Concealment and Movement Techniques for Emergency Situations

Quick Summary

Learn how to blend into your surroundings and move quietly when you need to avoid detection - whether you're trying to get close to wildlife for food, avoiding dangerous people, or need to move unseen during an emergency.

Why This Matters

In emergency situations, the ability to remain hidden and move quietly can be crucial for your safety. You might need these skills when:

• Wildlife encounters: Getting close enough to observe or hunt animals for food using primitive methods
• Personal safety: Avoiding dangerous individuals or groups in disaster scenarios
• Search and rescue: Making yourself visible to rescuers while staying hidden from potential threats
• Urban emergencies: Moving through areas where you don't want to attract unwanted attention

These techniques have been field-tested by professionals and can mean the difference between safety and danger in critical situations.

The Basics of Concealment

Effective concealment works by breaking up the shapes, colors, sounds, and smells that make humans recognizable. Both people and animals instinctively recognize human silhouettes, so your goal is to disrupt these telltale signs.

The Five Elements to Control

1. Shape and outline - Humans have distinctive silhouettes
2. Color and texture - Our clothing often contrasts with natural surroundings
3. Shine - Skin, glasses, and equipment can reflect light
4. Movement - Fast or erratic motion draws attention
5. Sound and scent - Humans make distinctive noises and smells

Personal Concealment Techniques

Breaking Up Your Outline

The human silhouette is one of the most recognizable shapes in nature. Here's how to disrupt it:

Add natural materials:

• Attach small amounts of local vegetation to your clothing, hat, and gear
• Use strips of cloth in earth tones if vegetation isn't available
• Replace vegetation as it wilts - dead plants change color and texture
• Ensure additions don't interfere with equipment operation

Avoid distinctive shapes:

• Cover or modify the outline of hats, boots, and backpacks
• Break up straight lines and geometric shapes on your gear
• Keep signaling devices concealed but accessible

Color and Texture Matching

Your concealment must match your environment. Consider these patterns for different terrain:

Environment	Pattern	Colors to Use
Deciduous forest	Irregular blotches	Browns, greens, blacks
Coniferous forest	Broad slashes	Dark greens, browns
Grassland	Vertical slashes	Light greens, tans, yellows
Desert	Angular slashes	Tans, light browns, grays
Winter/Snow	Small blotches	Whites, light grays, blacks

Natural camouflage materials:

• Mud (excellent base, readily available)
• Charcoal from burned wood or paper
• Crushed berries or plants (test for skin irritation first)
• Clay or dirt

Face and skin camouflage:

• Use darker colors on protruding areas (forehead, nose, cheekbones, chin, ears)
• Use lighter colors on recessed areas (around eyes, under chin)
• Apply in irregular patterns, not uniform coverage
• Cover all exposed skin including hands, neck, and ears

Eliminating Shine

Shiny objects catch attention immediately. Address these common sources:

Skin shine:

• Wash oily skin when possible
• Reapply camouflage as skin oils break it down
• Use mud or dirt to create a matte finish

Equipment shine:

• Cover glass items (glasses, watches, compass) when not in use
• If you must wear glasses, apply a thin layer of dust to reduce reflection
• Tape over or paint shiny spots on gear
• Pay attention to zippers, buckles, boot eyelets, and jewelry
• Carry signal mirrors face-down against your body

Movement Techniques

Basic Principles

Move slowly and deliberately:

• Fast movement attracts attention from both humans and animals
• Slow movement conserves energy for long-term situations
• You can stop and hold position at any point in your movement

Use shadows and cover:

• Stay in the deepest part of shadows, not the lighter edges
• Keep vegetation between you and potential observers
• Multiple layers of vegetation quickly fatigue observers' eyes
• Be aware of your shadow - it may extend around corners or be visible against light

Avoid silhouetting:

• Don't cross ridges or hills where you'll appear against the skyline
• When climbing obstacles, keep your body level with the top
• Go around obstacles rather than over them when possible

Stalking Techniques

Upright Stalking

Foot placement:

1. Take steps about half your normal stride
2. Curl toes up and contact ground with outside edge of foot
3. Feel for twigs or debris that might snap
4. Roll to inside ball of foot, then heel, then toes
5. Gradually shift weight forward before lifting back foot
6. Each step should take about 1 minute in high-risk areas

Body position:

• Keep hands and arms close to your body
• For extra stability when crouching, rest hands on knees
• Maintain balance so you can freeze at any moment

Low-Profile Movement

Crawling (hands and knees):

• Move one limb at a time
• Set each limb down softly, testing for noise-makers
• Watch that toes and heels don't catch vegetation
• Keep your profile as low as possible

Prone movement:

• Use a modified push-up position on hands and toes
• Move forward slightly, then lower slowly
• Avoid dragging or scraping - this creates noise and obvious trails

Sound Discipline

Avoid noise-making activities:

• Don't snap twigs or rustle leaves
• Move slower when terrain is noisy
• Stop frequently to listen for sounds of others

Use background noise:

• Time movement with aircraft, vehicles, or wind
• Rain masks movement sound but also reduces your hearing
• Human voices, generators, or machinery can cover your sounds

Scent Control

Reducing Human Odors

Personal hygiene:

• Wash yourself and clothes without soap (soap has a distinctive smell)
• Avoid strong-smelling foods like garlic
• Don't use tobacco, gum, candy, or cosmetics
• All of these create recognizable human scents

Natural scent masking:

• Rub aromatic plants on skin and clothing (pine needles, mint, local herbs)
• Stand in smoke from fires (older smoke scents are less alarming to wildlife)
• Chew aromatic plants to mask breath odor

Using Scent for Detection

Wind awareness:

• Note wind direction constantly
• Approach targets from downwind when possible
• Human scents travel far on wind currents

Recognizing human presence:

• Fire smoke, cigarettes, gasoline, oil
• Cooking food, soap, perfumes
• These odors can alert you to people long before you see them

Wildlife-Specific Techniques

Approaching Animals

Route selection:

• Plan an intercepting route if the animal is moving
• Use objects (rocks, trees, bushes) to break line of sight
• Choose concealment that requires the least energy to use

Behavior around wildlife:

• Stop moving when the animal looks your way or turns ears toward you
• Squint slightly to hide the whites of your eyes
• Keep your mouth closed to hide teeth
• Animals recognize human eye contact as threatening

Anti-Tracking Basics

Minimizing Your Trail

Terrain selection:

• Use hard or rocky ground when possible
• Streams can mask your trail but leave obvious exit points
• Well-used paths hide your tracks among others

Track discipline:

• Lift vegetation you've crushed (time-consuming but effective)
• Place feet carefully to minimize heel and toe marks
• Vary your techniques so patterns don't become predictable

Direction changes:

• Make abrupt direction changes on hard ground
• This slows down anyone trying to follow your route
• Combine with terrain that naturally hides tracks

Safety Considerations

Important

• These techniques are for emergency and safety situations only
• Never use concealment to engage in illegal activities
• In wilderness areas, make yourself visible to search and rescue when appropriate
• Some camouflage materials may cause skin irritation - test first

Practice Required

• These skills require practice to be effective
• Start with simple concealment in safe environments
• Build up to more advanced movement techniques
• Practice with a partner who can spot your mistakes

When to Seek Help

• If you're hiding from dangerous people, contact law enforcement when safe
• In wilderness emergencies, prioritize signaling rescuers over hiding
• If using these techniques for hunting, ensure you follow all local laws and seasons

Modern Applications

Wildlife photography and observation:

• These techniques help you get closer to animals without disturbing them
• Useful for nature photographers and bird watchers

Personal security:

• Urban environments during civil unrest or disasters
• Moving through areas where you prefer to remain unnoticed

Outdoor recreation:

• Enhanced camping and hiking experiences

• Better understanding of how animals detect humans

• Know where you're going

• When you want to be found

• When concealment isn't enough

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Source

Adapted from Field Manual FM 3-05.70

Last updated: January 18, 2026