OK, I would like to give you guys and girls my philosophy on stealth and would like to cover some of the areas that no one else covered or went into detail about.

-Movement-

The key to movement is to TAKE YOUR TIME and NEVER RUN. I see my teammates get killed (and me too) when they rush and do not take their time. Always crouch or crawl, unless you are sure that you need to stand up for something. Move your feet either using the "Heel to Toe" method, or using the balls of your feet to your heels method.

The "Heel Toe" method works pretty good. What you have to do is watch where you are walking. Avoid sticks and, when possible, dry and dead leaves. Slowly put the back of your heel on a "safe" area of the ground and slowly let the rest of your foot come down.

You can also use the other method. Now that I have used it more, I prefer it. You slowly put the balls of your feet (the area directly under your feet's "knuckles") on a safe area of the ground, then if necessary, slowly lower the rest of your foot down. This can be explained better by looking at Leon Kennedy's Stealth article.

Crawling can be very effective and stealthy. I personally do not know the absolutely proper way to crawl, so I adjust my technique to work with my surroundings. To get better info, just "google it".

Always look where you are going. Watch where you are stepping and keep an eye on where you want to go. DO NOT GET TUNNEL VISION. Tons of newbies and even some vets get tunnel vision. For those of you who are not familiar with this paintball term, it is when you only look in one area and ignore everything else. Tunnel vision can also be referred to as "not checking your flanks".

Tunnel vision is not intentional. Some people get it because they are watching what they are going to, and not paying attention to what is going around them. It can be mostly caused when you think that you have spotted an enemy so you watch just that area. Chances are that that tengo is not alone. Lots of times, there will be 2 or more people and you might be watching the one on the left, but the one on the right is zeroing in on you. This can be prevented by taking deep breaths and trying to keep your cool.

-Tactics-

When you are moving, there is a chance that you might be spotted. In the (hopefully) rare chance that you do get spotted, do not run. If you realize that the person who spotted you does not know for sure that you are a person, slowly go prone. Keep your head down, but if you hear movement, keep your eyes on them, but do not look in their eyes, because people always get a wierd feeling when someone is staring at them.

Look with your EYES! Do not move your head as this will give away your position easier. Hopefully you will have a boonie hat or other type of head garmet on as this will help conceal your hair and, if you are looking down, your face.

In the event that the person who spotted you shoots immediately, and has gun pointed directly at you, do not jump for cover, because he will be able to pin you down. Shoot a short burst or a few rounds to get his head down then run or get cover.

If there are no teammates near you, you might want to run for some farther cover and call for support. Make sure that the cover is not too far otherwise, he will be able to shoot you as you are running. If there are people near you, they should hear the shooting and come and help you. If teammates are near, then it is alright to get some cover that is close to you.

When you are moving, have your weapon in a ready position, but have the safety on. Leave the safety on because if you trip or your finger slips while you are moving and your gun shoots, it will easily give your position away.

DO NOT go by the "Shoot first, ask questions later" motto, as you will be killed easily because your position will be given away very quickly. Only shoot when the person is within a short distance, and you are 100% sure that you will make the kill within the first 2 shots. If it takes more than 2 shots to kill someone, they will have time to react and shoot at you. Make sure that you know the accuracy of your weapon so that you know when to and not to take shots.

Choose a shorter weapon. Most MP5 varients will work, execpt for the MP7 since it is a gun built for very CQB situations. M4's work quite well, as do the shorter G36's whose letters I do not know for sure. M16's and other long weapons do not work good because they are too bulky and are hard to maneuver in small areas with. I am currently using an MP5 A4 and it works very good, although, I would suggest the MP5 A5 because of the retractable stock.

Always use low, real, or mid cap mags because the BBs do not rattle around in them like high-caps. Plus, you shouldn't need to use very much ammo, because if you are good, you shouldn't need to take any shots.

Use your surroundings to your advantage. If there is tall grass or weeds, crouch with the top of your head a few inches below the top of the plants because it will give you a good line of site. If the grass or weeds are over 4 feet high, you obviously aren't going to need to keep your head a few inches below the top, so still stay low.

If there are large shadows, hide in them or move in them. They are a good place to lay down in and observe.

Be carefull of the rising or setting sun. If the sun is behind you, you will probably have a huge silhouette.

Beware of the 4 S's. Shape, Shine, Silhouette, Shadow. There can also be a fifth, Sound if you really want to add it. When snipers are trained, they are trained to beware of the 4 S's. So you should definately be aware of the 4 (or 5) S's. I figured that they are pretty self explainatory.

No you are not Sam Fisher. No you are not in a video game. No, you are not a war vet who can stealth kill someone while they (the vet) are wearing plain civilian clothes. Wear camoflague. You will be easily spotted if you wear some regular shirt. Yes, I have had enemies AND teammates (who knew I was somewhere in the area) walk 5 feet from where I was laying down and have them not spot me. All the while I was wearing a Boonie hat, a camo jacket, and blue jeans. Try not to wear a black or desert camo vest over your woodland BDU's (or vica-versa), it might sometimes look cool, but it will give you away easier.

Thank you for your time as I realize that this is one heck of a long post, and I hope that you enjoyed and learned from this. Please feel free to respond or point our some of the problems that there might be. Check out some of the other Stealth threads to get more info.

good post, very informative.

That is a very well written article, thank you for putting so much time into it. I say that stealth is an important tactic, yet does not always need to be applied, and sometimes, cannot be applied. If you maintain too much stealth, you won't succeed in killing, or moving; yet if you don't use it enough, you'll get dead, and possibly your team members killed as well.


Cheers, Graham.

Hey I'm new here and to airsoft, but I've been bowhunting my entire life so I thought I'd make one little comment to your post. You mentioned that with the sun to your back, you will create a sillouette, and that should be avoided. My only comment is that if your target is below you( say you're comming down on top of them from a hill) and the sun is at your back DIRECTLY behind you in their line of sight, then they are looking into the sun, and can't see a thing. I use this whenever possible while hunting, since deer have such keen eyesight I need every advantage I can get. But there is usually only about 30 minutes during the morning that this is even possible. It is so effective however, that I sometimes change my stalk pattern just to be able to do this.

But you have to know what you're doing. I often look behind me back up the hill at the same angle as I am approaching my target to see what they must be seeing. If I can see the hillside above me, then the deer can see me. But if I'm blinded and squinting and can't clearly see the hillside(which should still be in shadow), then I am all but invisible even with exaggerated movement.

This may not work in airsoft , I don't know, but its something to consider.

Also related to that, be sure never to skyline yourself(that is stand on the top of a hill or even the side of a hill where from your target's perception, your background is sky). No matter how slow you move or how cautious you are, if you are skylined, you may as well be wearing bright orange. Skylined figures can be spotted miles away(literally).

Great article. Love it.

This is a very helpful guide. But did anyone check the date on this thread?

Great article man, I really need to show this to a guy on my team who always wears very noticeble color and trys to stalk around and ambush people. I think he got the idea from an ex-teammate who once wore a big bright purple hat and effectivly hid, stalked, ambushed, sniped, etc... thus taking out 4 enemies and never being found even by his teammates.

I would like to add this: STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM MARSHY AREAS! They make it nearly impossible to go prone in (and walk across) plus they usually provide very little cover. I should because our airsoft course has marsh in the middle of it. Thus creating a no-man's-land for those dumb enough to try and cross at places that have not been made safe to cross (there are only 4 places to cross at in an area 2 acres large) for the stupidest reasons like trying to save time getting across.

haha, one of the fields that I've played at has a marshy area that few people venture through for those same reasons.

Also, lol about your friend who wears the bright colors.

Also include:
If a plane or helicopter flies over the field, that is your chance to move very quickly. If you are near the enemy, but they can not see you. Move
Carry On

Very nice. I agree with pretty much all of it. Keep posting! M4shooter over and out.

Awesome article, and another thing, the human eye looks for movement, so when in an ambush, staying still is one of the most important things. Once I was ambushing with one of my teammates. We just crouched perfectly still in two bushes surrounding a clearing. We could here them looking for us, and all four players of the opposing team basically walked right on us, I could touch all of them with my gun. Long story short, we got them all out in a matter of a few seconds, and with springers, nonetheless. Oh, sorry for necroposting, I didn't check the date.

This post has been edited by chikchikbang: Jun 7 2008, 10:45 PM

Just wanna toss this in, but in my experiences, An accurate and powerful Gas/CO2 Pistol or two is perfect, they're small, you can carry 2 of course, the clips don't make any noise unlike most A.E.G magazines. Also if you have a very sharp (but small) knife at hand, you can gently cut vines and branches while maneuvering through bushy areas full of trees. Camo face paint is a small help unless you have a camo mask on your face.

Carry rocks with you, because if you ever feel someone will spot or approach you, you can toss the rocks away from you causing a distraction.

My tips might or might not work, but it all depends how you use them.