Suddenly. Dry leaves. Billions of them. Everywhere.

[Neurotic Anomaly]

Trying to walk silently through a blanket of dry leaves almost a foot thick is an all out bitch. And this is my current conundrum.

I have only on rare occasions had to deal with this problem before, and my previous excursion that included dry leaves was back during my Cemetery and Church op. However that night it had rained, and was still raining lightly throughout the ops, making movement easy and manageable. These leaves literally cover almost every square foot of exposed ground, making any way around or over them borderline impossible.

I've searched around and the only internet resources I've found addressing this was from hunting websites, which only gives you tips for when hunting game. Well how about avoiding humans in the dark?

It seems there is no 100 percent effective method at this, but I seek to find ways to at least ease the problem by placing multiple minds on it.

[Xanatos]

Leaves are always a bitch to cross. The best method I can think of is to shift the leaves out of the way with your foot before placing it on the ground, stepping on the balls of your feet. It's still going to make a bit of noise as you swipe the leaves away, but not as much as crunching directly over them. On top of that wait for wind or passing traffic to provide extra sound cover.

[Neurotic Anomaly]

I found a wiki how article that well explained some possible solutions to make movements easier.
I kind of have myself a soution now, anyone else with this problem or anyone who may have it can read this.

When the ground with leaves or twigs, etc, makes absolute silence impossible, move in small, erratic increments and pause, making any sounds appear less human. Don't move in any type of rythm, mimic small foraging creatures by moving quickly a small distance then stopping a moment, and then moving again a short distance, capitalize on other sources of sound like gusts of wind, vehicles, planes, etc to suppress or camouflage sound.

Do not shift your weight or settle your feet during a pause, freeze in whatever position you happen to stop in. Resting down with your body, or even a knee or hand for support, will cause an additional 'post-movement' "brushing, crushing, continually settling" sound that is both unnatural among the small sounds and also reveals your body weight/size to be much larger than a small animal.

[Xanatos]

That makes sense. I typically hear lizards and sometimes cats crossing the leaves outside my window. The light rustling is so common now that I barely even notice it. If an operative were to mimic those movement sounds I doubt I'd notice their presence.

[Illusion]

Neurotic_Anomaly: I think thats the best idea without a doubt, when I've been in similar situations with security patrols at a site - I've been generally able to get away with mimicing any wildlife if it's in that kind of setting, and if it's in an urban environment then waiting for cars or some other form of noise to mask myself with.

The only redeeming factor of leaves, is when they do get wet, they cling to you and form the best camo ever

[Psychlonic]

You pretty much nailed it. Sometimes the trick isn't to completely make something disappear - in this case the sound - but to make it appear as something nobody is going to investigate. Crunch - crunch - crunch - or even the swoosh of pushing the leaves aside and moving in a normal human pattern is going to be really obvious as footsteps. Aside from being erratic, what I do is make the sound a low volume constant that does not relent. Find a way to drag your feet along slowly so that you sound like wind blowing the leaves.

[Nukes]

I read somewhere before, it might have even been on here, that digging your toe under the leaves before you step down reduces the sound. I've never tried this, but I imagine it would be more trouble than it's worth if you were wearing boots.

[Psychlonic]

I don't find that to be the case for myself, anyways.

[Neurotic Anomaly]

I normally wear boots, and I will say that they can be cumbersome. I put some thought into investing in a pair of... toe shoes?

http://www.finishline.com/store/catalog ... 7QodPW0EQw

I've heard very positive feedback from some people I know who wear them, so I might get a pair and just trek around in the woods during the day to see how they fare.

[Nukes]

I've heard many good things about them. Also, I never wear boots and I've never tried this method, I just assumed.

[Illusion]

I'm a boots guy, prefer the ankle support and relative protection they offer.

That said, I can only really think of circumstances with wet leaves.. and they don't generally present that much of a problem to me.

[Epic]

I find it rare to find leaves with no other possible route. Therefore, if there are leaves, I take the grass route.

[Teutoni]

Ok I realize this is an old thread but I figured I should add something about leaves. I was walking through the forest the other day practicing different ways of walking in my boots and have found stepping on the side of your foot then extremely slowly putting your weight down to be really effective. I tried digging my toe under the leaves and I found it to be rather useless.

Nukes actually ended up really trying to listen for me and the only thing she heard was when I screwed up and broke a twig. Otherwise she had a very hard time hearing me.

So remember to develop the leg muscles, slight crouch, and step in on the edge of your foot and to mask your noise.

[Ghost]

Not entirely related, but if you're moving through the woods silently and you're worried about snapping sticks, set your foot down flatly on the ground, and then slowly transfer your weight onto it, instead of sudden stepping. It helps to balance out your weight, and gives you a chance to pull your foot back off if you feel a stick underneath, before it snaps. However, this method obviously sucks for dry leaves, unless you move very smoothly and try to keep a constant, level rustling up.

Remember you can be seen or heard and still remain undetected. The trick is making sure you're not perceived. Most of the time, people don't think twice about hearing leaves rustling as long as it sounds like what they hear naturally every day.