Honestly, when I first received my bushrag ghillie suit, I thought the colors were way off.  Each of us has it in our heads what colors our ghillie suits are suppose to look like.  For example, I thought there wasn’t enough brown and too much black when I got mine.

Forest – I put on my suit and walked next to a tree and some bushes.  My friend says, “Wow that suit matches perfectly”  I was suprised because I thought my suit was way too dark.  He snapped a few pictures and I looked them and wow he was right.

Desert – I walk into the desert and pretend I’m a bush.  I thought I would be too green.  I look at the pictures and I look like a partially dried bush.  The little amounts of tan make me blend into the desert scenery.  FYI, the desert is not 100% brown, there are small green plants everywhere.

Grass – Well of course it will match green grass, the suit is green.  But again the patches of brown, tan and black help because even a grass field has patches of dead grass.

Snow – I know what you’re thinking.  No way, and you are right if the ground is covered by 3 feet of white snow.  However, if the ground is lightly covered and there are patches of brown dirt and branches everywhere, it’s not that bad.  Granted a white and brown suit would have been better.  But I was pleasantly suprised at the concealed even a woodland ghillie suit can give in the snow.

So there you have it.  That is why woodland ghillie suits are the most popular pattern in the United States.

If you are in an area with more foliage and heavy leafy bushes, you can taper down your browns to 5-10%.  If you area is more wooded and heavily branched, you can increase the brown up to even 50%.   Getting a basic woodland suit and a few pounds of extra thread in various colors will allow you to modify your ghillie suit as seasons change.   It is difficult to get a ghillie suit color that will suit your needs in all terrain, but if you had to pick a base suit to modify for each season (unless you live in a southern desert state like Arizona), the woodland ghillie suit would be the best choice.

If you are in a darker wooded area where not much sun gets through the trees, add some black and grays to the suit when using the ghillie suit in darker shaded forests or in areas where the soil is darker.  This color is sometimes referred to as the bushrag mossy ghillie suit color.

Have some lighter tan and white thread or jute ready when fall rolls around.  In areas where the tree bark is white or in the winter when tall grass has died and become lighter, you can lighten up your woodland ghillie suit.  This color is also referred to as mossy color by a different manufacturer.  Yes, it’s confusing so you must know which brand suit you are getting or the colors may be different.

Modifying a ready made ghillie suit is pretty easy.  If your woodland ghillie suit is made with netting attached to it, it will be easier to customize with various colors.  The netting also makes it easy to add the native vegetation while in the field.You can also find directions on how to make a woodland ghillie suit online on youtube or various other sites.

Of course, you can always start from scratch and make your own ghillie suit by purchasing a ghillie kit.  This way you can choose the exact colors that you want on your ghillie suit.  The kits on sale today are very good and cost just slightly more than if you were to purchase the materials separately in a store.  The kits also save you the time of dying and cutting the jute.