UK Sniper Systems Recon Ghillie Mod II, Review Of Individual Parts

The Recon Ghillie Mod II differs from the Mod I in that it’s now modular. The system comprises three parts, a Head/Helmet cover, Shoulder Cover and a Back Panel.   

To break it down I’ll go though each component individually starting with the Head Cover.   

Head Cover. This is now separate from the Shoulder Cover, and was done for two reasons. First was that they wanted it to be able to be worn over a helmet, but this caused a problem with it having to be so large, that if worn without a helmet it would be too big and droop down over the face. This was resolved by making it separate and incorporating a elastic draw cord that could be drawn tight over any cap/boonie/helmet, or even just the bare head. To secure it even further there are cord loops inside to secure it to the head covering. The second reason was that they wanted the user to move their head, but not the rest of the suit along with it. As you can imagine, if the whole thing is linked, when the head moves, the shoulder covering may move depending on the headwear that is being worn. This is no problem now, and full head movment is now free and easy no matter what is being worn.   

Front of Head Cover over MK 6 Helmet

This is also great for soldiers when they have to stuff grasses/foliage into the elastic around their helmets. The grass can tend to droop or even pullout over time, but with the poly threads they will still look the same even when soaking wet. For all those out there who still want to add natural camo, that’s been taken care of as well. Elastic loops around the Head Cover (and rest of the suit) mean that you can still insert grasses/foliage into them if needed.   

The head cover also has a neck extension that makes sure the back of the neck is covered, not leaving any skin showing at the rear. The dummy shown in the review below is a fashion one, and has quite a long neck. Even so the Head Cover has no problems being worn over a helmet and still covering the neck, seamlessly blending with the Shoulder Cover.  

Shoulder Cover.  You can cover the head, legs, trunk all you like, but if you leave the shoulders then you may as well have not bothered.  No matter how Gucci that BDU is your wearing, it’s not 3D. It’s made so you don’t stand out, not to conceal you.  

Front of Shoulder Cover

The Shoulder Cover is the key to the whole system. When the Head Cover is worn, it can then blend with the Shoulder Cover to blur that well-known shape and cause the viewer to add the object to a lesser category such as a patch of grass, pile of leaves etc…       

 

Front of Shoulder Cover with Head Cover

 With the shoulder cover worn not only is depth created, but also blur is added to the silhouette.  The Shoulder Cover does the same as the Mod I version in that it covers the shoulders and upper back. It also covers the arms down to the elbow. 

Side View of Shoulder Cover with Head Cover

 The two differences are there are now duel buckles at the front to stop it riding up when the hood is put back  (hint, to stop this with the Mod I just buckle it under and over the second/third button of your BDU). The second change is that there are now loops at the bottom of the Shoulder Cover to allow the Back Panel to be attached. 

Back Panel.  This was something that UK Sniper Systems have been working on for some time. Knowing the amount of kit a solider has to carry they wanted a product that would do more than one job depending on the need. The finished product can be attached via loops and cord (no Velcro) to the bottom of the Shoulder Cover to extend the coverage down to the legs. It can also be placed over the rifle, connected with other Back Panels to cover a hide or placed in front of the rifle to prevent dust kickup when shooting. Turn it over and you’ve got a clean area to place weapon parts for cleaning. 

Back of Back Panel

The Back Panel also has an adjustable strap around the middle to secure to the body, if needed. 

Summing up.  There are so many sniper ghillie suits on the market that it’s difficult to make comparisons. UK Sniper Systems have bypassed the usual design of ‘Wookie’ suits and gone straight for the professional solution. As I say, this is not just for the sniper who might be able to spend hours making his own suit, but also for the infantry soldier who can find themselves in situations that need the same level of concealment. We were wary at first of the use of synthetic threads to make the suit, but seeing how easy dry hessian goes up in flames they seemed to have made the right decision. Also buying a suit made of hessian, and coloured, would send the price sky high, and what would be the difference? In our opinion it’s negligible and even at close distances you really can’t tell the difference (check out the woodland pics if you don’t believe us). Infact, as the strands come already seperated it works better straight out of the bag than a newly made hessian ghillie, which has yet to wear in. We really think this is a major step in 3D concealment and used correctly is an excellent addition to any kit list. 

*Note: Suits due to arrive Spring 2010. 

UK Sniper Systems Recon Ghillie Mod II, Woodland Review 2

We’ve been using the Mod II Recon Ghillie from UK Sniper Systems for about 6 weeks, and this is as close as you can get to a Multi Environment 3D camoflauge that we know about. The fire resistant thread that the Ghillie is made from is also becoming more accepted as an excellent alternative to the usual hessian/burlap. The only problem we have is taking pictures showing you the system without presenting a picture of lumps of grassland.  To demonstrate is a pic of the Recon Ghillie taken from 3 ft behind the shooter.

3ft behind shooter

You can see our problem. Even at this close distance the right hand head side of the ghillie starts to blur with the floor of the track running through the forest.  The blend of tans and greens hasn’t changed from the Mod I, just the amount of coverage with the added back panel.  This will be sold as an extra if wanted, but you can just go with the head and shoulders cover, or just the head cover if you want. Click on the image for a larger picture.

We’ll add to the pictures as the seasons pass, but if anybody wants custom pics just let us know and we’ll set it up.

We shot this pic 6ft to the right of a shooter and spotter. You can see the end of the scope on the L96, the barrel and the leather grip of the spotter scope. We left these uncovered so you could get an idea of the orientation of the sniper team.

In the 3rd part of our review we’ll leave the forest and show you how each part of the system is made up.

UK Sniper Systems Recon Ghillie Mod II, Woodland Review 1

In production now is the second version of the excellent Recon Ghillie from UK Sniper Systems. The Mod II version has…

20% more fire resistant thread coverage

Duel buckles on the front

Added elastic loops on the head for natural cam

Two part design, head is now seperate from the shoulders to allow easier movement when observing.

Head cover can be attached to a boonie via internal loops, elastic drawcord can be used to tighten over a helmet or even just worn comfortably over the head.

Loops on the base of the shoulders for the new back cover.

Covered with artificial hessian thread, a modern alternative to hessian and better than the real thing as it won’t rot and weighs half as much.

We’ve tested the new design and with even more coverage on the front crawling is still no problem. The arms of the ghillie finish just above the elbow. When you lay down they ride up about an 2 inches to allow you to dig in with the elbows of your bdu and not the ghillie.

UK Sniper Systems have still kept to the same magic blend of tan and washed out green to enable a perfect blend with grassland. Making sure that you look like a boring bit of landscape and not a big lump of dark green/brown to attract the eye.

Unlike so many other ‘Sniper’ ghillies out there, the Recon Ghillie keeps it simple and covers just the parts that need covering. We’ve tested many other suits out there, and to be honest crawling in them is a joke. When you move forward starting in the prone position, the front of these other suits anchor you in position and you stop, dead. The Recon Ghillie allows full motion in the prone position, as long as your not wearing anything that will catch on the ground your crawling on.

The colour matching on these other suits is also a major problem.  Tending to error on the dark greens and browns, they highlight the sniper rather than hide him. UK Sniper Systems have gone the other way. They started off with tan and gradually added light and medium greens to achieve a pefect match with dead/live grass. At the end of the day when your lying down, this is what your going to be in. If you want to snipe from a tree then it might be a bit light, but then again if you do that your not going to be around long.

The seperate head cover is another new idea. We weren’t too sure of this when we first saw it, thinking that it might leave a blank space between the neck and shoulders. Testing it though there was no gap, and we could now move our heads without the rest of the suit moving as well. This is also a great idea if you just want to cam up your helmet but don’t want to stick loads of grass in the loops on your helmet cover. In just the head cover mode it’s an European version of the Israeli ‘Mitznefet’ but without the “clown” effect. It still changes the shape of your head, but with the poly threads it also give a blurring effect.

Overall we love this design and it’s great that the UK, a nation that developed the ghillie, can bring it into the 21st century with a small, lightweight and battle ready package.