[Cheese Man]

How does everyone do it? Especially in a snowy environment, it can be difficult. I would really like to be able to at least try it out.

 

[classic]

Do you mean the sound of your footsteps? Or are you referring to suppressing your piece?

 

[woogie]

That is easy..... come down to the rest of the US where it is warm

Kidding man.... lol

I would try an pack as much foam and what not in your stock as you can. I would also look at putting some electrical tape at the ends of your spring, this will cut down on the "twanging".

I am going to assume that you have already put sorbo pads on your piston, as well as cylinder head? If not... this will cut the noise down a bit.

 

[Cheese Man]

Not my rifle, that has a sound radius of about 20-30 feet. I mean footsteps. I have tried all of the recommended techniques, and they just don't work.

 

[fuzzywolly]

Don't move.

But if you have to move, make sure there is no one around that would be able to hear/detect you. If the enemy is close, your best bet is to remain concealed until they move on. That way, the risk of being identified is not as great.

 

[woogie]

Well been thinking about this for a while for ya man.

And living up in the north as well, and playing games in the snow, I know how loud snow can be at times.

The only thing I can suggest is to start your step on the side of your heel, and then slowly rock it around the outside until you get to your toe, and gently apply pressure to the snow. Kind of make a reverse "C" if you will with your foot.

I usually try and do this during the normal summer season as well.

I find that this will make your steps much quieter, as you don't have a huge flat thing coming down and pressing a lot of material down. This way you only get a very small amount at one time.

 

[Cheese Man]

Thanks woogie. I shall try that.

Fuzzy, the only problem is; where I play, up in Wasilla (sorry) AK, it is really flat, so you can see movement on a good day for about half a mile, in certain spots. However, yes, you are correct. It is just that, by the time I can get to within 300 feet of my quarry, I have (usually) a direct line of sight. Therefore, if I am crunching away, they will hear me, and I will have to start all over again.

 

[heartwins847]

You could try putting some type of padding on your feet, like the type you see in labs. Or you could drag your feet and than lift them ever so slightly, works when I sneak up on friends to scare them.

 

[mosin]

Childhood adventures and scares had it best:
Practice sneaking up on friends and (Although this may cost a few funny looks) try scaring them or just getting as close as you can without detection. It's only through practice in many games can you truely learn how to read another humans mind, know what he's thinking and know where to be so you will go undetected.

In snow conditions the dry twigs and dead leafs are your biggest threat, to counter these you can do what's known in the sniper community as "Weasel Walking". Essentially you're knees are bent, shoulder width apart, and your rifle is alert and to the dirt at about a 45 degree angle. Next your going to lean your upper half of your body forward and do sort of an exaggurated step, probably 48 inches or so, then you can either come down heel first and sway the foot from side to side, clearing any loose twigs or leaves and then firmly plant.

This requires quite a bit of balance and strength for extended periods of time, but as far as walking upright this is the fastest way of doing it silently. Or at least this is what works best for me.

 

[Cheese Man]

Thanks, I will try it. My main issue is two-fold. First, the snow gets to about thigh-deep, so that is a lot of crunching. Second, it is easy to get stuck, so getting unstuck is a very noise-intensive process. Then comes the swearing when you do get stuck...

 

[MGunner]

To take out the dry leaves/twigs, buy a pair of cheap wool socks and slip them over your boots. I do this while deer hunting and it works very well.

 

[mosin]

Could work well, but wool doesn't come in natural foliage and for a lot of guys here (Including myself) we have elastic bands sewn onto the sides to stick in another few handfuls of vegetation. Also eventually I don't know if it would fix the problem so much as just build up on the socks and then be a walking foot of dry twigs and leaves. I've personally never tried this method so I'm all for trying new things, but those were just the problems I noticed with it, Mgunner.

To answer the original question I saw after my post:
Thick snow can suck, not only because of as stated can lead to cursing (Which is more or less just a discipline thing) but can physically drain even the strongest of legs in as little of 15 minutes of some serious airsoft stalking. It's one of those things that you just have to take with the territory and as stated earlier, not move as much.

To be quite honest the only time you should actually be moving in a text book environment and condition would be if there were no enemies around you within earshot. However we all know the kid that likes to camp with the M249 SAW can be lurking just beyond the bend, so try to stay self concious of all your activites, from each step to your breath control to trying to maintain the potty mouth.

Hope that helps man,

-Mosin

 

[Cheese Man]

The cursing was a joke, it doesn't happen anymore, I shot my spotter when he was doing it. He doesn't do it anymore.

By the way, I have found the answer. In the winter up here, people just sit around to make little noise. They disturb birds, which then sing, and make it impossible for said people to hear mot anything. Sneak to good distance, and shoot. Tried this on one of by friends at a recent match, and it worked like a charm. Got to within 30 feet and shot him with my pistol.