I would use a shelter set up like so: https://youtu.be/WVkC5vda7Lc
Easy building and breakdown with small materials.
https://youtu.be/U6StcLVXj64
Here are some other ideas as well.
And I would build a dakota fire for cooking.
"If you make yourself more than just a man, if you devote yourself to an ideal and if they can't stop you, you become something else entirely - legend, Mr Wayne."

Necrogue
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Re: Covert Camping

Post by Necrogue » Sun Feb 07, 2021 4:57 pm

Those are great rural options Mr. Wayne, but less utilitarian in the heart of Gotham City. For instance one can’t exactly dig a Dakota fire hole when overnighting on a rooftop, but an alcohol stove made from a cat food can can be both surprisingly efficient and low profile (especially when used in tandem with a wind screen). As for shelter, urban landscapes have endless possibilities however since I brought up rooftops....you might be amazed at how commonly blue tarps appear on rooftops when viewing urban environments from above. These tarps can often be found by happenstance, but expecting to is not a good practice to adopt, but carrying one or stashing one in your AO is certainly a viable option. Aesthetics come into play here somewhat since a makeshift encampment on a rooftop might seem covert high above the city streets, but might also be hiding in plain site of surrounding highrises. Therefore shelter construction should not look out of place. For example, the tarp configuration in the video you’ve linked Mr. Wayne is, again, an excellent option for woodland environments, the shape would look out of place to eager early executives, or condominium coffee consumers who happen to have a higher vantage point. Rooftop tarp shelters should be constructed to look like they are covering/protecting something (such as building surplus materials, roofing repair supplies, HVAC ductwork and/or equipment, etc.).

Anyway, just sharing some thoughts for the sake of relevant discussion. Rooftops and woodlands are by no means the only options for extended excursions in either rural or urban environments; what others can anyone think of?
“For a while they stood there, like men on the edge of a sleep where nightmare lurks, holding it off, though they know that they can only come to morning through shadows.” —J.R.R. Tolkien, ‘The Passage of the Marshes’, The Two Towers

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Bruce Wayne
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Re: Covert Camping

Post by Bruce Wayne » Sun Feb 07, 2021 8:50 pm

😆 Thank you and very true. Those were excellent urban options. Though one must be prepared for all occasions. There's a woman I know who can turn the whole city into a jungle when mixed with the right chemicals faster than you can say Pamela Isley.
"If you make yourself more than just a man, if you devote yourself to an ideal and if they can't stop you, you become something else entirely - legend, Mr Wayne."

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Xanatos
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Re: Covert Camping

Post by Xanatos » Sun Aug 08, 2021 12:30 pm

Currently on lockdown again and I'm getting some cabin fever. Awaiting a couple of items in the post and I think I'll slip out for a spot of covert camping. Will take pictures of my setup.
We are all books containing thousands of pages and within each lies an irreparable truth.
What is locked, can be opened. What is hidden, can be found. What is yours... can be mine.

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