Paintball Ghillie
So you've got your ghillie suit, now you need to know how to use it. Many people buy ghillie suits because they want to blend in while playing airsoft or paintball. And this creates a particularly large advantage for their team sniper, but without proper strategy, someone that isn't using a ghillie suit can still overcome that disadvantage by utilizing proper stealth tactics. My point is, the ghillie suit is a very useful and vital part to the sniper, but without stealth, patience, and marksmanship, the sniper is nothing. With or without the ghillie. This page is to teach you how to utilize the huge advantage of the ghillie suit by being stealthy, patient, and picking your shots.
Environment, Temperature, and Lighting
Initially, you are going to need to consider three things: environment, temperature, and lighting. You want your ghillie suit to match your environment perfectly. Or as good as you can get it based on your supply. The best way is to dye your burlap to match your area, and once you get there, vegetate it. You can find how to do this right here at BuyGhillieSuit.com. To go there now, click here.
Temperature is a big deal, if you let it get to you. A good sniper won't, but everyone has their limits. It's simple, really. If you know it's going to be hot, you may want to keep the burlap on your ghillie suit a little shorter than the usual 8-10 inches. Something like 6-8 inches will do. But don't go any shorter than that. If it's cold, you just keep it at about 8-10 inches; no need to go any longer. You can also add extra layers of clothing underneath your ghillie suit if temperatures are low.
Most paintball games are played during daylight hours, so we will mostly cover these scenarios. But we will not neglect night games. These can be quite fun and add a fresh dimension to paintball. During the day, the average human primarily relies on vision, then sound. So you will need to focus on being invisible first, silent next. I have been in so many situations where I was absolutely sure the enemy could hear me, and they were totally oblivious to my presence. But vision is another thing. Humans are too comfortable with just looking, not stopping to listen to what is happening. Still, we will address sound further down this page. The human eye is attracted to movement. You never, under almost any circumstance want to make sudden movement as a sniper. You want to take silent, sure steps initially. And when you get close (as in .5 miles or less), you want to be either crouching or crawling. Be aware of your shadow at all times. Avoid "tunnel vision." And surround yourself with brush. If playing at night, be very aware of silhouette, light from the moon/stars, and any flashlights the enemy may be using (never use these).
Patience
Perhaps a sniper's best tool is patience. This normally includes waiting, as hard as it is. One thing to remember is that paintball guns generally can only fire accurately up to about 200 feet or so. The ghillie suit will allow you to get very close to the target. Sometimes even too close to shoot safely. Some games will have a policy that you shout something like "Bam!" or touch the target to show that you could have shot them, but were too close. One thing to remember is that, unless playing an objective-based game, it's okay to wait for a clear shot. Too many times have snipers gotten hasty and taken the shot before ready, missing and alarming the target.
Marksmanship
Snipers are about stealth first, marksmanship next. But, it does have a very strong roll for the sniper. There are many variables involved in taking a shot, perhaps too many to list here. But the basic four are wind speed, wind direction, range, and target movement. When about to squeeze the trigger, you will need to consider these again and again. A lot of paintball guns will curve even with no wind, which creates its own variable. You will need to practice shooting from great distances (for a paintball gun) to get a feel for your gun's accuracy. Generally speaking, you will need to get a paintball gun with high FPS and decent barrel length. Of course, range will have an effect on the paintball as well. Normally you will need to aim up at medium to long range, unless Hop-Up on your gun doesn't require it.
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