Help with clothing

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Sicarius
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Help with clothing

Post by Sicarius » Sat Jul 04, 2020 2:16 am

I recently purchased a cheap grey BDU which arrived today. Upon arrival, I put it on and was mostly satisfied. However, it still made a fair bit of noise. While I can work with it, I certainly cannot move quickly and quietly. I can do so in my cotton sweatpants, so I know that it is possible. What would you recommend to wear that is quiet, grey, and has belt loops. I might be willing to sacrifice belt loops if necessary. Specifically to Xanatos, you mentioned in several stories of your excursions that you wore quieter clothing. I do not know what you meant by this, but if you could elaborate, that would be great. I will include some of the quotes at the end. I also am returning my new boots, because while the sole is flexible and quiet, the inside material is constantly making a sound, even while moving slowly. Instead, I plan on getting super-flexible barefoot shoes and coloring the reflectiveness with a sharpie and electrical tape.

Operation Barren Swamp-"If I wore the wrong footwear, noisier clothing or carried unnecessary gear I would've been detected much sooner when the guard showed up. As it happened, the sound of me running was probably no different to a stray cat scampering along the ground."

Re: N.S.E.F.I.O.T. Ops-"I'd also need different gear than what I wore during my CTR - lighter footwear for scaling the fence and tighter, softer clothing to move in absolute silence (ripstop is a great fabric for everything but noise reduction)"
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Re: Help with clothing

Post by Xanatos » Sat Jul 04, 2020 5:04 pm

Pretty much what I said there. Pure cotton garments, tightly fitted, are quietest. Sweatpants, thermals, stretch jeans, etc. Ripstop doesn't stretch very much and so the garments are typically of a looser design, and especially on pant legs they scrap against one another audibly. Works well enough outdoors when you're at a distance or there's lots of ambient sound (wind through trees sounds practically like ripstop fabric rubbing against itself) but in Barren Swamp I knew I was gonna be in pretty close quarters to other humans so sound suppression was more important than durability or environmental protection. You might get away with blousing your trousers around your ankles & knees so they hug the body a bit better.

Your boots could probably be made quieter if you wear them out a bit more & break 'em in. Keep them for ops on rough terrain. New, tough leather boots need a while to soften up and mould to your foot as well as wear out in the right places where you flex your ankle & toes. My boots are quiet enough to move in across soft terrain like grass and can move reasonably quiet on concrete provided I move slowly, but for instances like running away from a guard who's actively looking for me and scaling fences quietly I would definitely need something with a thinner, more flexible sole. Aqua shoes did the job perfectly.
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Re: Help with clothing

Post by spartan_ninja45 » Sun Jul 05, 2020 8:07 pm

I recently bought my first pair of BDU pants. I had a similar problem. I got polyester-cotton instead of cotton, so they're not as quiet as I'd like them to be. Very durable though.

For shoes I've got my boots that I use on most ops and stealth runs, but I recently bought some minimalist running shoes that are truly something else. 10/10 would recommend for climbing or indoor stealth. If you're interested, search "Troadlop Softrun shoes".

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Re: Help with clothing

Post by Xanatos » Sun Jul 05, 2020 9:54 pm

Damn, those Troadlops do look pretty sweet. Wonder how durable they are compared to ordinary aqua shoes.
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Re: Help with clothing

Post by Sicarius » Fri Jul 31, 2020 2:25 am

Clothing for stealth is so damn confusing! I still have no clue what to buy. Normal BDU's are too loud, which eliminates them from my options. I then turned to tight-fitting clothes and went with HeatGear from UnderArmour. They are tight-fitting and come in gray, but then I ran into the issue of how to carry stuff. I then thought of tactical shorts over the leggings and wearing a molle belt. This allows me to now carry gear while being silent. But, most tactical shorts come in ripstop, the same material BDU's are made of. However, I found a pair of 100% cotton ripstop shorts (https://www.amazon.com/Helikon-Tex-Mens ... th=1&psc=1). They can be dyed to grey, but I have a question; does anyone know how loud cotton ripstop is? It is pure cotton, but the weave is different than cotton sweatpants or thermals. I do not know if this would make a huge difference in sound, and I cannot find any information on it.

Additionally, does anyone have any information on how they carry gear when wearing non-tactical clothes? I have been really struggling with clothing lately, and have been very stressed, so I apologize if my post does not make much sense. Thank You!
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Re: Help with clothing

Post by Xanatos » Fri Jul 31, 2020 1:49 pm

Battle belts or tactical cummerbunds with MOLLE webbing. Otherwise just any belt or cummerbund mounted with pouches (integrated into the belt or not). There's a variety of LBVs & other webgear depending on how much stuff you're planning to carry. I'm a big fan of Varusteleka's Särmä TST LW18 chestrig for its lightweight & slimline design. Combine something like that with a battle belt & leg platform(s) and you can comfortable carry pretty much all the gear you need over a fucking leotard.
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Re: Help with clothing

Post by Sicarius » Mon Aug 24, 2020 3:59 am

How would the belt stay in place if used with tights or a "fucking leotard"? I know that the chest rig, when secured to the belt, should be mostly secure. But without it, I imagine the belt would move around quite a bit, even if it had good retention. Maybe you could add belt loops to the tights, either with sowing or hot glue. The improvised belt loops mixed with retention could work, I think at least. I tried putting normal shorts, which were made from cotton, over my tights but they were still pretty noisy, so my idea flopped. As for clarification for quiet, I want the clothing quiet enough to sneak past a guard at a distance of 5 meters at a moderate pace. I will be using that for a guideline as to how silent I want my clothing to be.
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Re: Help with clothing

Post by Xanatos » Mon Aug 24, 2020 8:37 am

Belt stays in place just with friction, like a toolbelt or old west gun belt. No loops required.
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Re: Help with clothing

Post by Sicarius » Mon Aug 24, 2020 12:05 pm

Really? Maybe if you get it tight enough. I tried that back when I used sweatpants and the belt kept rising on my body, so I imagine it would be even worse on a smooth surface like tights. But if you tighten it a lot I guess it could work.
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Re: Help with clothing

Post by Xanatos » Mon Aug 24, 2020 2:22 pm

Battle belts & cummerbunds work differently than just regular belts. They're a lot stiffer & don't drift as much.
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Re: Help with clothing

Post by Sicarius » Mon Aug 24, 2020 4:48 pm

A battle belt with two drop leg platforms and a chest rig is going to very secure to I imagine. I might have to try that out, but with a harness instead of a chest rig.
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Re: Help with clothing

Post by Xanatos » Tue Aug 25, 2020 7:06 am

I've got a harness system on my battle belt (multicam Tasmanian Tiger model). Works a treat. Bit hard to use with leg platforms though as the belt sits on the waist rather than the hips, but it's all adjustable anyway so your mileage may vary.
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Re: Help with clothing

Post by Sicarius » Tue Aug 25, 2020 1:18 pm

I have found a lightweight modular harness sytem that comes in gray. The link can be found here (https://breakthrough-tactics.com/produc ... -rigs.html). It can have different attachments, which I think is cool. Here is an image of some of the attachments.Image

Counting from the left, the 5th and 6th options are what I will use. The additions to make it a load bearing vest are also available on that website. However, how do I attach it to a battle belt not made by this company? The one I want is here(https://www.bluealphabelts.com/product/ ... -belt-rig/). This can be solved with "MOLLE carabiners", or Grimlocs. These are essentially carabiners that are plastic and attach to molle for carrying or connecting equipment. So in theory, you can connect the harness to the belt with with Grimlocs and paracord. Now, you have a stable, professional, well designed load bearing solution that is applicable to night ops. For extra security, add small drop leg panels.
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Re: Help with clothing

Post by Xanatos » Tue Aug 25, 2020 6:29 pm

Sure, that'll work fine. If all else fails you can use zip ties to anchor the harness to the belt to prevent drift. Or even just tie it with paracord.
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Re: Help with clothing

Post by Sicarius » Sun Jan 17, 2021 7:04 pm

Okay, so I did get the load-bearing gear mentioned here, BUT, I am still buying more and experimenting, so dismiss that for now...

Back to the subject of clothing, I stated that I purchased a cheap BDU and that it was loud and baggy. Skipping over backstory, I entered a 5.11 tactical store and tried on some pants, and was delighted! They are a 35/65 cotton polyester ripstop mix and are comfortable, ergonomic, water repellant, and semi-silent. The website or tag do not state that it is a 35/65 mix, but I asked the store owner, and they essentially just rebranded 35/65 cotton-poly ripstop with a few extra features, and the tag eluded to this. I tried several different pants and found a little longer pant leg and a slim fit work best. You cannot move very quickly and silently in these, but with skill and practice, you can move moderately quickly. As for stalking and other slow movement, just break the pants in and you are golden. Shirts are not as important for this, but the shirt had the same effect. The pants were the "iconic", which are slim fit.

However, we run into the problem of camouflage. The material described is not common in use for camouflage(5.11 offers solid colors for most pants and clothing), from 5.11 or elsewhere. You can still find it, but 50/50 nyco ripstop is more common. I am going to try to find some mid or high quality 50/50 nyco ripstop BDU's nearby to try on, and if the noise is able to be worked with my conclusion is this; In order to wear BDU's/combat uniforms for stealth, you need high-quality ones that are slim in their fit.

The noise may not be easy to work with from 50/50 nyco ripstop. Cotton is essentially the quietest, with certain polyester following after. Blend them into ordinary clothing and they are stretchy and quiet, but the addition of ripstop in most products makes it louder. As stated, higher quality ones are still useful. NYCO stands for nylon and cotton. Nylon is louder and more synthetic than polyester, and it takes up 50% of the blend rather than 35% like polyester. So, I need to try it and will update this post when I can. Also, if the pants are too loose this will affect the performance as well. You could tailor them...

And a question for Xanatos, I am not positive, but did you mention a custom BDU at one point? If so, where did you get yours from if you are okay sharing? Thank you!

I am also looking into applying camouflage to clothing with none. This would best be done with my current sweatpants and long sleeve t-shirt but is still possible on poly-cotton, nyco, and Cordura(for gear). You also may just be able to ask a company to custom print camo on gear, they often can do so and may just upcharge you for it. This may be possible for uniforms, but more difficult and unlikely.

If anyone has any resources on custom BDU's, gear, camo, etc, please share! Thank you and my apologies if I am disorganized in my writing, have a good day!
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Re: Help with clothing

Post by Xanatos » Sun Jan 17, 2021 8:18 pm

My "custom camo", you mean? Just some old 2nd-hand BDUs and a longsleeve shirt I dyed/spray painted to make them more applicable for Night Ops. Pretty easy to do.
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Re: Help with clothing

Post by Sicarius » Sun Jan 17, 2021 8:50 pm

Oh, I thought you meant you purchased them somewhere
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Re: Help with clothing

Post by Xanatos » Mon Jan 18, 2021 12:06 pm

Here's the custom camo I made compared to Multicam just for your reference. I darkened a basic Auscam pattern for the trousers just so they'd blend in better at night and spray painted some longsleeve green camo top with brown & another shade of green (using some local vegetation as stencils) to break up the pattern some more.
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Re: Help with clothing

Post by Psychlonic » Fri Jan 22, 2021 6:58 pm

Kind of late to the party here, but battle belts from experience will usually slip and slide all over the place and that's by design. The idea is to be able to quickly spin it around your waist to get to pouches in the back and whatnot. As far as night ops go, this wouldn't be a problem if you're carrying equipment on it that doesn't hang below the boundaries of the belt but if you're wanting to hang anything long off of it I'd go with a slimmer old school pistol belt or similar that will stay put with friction, as Xanatos has mentioned.

But having said that, save yourself some trouble and go with a drop leg. There are some great designs coming out dirt cheap that have a low profile but carry anything you'd need at the ready. I find it's also easier to navigate tight spots with such a design rather than adding bulk to your waistline.
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Re: Help with clothing

Post by Sicarius » Fri Jan 22, 2021 11:34 pm

I am experimenting with a system, Sam Fisher best shows my idea in these images(if they do not show, open them in a new tab;

Image

Image

Image

The last one is my favorite. Honestly, the original Splinter Cell trilogy is incredibly realistic in some aspects...

Also, Pencott Metropolis
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Re: Help with clothing

Post by spartan_ninja45 » Sat Jan 23, 2021 12:19 am

Can't see the images, Sicarius. Maybe try to reupload?

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Re: Help with clothing

Post by Sicarius » Sat Jan 23, 2021 1:22 am

Right-click, then open them in a new tab; If that does not work, look at the splinter cell wiki page for the "mark iv tac suit". Then, go down to the bottom for a bunch of images. Under the first two splinter cells, image 3 is the first one referenced in my post. Then, go down to chaos theory. Images 2 and 3 were mentioned in my post, with image 3 being my favorite.
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Re: Help with clothing

Post by Xanatos » Sat Jan 23, 2021 4:18 pm

Did you try linking the images directly from the wiki? Wikis often don't allow that (for some reason). Better download them to your computer and upload them directly.
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