18th Century Camouflage

[@davidstevenson9517]

Well presented. Here in New Zealand, indigenous Maori only used camouflage for hunting up until the annexation of New Zealand in 1840. However, during the Musket Wars 1859-69, Maori adopted a form of camouflage but not individual wear. Instead, concealed trenches and tunnels dug in secret led as close as possible to British lines for heavily armed warriors to achieve maximum surprise (as well as enthusiastically adopting British colonial muskets, Maori retained their traditional stone tomahawk, "Mere", for maxium shock effect in confined trench warfare). Note: Maori were belatedly renowned as having created one of the earliest forms of trench warfare during the Musket Wars; developing trenches, bunkers, firing steps, infantry assault barriers (preceding barbed wire) and, of course, sniping.

[@thedeerskindiary]

Now that’s a form of surprise, speed, and violence of action that I had not heard before. Awesome and thank you.

[@TheWoodlandEscape]

Fascinating, Antony! You never disappoint. The famous archery Fred Bear when asked what he thought the best camo pattern, replied, “ Sit down and be quiet”.

[@thedeerskindiary]

That quote was resonating through my mind the entire time. I’m glad you said it. Now I hat fallen down the rabbit hole of how Natives used mimicry to their advantage. It may be the next installment l!

[@susiefouts1926]

You do an amazing job presenting PROPER HISTORY. HUZZAH!!! Keep up the GOOD WORK.

[@thedeerskindiary]

Thank you.

[@CaptRons18thcentury]

Excellent and informative... always a pleasure to watch your videos...

[@thedeerskindiary]

Thank you my friend!

[@timber123doddle]

Great job! Keep up the good work. Looking forward to the next video

[@thedeerskindiary]

I appreciate the support!

[@vyderka]

Many thanks, it was wonderful. Subscribed and clicked the bell for the notifications :D

[@thedeerskindiary]

Great! Glad to have you along and thanks for the support.

[@kevinmatthews9207]

Nothing like getting pissed on by the enemy! Especially if they don't know your there!

[@thedeerskindiary]

Yeah I am not sure I could take that! I have had people so close to me that I was afraid my heartbeat would give me away but never peed on.

[@ashleyanderson2859]

Interesting subject as always. Thanks for sharing

[@thedeerskindiary]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@robinbonaventura4951]

Very interesting and the time and research is much appreciated!

[@thedeerskindiary]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@tracyking6657]

Well done. Very Educational.

[@thedeerskindiary]

Thank you so much.

[@kennethreece502]

You nailed it!!

[@thedeerskindiary]

Thank you kind sir.

[@CorneliusTinkleton]

Love this

[@thedeerskindiary]

Thank you!

[@almartin9500]

Another great video!!!! I’ve been using camo in one way or another for over 40 years!

[@thedeerskindiary]

Right on!

[@martinmeltzer2696]

It may be my time in Uncle Sam's Travel Club (Army Branch) talking... but it just feels "Unnatural", to enter the Great Outdoors and NOT be wearing Olive Drab! Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!

[@thedeerskindiary]

Right there with you. I don’t think their ideas would go over as well today.

[@rickgaston7118]

Spot on presentations every time . Thank you

[@thedeerskindiary]

I am humbled. Thank you.

[@2gpowell]

Excellent! Good job the photo before Daniel Boone do you know around what year? If British or American? Great research by the way.

[@thedeerskindiary]

Here you go! It's British.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Francis_Wheatley_-_Portrait_of_a_Sportsman_with_His_Son_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg

[@mikesherman4565]

Very informative

[@thedeerskindiary]

I appreciate it

[@jkbaggett]

Great stuff as always, well done.

[@thedeerskindiary]

Thank you!

[@mnk9073]

Given how any firearm of the day essentially gave away your position after the first shot there was little point to camouflage in the modern sense. More practical lightened and simplified uniforms were adopted quickly but even the designated light skirmishers and ambushers by and large wore blue, black, dark green but still most of the time paired with white, red or yellow.

[@thedeerskindiary]

Great points. Thanks for taking the time to type them.

[@joshuataft5541]

Amazing...idno if id dare bring a skin humting or creeping, tho 🤔

[@RealityOrganized]

So, you’re confusing different concepts from how they’ve been defined for at least the past 70 years (check old Army manuals). 3 Basic concepts: cover, concealment, camouflage, in order of effectiveness. The purpose of camouflage is to break up the outline, and to blend in. Basically to stop looking like a human. You got the 2nd part right (blend), but skipped the 1st part (break up outline). What you call “hiding” is not camouflage, it’s really concealment. Deception is pervasive through all military science, and is not unique to camouflage. Wearing someone else’s uniform, or trying to look like someone else, is not camouflage at all, but is really disguise. If a soldier looks like someone else, he looks like a human, and that’s not camouflage. You focused too much on clothing. The best camouflage comes from nature.

[@thedeerskindiary]

I appreciate the input. On the context of the 18th century though the emphasis on natural camouflage did not seem to exist. If you have evidence to the co teary please share so that we can all see it. Also the three concepts came from FM 23-10 and are the concepts that I learned on. In this case for personal camouflage in the 18th century, they are the only ones that I could document. I think the lines are somewhat crossed in terms of ballistic effectiveness also. In following the evidence from the historical standpoint they were not taking both the concepts of espionage and ballistic cover into consideration at the same time. I did not get into cover/concealment here as it is a completely separate topic. From my perspective camouflage then was more espionage and less sniper if that makes sense.

[@RealityOrganized]

@@thedeerskindiary Thank you for your good video on the 18th century. I have nothing to add on the 18th c, but suspect using natural camouflage is timeless. In my experience, fresh foliage over plain OD cloth (or presumably any earthtone like brown or tan) is superior to camo uniforms (e.g. BDUs) without foliage. Suspect 18th c hunters and backwoodsman practiced this concept, although unlikely militias and regular units did. My primary source is what I was trained in, so long ago. I’m digging through old manuals on the shelf. FM 21-75 (1967) is a good go-to manual for many practical topics, and covers (pun) cover, concealment, camouflage, in detail. In addition: • Combat Leader’s Field Guide (1987) covers camouflage as both blending and breaking up outlines. • FM 21-76 (1969) covers concealment and camouflage in passing, and mostly points us to FM 5-20. It also addresses disguises, and the legal aspects associated with espionage. I think of camouflage as something all soldiers are capable of using, time permitting. I suspect fighting - or worse yet, spying - while in the enemy’s uniform or civilian clothes has laws-of-war implications that were well established in European nations before the 18th century. The cases of Nathan Hale and John Andre serve as good 18th c examples.

[@joshuataft5541]

Camouflage for non gorilla warfare was rare when we attacked in waves.or groups it is hard to trace on a organization tyoe of scale..red coats with a white x was not a good choice lol

[@lusolad]

Wait.....did the Indian piss on that guy?.....

[@thedeerskindiary]

Yup.

[@corneliussulla9963]

Put on a costume which makes you look like a dangerous animal in order to make an unsuspicious approach...Unconventional, to say the least.

[@thedeerskindiary]

It speaks to how common bears were. It seems like everyone mentioned them.