The pro's & con's of camouflage

This weekend while knocking back a few around the campfire, the subject of secrecy and stealth in the bush while detecting came up.
After seeing Marco's cammo jobby we decided to give cammo ago and put it to some rigorous no BS testing!



We didn't have any you-beaut cammo tape so improvised with some shrubbery native to the area we intended to detect in, we reasoned this would give us the best chance of blending in.

To duplicate Marco's setup as best we could, we figured we also needed a weapon. As no one had a Gerber at hand, we substituted it with a fork. After some simulated but ultra realistic combat we found we could wound ourselves just as easily with the fork as we could with a Gerber.
Although useless as a slashing weapon, when used with a thrusting motion we found the fork could deliver FOUR, yes you read that right, FOUR puncture wounds that really really hurt!



Although we tried to duplicate Marco's setup as close as we could, we searched high and low but failed to find foliage suitable to use as a sheath for our Gerber substitute. Hence it remains unsheathed in the pictures.

Below is a picture of my 5000 hidden amongst the shrubbery. Unfortunately our fake Gerber gives it away. But we believe, and as the picture clearly shows, with a sheath fabricated from the correct vegetation, we could make the whole outfit almost indistinguishable from the surrounding terrain.



We now feel we can safely detect without the fear of being followed by unscruplous patch jumpers, and also are reasured we can adequately defend ourselves against any manner of beast with our trusty cutlery should the need arise!.

Cheers!

Bravo!!! I like where your head's at.

Indeed there is always a time for a real man to have a you beaut you cant see me suit.......cammo netting to throw over the car in the bush camp is an interesting thought tooo.....?

Hey Steve
If you really want to scare others off especially in the colder weather when camping out swap the fork for a spoon and let that be a reminder for your detecting buddy to bring his own tent.
lol Mark

Hey Tuna, that cammo you have come up with looks like it is a user friendly "green" option that has a low impact foot print and in on way should add to climate change.

It could be a detecting accessory with a bit of skillful marketing.

cheers dave

Ha Ha Tuna that is a p!ssa you are a funny bast@rd!!

Good to know no one is going to fork with you in the outback. especially those wild koala's or drop bears.

that camo in the last pic is absolutely amazing.. if it wasn't for the fork standing out it would be 100% invisible.

Where can i purchase your high tech camo design from, is it copyrite'd or patiented.

Your a funny feller Madtuner, actually I quite like Marco's set up it looks very stylish and at least you can see it on the ground when he puts it down not like your thing with the nasty sharp fork thingy hanging off it. I think Marco's set up also has a glow in the dark device hanging off the side, how are you going to find yours in the dark if you have the backlight turned off?

I'll have to take particular attention to forks in the road in future for fear of running over a GPX-5000.

JP

Rena had a chuckle as I scrolled down the page to show her the images in MadTuna's post.

I kid you not when I say this but the first time I wrapped a GPX in camo, Rena walked into the office and looked around for a while before she asked me where the detector was. Seems she has a sense of humor about it too.

Yup, JP's got keen eyes... Tritium tubes on the side so I can tell which detector is ahead of me in the dark. New setup reversed the colors used previously: now it's Blue for the 5000s, Green for the 4500s and Pink for whichever detector Rena happens to be using.

Are you fellows playing hide and seek or what, with some of the clowns that hunt in State forest and on other public land i believe it is better to be visable. Same as im happy to camp in a white van, if you do have a problem you are easier to find. Marco, your doing your wife no favors having a small pink light on her detector at night, ever seen what a foxes eyes look like with a light on them. Just my thoughts, mallee00 and the mutt.
PS An Aussie carrying a cat by the tail has obviously wrung its neck first.

Tuna, your efforts are amazing, with the native flora that you speak of (where did you purchase this, ebay??) your detector almost eludes the human eye. Be sure to add one of those forks to your vehicle if you decide to cover that in this all so effective cover, you could easily missplace your vehicle and your detector if the positions were not cached correctly into your gps.



Funny stuff, Cheers

I'm working underground near Pyramul, Mallee00. And any property I detect on at night is going to be private property. I carry reflective, fluoro emergency vests in each pack in the event of needing an airlift etc.

People dumb enough to bring a gun onto some of those properties... well, use your imagination. Here's a pic from one of the properties I detected on previously.

nero_design wrote:I'm working underground near Pyramul, Mallee00. And any property I detect on at night is going to be private property. I carry reflective, fluoro emergency vests in each pack in the event of needing an airlift etc.

People dumb enough to bring a gun onto some of those properties... well, use your imagination. Here's a pic from one of the properties I detected on previously.

How long were you away from your car detecting for this to happen?

goldchaser wrote:
How long were you away from your car detecting for this to happen?

I detect a troll.

The above is what happens to you in the West when you don't have a Miners Right and the Gold Squad catch up with you......

Wow you guys have pretty stiff penalties for double parking.
Great thread thanks mad...


Flak

MT - I would be very careful using that cassinia arcuata for camo. The common name is biddy bush and it ignites like petrol. So wouldn't recomment leaving the wand near the camp fire.

Perhaps some native daisies would be a safer option.

Cheers

Mrs Fly

Tuna....... That made my day!!!!!!!

HueyDuck......

1 : whats "the gold police"
2 : what happened to that car ??? (aprt from the obvious)

Im pretty sure just because you have a lease doesnt give you the right to "shoot" claim jumpers. Last i remember murder was illegal.
If there are "rednecks" around that protect their claims with firearms and these so called "gold police" im pretty sure the real police would round them up - remove firearm licenses and prosecute fully. Any mention of "well he was on my gold claim" would be met with a "soooo what sir" from the guy behind the bench with the wig, right before the lease holder gets frog marched off to jail.

Justice is swift out there m8

JasonR wrote:

Im pretty sure just because you have a lease doesnt give you the right to "shoot" claim jumpers. Last i remember murder was illegal.

It's a bit of a loop hole Jason, you're right murder is illegal, but that is only an imported car....LOL

I think your leg has been pulled a bit longer than it was.

Cheers

Gday

Great post Tuna, and excellent job on the camo too, cant hardly see it, might have done a bit more to the fork maybe, I dont know whether I would want to cam up over here though, bright yellow safety gear is the go as you want to be seen due to all the cowboys about the place, had shots fired in our direction a few times now, its funny it doesnt matter how many times you get shot you never really get used to it do you?

Anyway this reminded me of the the story I was told about a WA prospector who did a camo paint job on his 4wd, went off detecting and then spent two days looking for it , the same thing might have happened with the owner of that shot up car, maybe they got lost too and were teaching it a lesson for hiding from them.

cheers

stayyerAU

LOL, Thanks for the laugh.

Dicko..

Funny stuff MT but i do like Neros camo idea, as for wearing fluro's nah you see the yanks wearing it hunting and you just laugh, the chances of being hit by a bullet at ranges from 100 to 500 metres would be the same as walking over a 1000 oz sunbaker, id stick to camo's incase somone does take it into there mind to plink at you.

GoldstalkerGPX wrote:

JasonR wrote:

Im pretty sure just because you have a lease doesnt give you the right to "shoot" claim jumpers. Last i remember murder was illegal.

It's a bit of a loop hole Jason, you're right murder is illegal, but that is only an imported car....LOL

I think your leg has been pulled a bit longer than it was.

Cheers

lol - yeah im not that stupid - I didnt think anyone was shot in that car.
But checked my legs, and no, all three are still the same length
but have noted that one, does indeed, get longer with pulling ........

A combat Gerber with tuna style camo.... beware the beast.

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http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/8112137/nz-teacher-shot-by-deer-hunter

NZ teacher shot by deer hunter

A New Zealand high school teacher has been shot dead by a hunter who mistook her for a deer.
Rosemary Margaret Ives, a 25-year-old maths and science teacher from Lower Hutt, in the North Island, was brushing her teeth while on a camping holiday at a Department of Conservation site in Turangi when she was shot on Friday night.

When Youthtown Trust Rescue helicopter pilot Hendry De Waal arrived on the scene, Ms Ives' boyfriend, Adam Hyndman, had been performing CPR on her for more than an hour, the New Zealand Herald reported on Monday.

Mr De Waal was told a Hamilton man had mistaken the woman for a deer.

NZ Deerstalker' Association president Alec McIver said it was "very unusual" for a hunter to mistake a person for a target.

"You are quite safe out there, this is just a really unusual situation which obviously should never have happened," he told NZPA.

The hunter was illegally "spot-lighting" and shooting on public land, Mr McIver said.

It was likely the man had been shooting from a vehicle but Mr McIver said he couldn't confirm that until he had more details.

It was a "terrible accident" that tarnished the reputation of all hunters, he said.

"Just like people getting behind the wheel and driving a car when they're drunk and killing someone - it just takes a few idiots to make the majority look bad."

A spokeswoman for the Ives family told the New Zealand Herald the woman's body would arrive in Christchurch on Monday, before being taken to Nelson, at the top of the South Island, where she was raised.

The family were "stunned, reeling and devastated", she said.

Ms Ives death left staff at the small Montessori school she worked at in "complete shock and disbelief", principal Jan Gaffney said.

Ms Ives and her partner were camping alongside four people from Wellington and another four backpackers from the Czech Republic.

A 25-year-old Hamilton man was charged with careless use of a firearm and will appear in Taupo District Court on November 3.

madtuna wrote: Mr De Waal was told a Hamilton man had mistaken the woman for a deer.

How the F could anyone with even half a brain (he IS a kiwi), mistake a person for a deer?

madtuna wrote: A 25-year-old Hamilton man was charged with careless use of a firearm and will appear in Taupo District Court on November 3.

Careless use of a firearm? That just doesnt seem right to me. Hope he ends up getting criminal negligence occasioning death, or manslaughter.

Pickman, after reading your post it would appear at first glance that your experience Deer stalking or Pig hunting is very limited, ask any hunter and i think you will find this conscious thought is always in the back of their mind...always do the utmost to identify the target.

There is no doubt in my mind that this individual whom has made the mistake is "full of remorse" and would be wishing that he could turn back time, sadly it will not happen.....mistakes are made, the sad thing is many choose to judge when they do not know the facts behind this tragedy and in turn become targets themselves.....do you get it.!!

As for the kiwi jibe.....Australian teenager "Mistaken for Deer and Shot Dead" shot dead by a friend who mistook him for a deer during a hunting trip.

Night prospecting with cammo, i guess you dodge the shooters.