Emersongear “Compact Assault Ghillie”
On EPIC we love doing sniper and recon stuff. Therefore we all pretty much have a sniper/spotter/recon setup each.
I have a modded Web-tex concealment ghillie hood I use when I go full sniper retard. It works very well and it’s built like a traditional ghillie with jute attached to it.
But… It’s quite bulky and heavy, plus it’s hot to wear (= not very well ventilated)
This makes it (IMO) ill suited for lighter recon work.
I wanted something I could put on/pack away semi-fast. It had to be lightweight, and it had to be able to pack down small.
Ever since I saw Crye Precisions “Compact Assault Ghillie” back in 2012 I’ve wanted one.
I liked the idea of having some sort of extra concealment for light recon work.
There were a lot of different options in lighter ghillies. Crye had theirs, Realtree had some options, and some other companies as well. But I kinda liked Cryes option the best.
I just couldn’t justify spending +$150 on it… especially after reading some places that it was a bit fragile and prone to tear.
In comes the “Emersongear Compact Assault Ghillie”. A direct copy of Cryes offering, but at around ⅓ the price.
I thought, “Hey, I’ll buy it, and if it falls apart no big deal”.
So I did.
When I got it, it came with a carry pouch. You can mount the pouch to MOLLE, a belt, a carabiner or just carry it in a pocket. When the ghillie is packet it takes up as much space as a 330 ml soda can.
The ghillie itself consists of two parts: A hood and a backpiece. When the pieces are combined the ghillie covers your head, shoulders, arms (down to your forearms), and your back (past your lower back/butt). If you seperate (by unbuttoning three buttons) the hood only covers your head, arms, shoulders, and your upper back. The backpiece can then be used to cover your rifle or backpack, or cover a small hide/OP or something similar.
Without the backpiece.
With the backpiece attached
The backpiece attaches via three buttons.
You close the front of the ghillie with two almond-shaped buttons (don’t know what they’re called..). They make quite easy to button and unbutton the ghillie, even with gloves on. I like that a lot!
When you wear the ghillie your movement isn’t restricted in any way. Because of it’s light weight, you hardly notice wearing it.
BUT… I am a bit worried about the construction. It’s made of a very light rip-stop’ish fabric with a fine mesh liner. I imagine that it would tear under hard use. But we’ll see.
I’ll keep you updated as I get to test it.
For now, I’m quite pleased with it.
Here’s a few more pictures.
