Ghillie suit A ghillie suit , also known as a yowie suit , or camo tent , is a type of camouflage clothing designed to resemble heavy foliage . Typically , it is a net or cloth garment covered in loose strips of burlap , cloth or twine , sometimes made to look like leaves and twigs , and optionally augmented with scraps of foliage from the area . they are great until someone mows the lawn . Sniper s , hunters and nature photographers may wear a ghillie suit to blend into their surroundings and conceal themselves from enemies or targets . The suit gives the wearer ' s outline a three - dimensional breakup , rather than a linear one . When manufactured correctly , the suit will move in the wind in the same way as surrounding foliage . History . The name was derived from " gille " , the Scottish Gaelic for " servant " or a " lad " . In English , this term was especially used to refer to those assisting in deer hunting , deer stalking or fly fishing expeditions in the Scottish Highlands . The ghillie suit was developed by Scottish gamekeeper s as a portable hunting blind . Lovat Scouts , a Scottish Highland regiment formed by the British Army during the Second Boer War , is the first known military unit to use ghillie suits . In 1916 , Lovat Scouts went on to become the British Army ' s first sniper unit . The Australian Army sniper ' s outfits are nicknamed " yowies " , named for their resemblance to the Yowie , a mythical hominid similar to the Yeti and Bigfoot which is said to live in the Australian wilderness . Manufacture . High - quality ghillie suits are made by hand ; most military snipers generally construct their own unique suits . Manufactured Ghillie suits can be assembled from up to six pieces . Proper camouflage requires the use of natural materials present in the environment in which a sniper will operate . Making a ghillie suit from scratch is time - consuming , and a detailed , high - quality suit can take weeks or even months to manufacture and season . Ghillie suits can be constructed in several different ways . Some military services make them of rough burlap flaps or jute twine attached to a poncho . Hunting ghillie suits can be made of nylon and other artificial materials as well as the ones listed before . United States military ghillie suits are often built using either a battle dress uniform ( BDU ) , or a pilot ' s flight suit or some other one - piece coverall as the base . On the base , rough webbing made of durable , stainable fabric like burlap is attached . A nearly invisible material like fishing line can be used to sew each knot of net to the fabric ( often with a drop of glue for strength ) . The jute is applied to the netting by tying groups of 5 to 10 strands of a color to the netting with simple knots , skipping sections to be filled in with other colors . The webbing is then seasoned by dragging it behind a vehicle , leaving it to soak in mud , or even applying manure to make it smell " earthy . " Once on location , the ghillie suit is customized with twigs , leaves , and other elements of the local foliage as much as possible , although these local additions must be changed every few hours , due to wilting of green grasses or branches . Safety considerations . Although highly effective , ghillie suits are impractical for many situations where camouflage is useful . They tend to be very heavy and hot . Even in moderate climates , the temperature inside of the ghillie suit can reach over 50 °C ( 120 °F ) . The burlap is also flammable , unless treated with fire retardant , so the wearer may be at increased risk from ignition sources such as smoke grenade s or white phosphorus . To enhance safety , the US Army Soldier Systems Center has developed an inherently fire resistant ghillie suit fabric to replace the jute or burlap . This new material does not need to be treated with any additional flame retardant , as the fire resistance is inherent in the product and the fabric will self extinguish . This material was field tested in late 2007 at the Sniper School at Fort Benning and has been standard issue since June 2008 .