How to block IR Infrared thermal imaging

How To Block IR Infrared Thermal Imaging

A warm body can be detected by thermal imaging equipment from its IR (Infrared) heat signature. It’s a difficult challenge to avoid detection, be it animal or human. Warm blooded. Want some tips how to hide from thermal imaging?

(jump to tips)

You may be camouflaged in the best concealment there is, but highly visible to IR thermal imaging on the ground or maybe a drone flying overhead.

Same thing for any warm or hot equipment that you may wish to conceal.

It is difficult to defeat infrared thermal imaging optics.
However there are some techniques that make detection more difficult.

What is Infrared (IR)?

It’s light that’s not visible to the human eye. It’s electromagnetic radiation with longer wavelengths than visible light.

Infrared extends from the red edge of the visible spectrum at 700 nanometers (frequency 430 THz), to 1 millimeter (300 GHz).

Most of the thermal radiation emitted by objects near room temperature is infrared.

Humans actually emit (instead of just reflecting) at IR wavelengths. Our normal body temperature radiates chiefly within the thermal infrared region of (8 – 15 µm) or (0.008 – 0.015 millimeters) – a frequency range of 20–37 THz.

(source)

That’s right in the infrared and is detectable by sophisticated modern instrumentation.

Thermal imaging devices can ‘see’ you. They create images based on differences in surface temperature by detecting infrared radiation (heat) that emanates from objects (e.g. your body or that of an animal) and their surrounding environment.

Tips

How to Hide from Thermal Imaging Heat Signature

Emergency Thermal Mylar Blanket

One way to hide from thermal imaging is an ordinary ‘space blanket’, ’emergency blanket’ or thermal blanket.

They are made of Mylar foil materials and will block IR imagery.

This one is heavy duty:
Thermal reflective tarp with grommets.

EFFECTIVE AS A TEMPORARY SHELTER WITH IR BLOCKING CHARACTERISTICS:

Thermal, Reflective Tarp
(view on amzn)

Thermal Tarp

*** EMERGENCY MYLAR BLANKETS
(view on amzn)

 Note: The foil will block the IR heat signature behind it. Though keep in mind that heat will build up inside or underneath. Some heat will escape around edges and openings.

Some of that escaping heat may be somewhat visible to IR thermal imaging devices but to a much lesser extent than otherwise.

UV Protection Umbrella

An umbrella designed with materials to provide protection from the sun’s ultraviolet rays. Not only will it provide rain protection, but it will help keep you cool during those hot days! Many of them have a shiny ‘silver’ surface on the top. You may or may not want that…depending what you’re looking for.

Here’s a full size UV protection umbrella with a dark green exterior:

Golf Umbrella
(amzn)

>> browse more of this type

Heavy Blanket

Another way to hide from thermal imaging is to use a heavy blanket or wool blanket for a quick temporary method of IR concealment. Throw a blanket over yourself. A thick woolen blanket will help defeat thermal imaging. It works surprisingly well.

Emergency Wool Blanket
(view on amzn)

Emergency Wool Blanket to block heat signature

Covering with a layer of insulation (blanket), the heat is blocked (or partially blocked) so that it doesn’t radiate. This is only temporary concealment as the heat builds beneath the blanket. It may work long enough to conceal during a quick TI scan or Drone flyover…

Glass

One of the most effective methods to hide from thermal imaging (to block IR) is to conceal behind glass. Glass is entirely opaque to thermal imaging.

It’s not a practical solution though, due to the obvious impracticality of movement or ‘on-the-go’. But it’s good to know.

Netting Materials

Thick Netting will help. Especially visible detection.

The holes throughout the netting / webbing will help disperse heat signature from thermal IR heat detection.

Netting will help to disperse the heat or hot spots that may be underneath as the airflow will be somewhat broken up by the webbing.

For stationary use, place netting material above, in addition to utilizing the thermal reflective tarp that I just mentioned.

Thick Netting: Camo
(view on amzn)

Thick netting material, Camo

The heat signature will not be as intense, but spread out more. An example may be to cover a vehicle that has been running with netting. Best to leave some air gap between the material and hot surface (prop it up or hang it above).

Blending in with other heat sources

Concealment by blending in next to other warm objects, like warm stones or thick walls that may still be holding the heat from the day.

The vents in buildings may be out-flowing warm air; a source of heat that can help obscure your own thermal outline.

You get the idea… wherever there is existing natural or man-made heat, you can blend in with that to help conceal your presence to an IR or thermal imager.

Wear a Ghillie suit

A Ghilie suit will certainly help disperse your heat signature. It won’t block it, but it will help diffuse a heat signature.

Adult Ghillie suit
(view on amzn)

Ghillie suit to disperse heat signature

Wear an insulated jacket

Insulated pants and a hat. It won’t be 100% but it will help lessen the heat signature. Again, the heat will build and escape through the neck openings and face. You could cover your face with cool mud, which will work temporarily.

It’s all pretty much common sense; reduce, disperse, or cover the sources of heat.

Objects between You and the Sensor

Put trees and/or brush between you and the suspected IR imager. Trees overhead will help break up the infrared signature, especially under a heavy canopy of leaves.

Stationary vs. Movement

A moving heat signature at night is quicker to identify than a stationary one (up to a point).

[ Read: Avoid Detection By Moving SLOWLY ]

More Tips

When you are hiding your heat signature (with a Mylar emergency blanket or other means), under some conditions your signature may look ‘too cold’ to an IR scan of the area (an extra dark outline, or a ‘black hole’), which may make you detectable.

The problem with most IR cloaking methods, IR clothing or netting designed to block IR, is that it will also block the background IR – creating a black hole of varying degrees. Ideally you would want something that ‘cloaks’ or blends your IR signature such that the background scatter at your location is what the observer sees.

Avoid open spaces and skylines by day or night.

Thermal Imaging does not perform well in falling rain.

[ Read: 10 Tips To Camouflage – Movements & Evasion ]

 NIGHT VISION DEVICES: The following distributor is top notch for Night Vision and Thermal Imaging equipment. I happen to have one of their PVS-14 NVD’s and it has been great. Check out their company. Ask for Bob:

Thermal Imaging & Night Vision Equipment

Thermal Optics

266 Comments

  1. Hose yourself down with a co2 fire extinguisher! What? It worked in Tremors!

    1. dowsing a blanket in water to wrap yourself in works good too. (not recommended in Winter conditions, but could help then too.)

      1. Road flres help blind IR too….just saying….but creates a lot of light for them to see too.

        1. Road flares will blind night vision not IR, trust me I’m an Infrared Analyst!

        2. Ed,

          I’m being targeted by 2-3 reaper drones. Someone has deep pockets and connections to defend lawsuit an “mitigate” opponents. I’m being targeted going on three years now @ 316 Ontario Avenue Syracuse ny 13209

        3. Hello my friend what do we need to do to hide ir could you tell me the best technique?

        4. if someone is pointing some form of this technology at me inside my trailer sees my thermal image and can also effect my heart rate, what do you think this could be and what should I do?
          Thank You,
          Harassed By Neighbors!

        5. Jeannette,
          They may have a thermal imager to see your heat signature, but I dont think this will affect your heartrate directly. Maybe your heartrate is due to you being upset. Did they tell you they could affect your heartrate? Sounds more likely like they are messing with your head.

        6. I’m going through the same thing with my neighbors. It makes you feel so violated.

        7. Ed,
          I need help with this subject.
          I picked up a food processor part and I saw heavy beams coming Fahd the led lights in the home, can’t see it through the naked eye, mirrors either. Is this radiation what do I need to do to protect us?

        8. A comment in this thread by Joann says ” beams are coming out of my food processor, what shall I do” Weird ehh?

        9. What about mirrors like hiding your body behind a 3 x8 foot mirror than set in front of its view . would that set it off !

      2. Afghans use heavy wool blankets to defeat our military IR on helicopters. They hear a heli, dump their wool blanket on themselves and the heli never notices.

    2. The military has better than it technology now, if you watch the curse of oak island they used a less advanced version of a thing that uses radioactivity to penetrate the ground and see what’s under it by looking at the changes in the energy that are specific to certain materials. I don’t think you can hide from that.

      1. Yea but im sure law enforcement doesnt have a budget to go and buy military grade equipment so if its just a Ghetto bird most suggestions are pretty reasonable.

        1. I can tell you from my own experience that law enforcement has been handed down to them older equipment that is much better than whats being sold on the civilian market. They also use different combinations of imaging. Radio waves, etc. They also have streetlights that arent really streetlights. They are cameras that are of infrared technology. This I know for a fact. These are toys that the military has had for years and now due to budgeting and improvements in technology, theu have handed them down to local and state entities for criminal investigations. You should see what the newest technology consists of!

        2. 6 years ago my wife and I had a drone run in front of our car. It had a vanta black like covering and was dog sized, by silhouette we could see it ran like a spider. Fast and agile.

        3. They’ve actually been integrating microphones into LED lights for some time now, the light pulses undetectably with the sound data… Someone need only be able to see the light to hear you, they just subtract the natural pulse frequency of the LED and what’s left is the audio stream

        4. 80% of your agencies do have Thermal imaging. Its nothing compared to the stingray device that has been used for several years. Go ahead and google that one if you have time. I encourage every person with the means to bring this violation of the 4th amendment to light.

      2. That’s ground penatrating radar, I highly doubt that they’re going to see a little ol person using radar or even doppler to detect the 80% of your body that is water

      3. That’s Lidar detection used to see inside structures. It has to be done on a consistent surface to be effective, ie in the air at the same elevation, or on the ground at the same level to detect underground.

    3. Wouldnt it be alot easier to find a way to detect a drone and possibly find a way to use a rf jammer to take it out? Like possibly an air cannon or something that resembles a poatato gun to shoot the rf jammer close enough to the drone to block the radio signals long enough so it couldnt recover and fall to tbe earth? It would give you enough time to camouflage yourself or book it

      1. Active electronic jammers are more effective, but give your poz away to tac operators running RF scans.

        Use a passive means. Im sure u can make a suit that pulls air into the neck and sleeves and dispurses it out of the legs. As long as you run the fans as soon as you put the suit on, you wont build up heat inside the suit.

        Stay vigilant.

        1. Suit wth fans to cool you down, What’s cooling the fans? Hmmm.. didn’t think that one through.

        2. @Sheepdog I don’t think he wanted to write an essay in comments lol You waited a while to post a snarky reply didn’t you? Four years? He’s probably dead for you all you know. It’s what we call a necropost.

        3. ok… HOPEFULLY THE RIGHT PEOPLE GET THIS INFO. COPPER MESH (LIKE SCREEN MATERIAL) CLOSE TO THE SKIN (INSIDE A GHILLIE SUIT) WILL ABSORB, AND DIFFUSE THE HEAT SIGNATURE. 9 YEARS OF PHYSICS, HERE… THERE IS A FIBERTEX COMPANY THAT GOT A 800 MILLION CONTRACT TO SELL SIMILAR EFFECT FIBER SUITS TO MILITARY. …MILITIA NEEDS IT TOO. WE ARE ON THE SAME TEAM, AND HAVE 50X THE NUMBERS, AS THE REGULAR ARMY… IF CHINA/UN/NWO TEAM-UP, WE WILL NEED THE TECH, AND NUMBERS. COPPER-UP MY FRIENDS. …ALSO EMF SHIELD YOUR PHONES 24X7…. (FINER MESH)… IN LIBERTY…

        4. Can’t we just dig a base to hide if this happens. We need shelter. Worse case scenario.

        5. ok… HOPEFULLY THE RIGHT PEOPLE GET THIS INFO. COPPER MESH (LIKE SCREEN MATERIAL) CLOSE TO THE SKIN (INSIDE A GHILLIE SUIT) WILL ABSORB, AND DIFFUSE THE HEAT SIGNATURE. 9 YEARS OF PHYSICS, HERE… THERE IS A FIBERTEX COMPANY THAT GOT A 800 MILLION CONTRACT TO SELL SIMILAR EFFECT FIBER SUITS TO MILITARY. …MILITIA NEEDS IT TOO. WE ARE ON THE SAME TEAM, AND HAVE 50X THE NUMBERS, AS THE REGULAR ARMY… IF CHINA/UN/NWO TEAM-UP, WE WILL NEED THE TECH, AND NUMBERS. COPPER-UP MY FRIENDS. …ALSO EMF SHIELD YOUR PHONES 24X7…. (FINER MESH)… IN LIBERTY…
          

        6. Pulling air through that is ambient temperature would definitely carry away some heat as long as you are not in the desert during summer time. Are you drunk or did your mother drop you on your head?

        7. There are Halloween costumes with small fans in them that aren’t based in any profoundly deep technology so why not use a similar application elsewhere

        8. ok… HOPEFULLY THE RIGHT PEOPLE GET THIS INFO. COPPER MESH (LIKE SCREEN MATERIAL) CLOSE TO THE SKIN (INSIDE A GHILLIE SUIT) WILL ABSORB, AND DIFFUSE THE HEAT SIGNATURE. 9 YEARS OF PHYSICS, HERE… THERE IS A FIBERTEX COMPANY THAT GOT A 800 MILLION CONTRACT TO SELL SIMILAR EFFECT FIBER SUITS TO MILITARY. …MILITIA NEEDS IT TOO. WE ARE ON THE SAME TEAM, AND HAVE 50X THE NUMBERS, AS THE REGULAR ARMY… IF CHINA/UN/NWO TEAM-UP, WE WILL NEED THE TECH, AND NUMBERS. COPPER-UP MY FRIENDS. …ALSO EMF SHIELD YOUR PHONES 24X7…. (FINER MESH)… IN LIBERTY…

        9. ok… HOPEFULLY THE RIGHT PEOPLE GET THIS INFO. COPPER MESH (LIKE SCREEN MATERIAL) CLOSE TO THE SKIN (INSIDE A GHILLIE SUIT) WILL ABSORB, AND DIFFUSE THE HEAT SIGNATURE. 9 YEARS OF PHYSICS, HERE… THERE IS A FIBERTEX COMPANY THAT GOT A 800 MILLION CONTRACT TO SELL SIMILAR EFFECT FIBER SUITS TO MILITARY. …MILITIA NEEDS IT TOO. WE ARE ON THE SAME TEAM, AND HAVE 50X THE NUMBERS, AS THE REGULAR ARMY… IF CHINA/UN/NWO TEAM-UP, WE WILL NEED THE TECH, AND NUMBERS. COPPER-UP MY FRIENDS. …ALSO EMF SHIELD YOUR PHONES 24X7…. (FINER MESH)… IN LIBERTY…

      2. most drones have a RTH return to home function if the signal is lost for say 10 seconds like my drone has it will return to where it launched from its full autonomous . What i use for telemetry , when i see the signal return i can cancel the RTH and fly back to where it was where the signal was lost.

        1. Your not serious are you?

          This is a feature that saves you from loosing your drone when you stray to far from your transmitter. Jam gps and control frequencies and it falls out of the sky, only military can afford to put inertial navigation in things like drones and aircraft.

        2. That’s not actually true. The Skydio drones, for example, need neither gps or a control signal for collision avoidance or to return home. They store their flight path in memory and use a group of cameras to “see” where they are.

      3. ok… HOPEFULLY THE RIGHT PEOPLE GET THIS INFO. COPPER MESH (LIKE SCREEN MATERIAL) CLOSE TO THE SKIN (INSIDE A GHILLIE SUIT) WILL ABSORB, AND DIFFUSE THE HEAT SIGNATURE. 9 YEARS OF PHYSICS, HERE… THERE IS A FIBERTEX COMPANY THAT GOT A 800 MILLION CONTRACT TO SELL SIMILAR EFFECT FIBER SUITS TO MILITARY. …MILITIA NEEDS IT TOO. WE ARE ON THE SAME TEAM, AND HAVE 50X THE NUMBERS, AS THE REGULAR ARMY… IF CHINA/UN/NWO TEAM-UP, WE WILL NEED THE TECH, AND NUMBERS. COPPER-UP MY FRIENDS. …ALSO EMF SHIELD YOUR PHONES 24X7…. (FINER MESH)… IN LIBERTY…

    4. Just say your getting chased by police helicopter with that thermal image camera how can you beat it what can you rap round your body to beat it

      1. Remember, you can always carry a laser strong enough to blind and a rifle strong enough to put holes in one of the three critical hydraulic systems of a copter, which encases them all in a compartment the size of a refrigerator.

        1. How about if there’s a body of water near by..would it help to go under for a min and only come up for air?

      2. The neighbor in the apartment over me is using somekind of spy equipment to track my every move a hole was drilled into her floor and not through my ceiling. But I’m still tracked. What can I do to not be detective/ stalked in my own apartment.

        1. Try this substance called Haldol. Once ingested on a regular basis it makes you invisible to tech and nosy neighbors.

        2. yeah, i gave it years ago in a mental hospital… makes all problems go away… NOT really, when taken without fail, you don’t care that you are being tracked.

        3. Can you report the neighbor to management or file a “stalker” complaint ?

      3. most police copters have FLIR which is IR , what they do is purposely shine their visible spot light in an area away from where they are actually wanting to look to make the criminal think they can escape , but actually are using the FLIR in the area where they know the criminal is in..

      4. If you’re getting chased with a police helicopter with IR, dart around a corner and then throw a thick tarp over you before the chopper regains line of sight. The plastic will block the IR and heat signature of your body.
        Alternatively you can crouch down under an open umbrella. Personally I like the umbrella idea. You can run around with it closed and then open it when you need it. But don’t get a cheap convenience store umbrella. Get a decent umbrella. Also, pull your crimespree when it’s raining so you don’t look out of place.
        Or you can dart underneath a parked truck or SUV, being careful to get as far away from the edges as possible so your shoes aren’t poking out. This isn’t always a good option as there are usually cops with flashlights on the ground. It’s a last resort. And again, you have to make sure that the chopper doesn’t see you dive under the vehicle or they’ll just radio the ground cops as to your specific location.

    5. I am a former drone operator. Now after reading the coments there are a few things I’d like to point out. The idea here is to blend, not cool whatever your trying to conceal. Yes you could make a cool-suit or etc but now I’m just gonna see a black or dark spot moving around vs a white hot spot… and if that silhouette looks like a person…. I gotcha. Simply cooling your body wont cut it. You need to think of the surface temperatures of what is surrounding you to blend with. Let’s say it’s exactly 98.6 degrees outside and the earth is also at 98.6. You lay down naked in the field. I’m gonna have a hard time seeing you because the surrounding terrain is the same as your body temp. Yes the sensor will see your body, but the image I see on the screen shows contrast. That’s why you see the black and white image. I can confirm glass is impenetrable to IR. However what is shown to the operator is a “black body” or “black hole”. Basically there is nothing for the camera to report so its blank. Imagine seeing a 4×4 sheet of black moving along the ground from 5000 ft…. yup I gotcha.

      IR we had on our birds was sensitive enough I could tell if someone had dug a hole in the ground then covered it back up hours or even days later.

      Now it was extremely difficult to see through dense foliage. Cant count how many times we would chase a target into a covered area and loose him. We just couldn’t see through it. As for being out in the open tho… that’s gonna be very difficult to hide.

      I would suggest some sort of ghille suit to break up the silhouette combined with some sort of mylar lining. Might give you a chance in a casual scan. But let’s say you were using a tool to engage an enemy… that took us gonna get hot, fast. In fact we used that to identify combatants from non combatants in afg. It’s very clear to see who has fired at your troops.

      Another suggestion that may sound silly is to hide in plain sight. Use IR stobes, military gear… try to appear as if you are a friendly force. Most operators do not have direct comms to those they support on the ground and you may be mistaken as friendly.

      But if you want to “defeat” IR:
      1. Break up your silhouette
      2. Hide under dense cover
      3. Avoid movement
      4. Take extra care to hide any hot object from view ( put it under your suit, coat whatever)
      5. Avoid open terrain

      DO NOT:
      1. Make yourself appear colder than your surroundings
      2. Use glass or other “black hole” materials if you’re moving

      Just remember, you’re trying to blend… not “cool” yourself.

      My plan is ghille suit w mylar lining, and camo net over mylar for shelter. Move under foliage avoiding open areas. Take it as you will

      1. I just put my TOW missile setup somewhere nearby where it can easily be seen. I haven’t had too many problems.

    6. ok… HOPEFULLY THE RIGHT PEOPLE GET THIS INFO. COPPER MESH (LIKE SCREEN MATERIAL) CLOSE TO THE SKIN (INSIDE A GHILLIE SUIT) WILL ABSORB, AND DIFFUSE THE HEAT SIGNATURE. 9 YEARS OF PHYSICS, HERE… THERE IS A FIBERTEX COMPANY THAT GOT A 800 MILLION CONTRACT TO SELL SIMILAR EFFECT FIBER SUITS TO MILITARY. …MILITIA NEEDS IT TOO. WE ARE ON THE SAME TEAM, AND HAVE 50X THE NUMBERS, AS THE REGULAR ARMY… IF CHINA/UN/NWO TEAM-UP, WE WILL NEED THE TECH, AND NUMBERS. COPPER-UP MY FRIENDS. …ALSO EMF SHIELD YOUR PHONES 24X7…. (FINER MESH)… IN LIBERTY…

      1. Fibrotex will not sell products to the general public. How can I order their products?

    7. Sounds a little extreme but hey in extreme situations well calls for extreme measures

  2. Shape-Shifting. One of our prepper girls created a series of mylar body drapes, made from emergency blankets, that has cut-outs which allow heat to escape in a desired pattern, like the shape of a deer or elk. It’s like IR camouflage. When we engage in practice maneuvers wearing these drapes we stay in the trees and we don’t follow standard tactical movements. Though we do use typical squad techniques we try to emulate or appear as a group of deer or elk moving through the forest. To the unknowing eye we have shape-shifted. Pretty ingenious don’t ya think. This idea was presented to us at one of our prepper meetings by an 18 year girl. All of us old, seasoned tacticians looked at each other in total amazement. It was like a light went off in our heads simultaneously. Thinking out of the box is good. We tested it out using a Night Owl Next-Gen thermal-imaging binocular from a helicopter at 8,000′ and at near ground level and the results were amazing. The combination of shape-shifting and the unconventional tactical movements would have fooled even the sharpest of analysts. It actually worked too well. We had to modify the drapes by softening the edges of the cutouts. We achieved this by pounding nails in rows thru a 2″X4″, large to small, and using it as a stamp along the cut-out edges to soften the apparent edges. The results were more realistic.

    1. When technology seems as though it cannot be circumvented, sometimes the simplest of things will defeat it. In your example, it is not about defeating the technology itself, but instead it is fooling the operator who is using the technology… Thanks for the heads-up. A perfect example of thinking outside of the box…

      1. Just pretend that you are taking a leak. People usually don’t want to see that.

        1. Unfortunately, some pervs do. A friend’s elderly mom lives in an apartment, and a stalker lives above her. Evidently he knows everything she does, and he likes following her to the bathroom. Must be using the thermal stuff. Management won’t do anything, and her friends don’t believe her. This must be common?

        2. I am experiencing it. I have a military guy that is providing this technology for my neighbors and no one believes me. The thermal imaging to focus on her without touching others, motion detection alerts him when she walks past to other rooms, and pretty soon he will start training burning lasers to hurt her. Is she having balance issues? Vertigo? Not. Sonic equipment to disturb her hearing. I am living this now. The problem with law enforcement is that a value is assigned to the victim. If not high on the list, then she is crazy. They won’t act.

        3. Has anyone had these same issues after having a workers compensation claim against their employer insurance company? I have been harassed and intimidated by people working for the insurance company. Each time I dont take a settlement offer the attacks escalate. They are now using infrasonic sound waves to cause nausea, lightheadedness and dizziness. It also causes migraines and earaches. They have started physical attacks with what seems to be sonic sound, microwaves or heat lasers. (Not sure which one) They are able to locate you by your cellphone or by your heat signature. Has anyone else experienced this?

    2. WOW that’s great!! I’d love to see the image of that from the air. 5 gold stars for her

    3. I read what you wrote about ir camo… great idea have you thought about marketing this idea? I would pay for this

    4. Just one question… about the animal like shapes… doesn’t it worry you that someone could be out hunting for food and mistake y’all for that food?

      1. People using that type of camo would only appear to be wildlife to someone using IR. I’d imagine that in the normal spectrum of light their IR disguise would be very obvious. Hunters don’t use infrared (legally, anyway).

        1. I have a expensive leather trench coat . I also have ir night vision . When looking at me with my coat on all you.can see is my head . Add a leather hood I could walk all over and not be seen . I only replied to this specific comment because I could not find a place to post a new one

        1. Most hunters using IR would not see a deer shape, as they are made to appear deer shaped from above, more likely they would see an odd heat signature emanating from above the blob, and two leg heat signatures from below, unless they are in a 500 foot high tree stand.

    5. Talk about thinking outside the box. Kudos for innovative thinking.

    6. Do you know if photos are available of these cut outs ? This is all new to me & am having a difficult time understanding the procedure. Thanks

    7. Hello, do you sell this item, or detailed plans???, thank you, Brian, Brenna, Breanna & Brittany.

      1. Yes, IR cannot “see” through plexiglass, it reads the temperature of the surface not what is behind it.

    8. No. Thermal imaging is on the receiver end. You can see the light of the sun (passive) because you have receptors capable of seeing the energy it puts out. Or you can use an x-ray to make a film (active) in which the energy is aimed at the object being x-rayed.

      There are forms of energy that actually radiate, but thermal imaging is passive.

      As far as the waves of energy, we are surrounded by energy at all times. There are certain types that could cause this effect but I haven’t researched them. Essentially it’s an energy overload and the electrical systems in your body are reacting.

    9. Can thermal, especially on a drone, “see” fishing net? I am thinking very light net hung beneath a balloon. I am writing a sci-fi story. I need a low tech way to disable or fool attack drones. See recent video of F-18s dropping 100s of drones from wing pods.

    10. Ok look I just want to grow some pot and live close to a base and I just want to cover up like 3 or four lights that give off heat

      1. They track growers by power consumption now not by flying over with FLIR. By power consumption I dont mean by amount of power but the distinct signature that high pressure sodium light systems draw from a power grid. Its a dead giveaway and especially if your home is no where near an industrial park. They actually have techs that analyze and identify growers and also people stealing electricity. Hope this helps! :)

  3. CO2 blocks IR. Now go make a practical exploit from that information.

  4. On a ruck sack frame build a canopy frame that has clear plastic attached/draped to it and it should be wide enough to give protection from overhead angles, leave enough room to keep the plastic from heating and on top of that add some camo netting. you can wear it while moving about at night and no heat signature can be detected overhead and 3rd gen nightvision should be compromised also. Of course line of sight from a parallel plane would expose you but you should know what your hiding from and adjust accordingly. Hiding from strictly I.R. cameras will leave you compromised, night vision is getting better.

    1. why not just put a simple plexiglass canopy over head covering your profile from above. then your blocking IR and have a rain shade too…lol

  5. Has the possibility of thermal decoys been explored? Make dummies with chemical heat packs to “salt” the area with false positives. What about microwave emitters to heat up an area or to use as a focused weapon, trap, or jamming device? I have seen a manual for dismantling a microwave oven to do such a thing. Maybe setting up a drone trap in a salted area could be a workable technique. Would canyon country be a good terrain to set such a thing up? If you can create a funnel area for them to fly and have weapons that can take them at speed and height, manage to jam their navigation or alter their flight in a manner that sets them up for the kill, I think a combination of these techniques might be used to draw them into a better kill box. In other words, actively hunt them instead of passive camoflage evasion.

    1. Glass is already a block for IR Infrared, so window tint is not necessary – except for visible concealment.

  6. Hide in plain sight.Stay in crowds but change your appearance.The bigger the crowd,the better.Beware of choke points.Blend in.Do what the other people are doing.

  7. try porous foam…the one which is present inside every newly bought audio devices..the one in white colour ;)

  8. Back in the mid ’90s we had three guys go bandito here in SW Colorado. The FBI’s IR equipment was completely useless because of the heated (summertime) rocks and such. They killed one and the other two committed suicide. I’m sure there have been improvements in IR equipment since then but that whole blending in with the surroundings worked for them.

  9. I was In Service back in the mid-80s and we used to play “hide & seek” with the A10 Warthogs and early Apaches with IR. Going SOP at the time was to disperse off the road/trail under cover/concealment, pop your hoods(allows heat to to disperse), and disperse away from your vehicle(if your vehicle takes a hit, you’re not in it and your heat signature doesn’t add to its). We were issue the old heavy rubberized rain ponchos back then and one of these pulled loosely over yourself and ruck spreads out your heat signiture without intensifying it like mylar. Anything that makes you hotter is not good as your exposed face, hands, etc become more intense. Also, the ponchos can be hung over nearby bushes, etc for greater ventilation thus keeping you somewhat cooler.

  10. I’ve had some luck carrying extra cool water, and soaking myself at time to reduce my thermal signature.Soak yourself. change direction, hunker down in the bush. only works in a short time frame, and it is limited, but a Night Owl Next-Gen thermal-imaging binocularat 5000 feet missed me twice.

  11. I have given this some real thought.

    I saw that episode on Myth Busters also.

    The wet suit or dry suit made of neoprene did a very exceptional job of hiding the heat signature of a human body.

    The problem was that he had only minutes before his body would overheat and cause heat stroke.

    The solution I came up with was more or less what to do about the contained body heat and how to get rid of it.

    There is already a commercially manufactured solution to this.

    They are cool shirts ,cool pants and a head wrap of sorts all used by race car drivers to keep them cool while inside a hot race car .

    Each garment has vinyl lines filled with a solution that won’t freeze at normal temperatures and is hooked to a cooler filled with ice and circulated via an electric pump.

    So why could we not incorporate such cooling garments INSIDE of an insulated suit of some kind.

    Even a winter snowmobile suit would work covered with a gillie suit for visual camouflage .

    The wearer could then wear an insulated backpack of some sort containing the ice , pump and battery to power it.

    this is all under the gillie suit.

    The Gillie suit would be far enough away from any heat source so it would be at ambient temperature of its surroundings thereby eliminating the “Black Hole” of being too cold to a Thermal Imager .

    The wearer would then be comfortable and invisible to Infra red and Thermal Imaging equipment as well as visually invisible with the gillie suit on.

    His time out in the field is only limited to how long the ice pack lasts.

    Of course for longer times then dry ice could be used but has to be sewn into the lining of the suit to protect from frostbite and the tubing ,pump and coolant fluid would have to be rated for the colder temps of -80 Deg. far.

    The coolant fluid to circulate through it would need to be an alcohol but one with a higher flash point above 150 Deg.Far. or so and a freezing point way below that of the dry ice .

    The suit could also be used in reverse to HEAT the individual in a cold climate but insulate from the imagers also.

    1. Try wearing a wet suit in TX humidity. When you are being tracked with thermal imaging you might as well use your energy to engage and not waste it running while they watch.

  12. Jim, I like the idea, but if you were to use dry ice you would have to rerun the lines to be an insulated flexible metal so that it didn’t burn your skin. You could go for several days if you did it i right though. Looking around some, I found a chemical called heptane that seems to be decently safe. It is used as a fuel additive to stop knocking in engines. It has a melting point around -90 degrees c and a boiling point at 100 degrees c (-130 F and 200F). It looks like it will cost about $250 to get enough to use it. I didn’t look to hard though.

    1. Dry ice is not only too cold, but doesn’t last very well, either. In addition, you are going to have to find a place to get it when TSHTF! You can’t store it for more than a couple of days. There might be a way to make it if you care to store a big bottle of “Liquid Carbonic” That is CO2 under a LOT of pressure. When released through the proper equipment, it will make dry ice. But you have to already have the liquid carbonic and the proper equipment on hand. I might add that CO2 can suffocate you if you use it in an enclosed space or is released into your face. Naturally, handling it is a problem, too, since skin contact will give you instant frostbite. I would say, all things considered, that CO2 is not a preferred item in your dugout list.

      1. Fgduncan
        Your right about the suffocating there was a story out of Washington a Dippin Dots delivery guys wife used his car to take his mom somewhere and there were four coolers w/ dry ice that didn’t seal properly the guys mom died and the wife was in critical condition not sure if she survived or not this was in 2018

    2. Heptane is a little more flammable than its brother octane, and octane is the chemical name for gasoline! Instead of looking for the more expensive heptane, you can simply use gasoline. I don’t know about you, but wrapping myself in gasoline really don’t appeal too much to me.The obvious advantage is, of course, that it only costs about $3.00/gallon and can be found almost everywhere.

  13. Noob question: So ok, it doesn’t work through glass. Does it see through sheet metal? My question is for example: would hiding in a vehicle with tinted windows block it on the short term? Can Ti see through the walls of a house? This was a good article, but it didn’t answer enough of the basic questions about what it can and can’t do.

    1. Google it…..ir has loads of articles to say what it can and can’t do….or watch the police shows on tv to see for yourself

  14. I read that lasers are great for blinding infared and night vision cameras. I’m not sure if a simple 5mw laser pointer will do the trick but they do sell high powered lasers capable of popping balloons and lightning matches. I’m sure this would not just blind the camera but completely fry the camera IR sensor permanently. Another cheap backup if it works. Why hide when you can fight back and possibly damage the drones surveillance capability.

    1. IR spotlights will fry cameras. You can buy them or make your own by taping 35mm film over the lens of a regular spotlight.

    2. When the Apache is 2 miles away, if you have a weapon that has been fired within the last 10 minutes or if you have even your hands exposed your going to be spotted. You can take that to the bank !

    3. Then they wouldn’t need IR would they ??
      We would simply shoot at the location of the laser.
      30mm bullets don’t hurt though, actually you won’t feel a friggin thing !

  15. Camouflage isn’t about adding the right colors to you! its about blending into the surrounding area any thing you can do to get this done will help don’t stand out in color or shape or heat is now added. so false advertising and changing colors and blending in to the heat surroundings . When I was in the army I thought that if we were at war here that I would park in a Wall mart parking lot. or better yet In the store with my m113 or 5 ton wrecker.

  16. Hiding under a recently driven vehicle will blot out your signature with the hotter engine image. Using a ghillie suit made from strips of mylar will do an excellent job of dispersing your signature to look ‘non human’ from above (especially if you leave the head exposed, giving a very hot but small target, which looks like a small animal from above), digging a foxhole and covering yourself with a fair amount of earth will disguise you. Going into a deep enough pocket of water will lower your thermal image. Hiding near large heatsinks like walls, rocks, etc that have absorbed a lot of thermal radiation during the day will cover you. Go underground into sewers, manholes, storm drains and utility tunnels. All of these things will help cover your tracks if you are being scanned for by drones or choppers. The need to defeat technology to act as guerrillas sounds wrong, but may become necessary. The French resistance fighters never probably thought about being guerrillas either, ’til Hitler took Paris.

  17. Dont want to sound like a pessimist but the men that developed the tech are smart they have unman tech that can scan the smallest of irregularities in combination. The best way to hide from someone is to take out the senses. If you only take out my eyes I can still smell, hear, taste and feel you and the core of all the tech not only the eyes in the sky is electro in nature

    1. Like I stated at the bottom of the post if you camoflage a area with insulated glass the camera will not see through it. Using various paints from dull to shiny will give the captured image that it sees a look of the surrounding temperatures instead of what is behind it. The varying emissivity levels confuse the camera which does not have the ability to see through the glass in the first place. I am speaking of FLIR cameras. You have to keep in mind that I use the T-620 which only costs around 20,000 US. Some gas cameras go close to 200,000 in cost. It was a FLIR that was used that spotted the Russian sub in Seattle harbor a number of years ago. Our trainers related the story to us of how they detected the underwater heat signature and reported it to the NAVY. Needless to say, FLIR is the cadilac for the private sector

  18. All of these idea’s sound good but most are not practical in the long run. My idea for a simple answer for fast and ready use is the trusty umbrella. The Mylar can go over it. Small holes will leave small bits of light that will blend into the background and allow body heat to disperse.
    While not as good as the fancy idea’s it is quick and easy. And it can be stored with the bug-out bag.

    1. …now that is an interesting idea. Thanks for the comment. I suppose one could fashion an existing umbrella with Mylar on the underside (so it won’t be obvious or reflective outwards) by sewing (gluing – contact cement?) a wedge on each folding panel section. Like you said… with some hole cutouts to reduce the ‘black’ signature.

      1. They make umbrellas for photography with the mylar already built in on the underside. You might want to look into that before you go building one.

  19. Siobhre/Ken
    are you’se suggesting a regular old umbrella might work, or are you suggesting it would need to be “faced”/lined with mylar???

  20. Mylar umbrella , large enough to hide from the
    above . Patent Pending

  21. Just thinking out loud here, but what if you made a ghille-like suit out of layered strips of camouflage cloth sewn to strips of mylar as backing?

    1. My thoughts exactly. I was actually on Google (NSA search engine try to see if anyone has done this…

  22. Recently some Texas students proved to DHS that with a couple hundred dollars in parts they took control of a predator drone while in flight…someting to look into learning maybe? Oh and it was proven the same with planes.

  23. Don’t forget the reflective nature of mylar. As has been mentioned it should be covered with fabric, clay, paint, grease, to name a few. If you do not have space blankets on hand, round up as many Chip (Etc…) bags as you can and wrap yourself under your outer wear. (Adjust for climate differencial, given the heat retention factor.) Small ones for socks and hand covers. Though your signature from small regions such as hands, feet, face, will register from a distance as nocturnal species about in the night. Then there is the bug out via boat issue. Engine heat is your enemy. Same type of system over your outboard to get out of your preexisting FEMA camp. (Islands, across rivers, lakes, et al. ) Keep it quite. Though the Ocean is a big region, and with its usual swell, the up and down will also aid in camouflage…

    1. The car windshield visors with mylar covering and a foam insulation in side may work. I bought a number of them from a dollar store, I’m keeping my eye out for more to Build a place to sleep under or make sure temporary camp under some trees and sleep in hammocks to stay cool.

  24. There are civilian versions of IR detecting dvices that are able to detect temperatur differences of less than 0.1K. There are also systems with software that detect movement.
    Such cameras are used to detect gas leaks for excample. It’s amazing what you can see and that’s just an actively cooled mobile device for around 50,000 Euros.

    I don’t know what a modern IR device in a military application for some million Euros/US$ is able to do.

    There is one thing that make deetction difficult and this is distance. Because IR lenses are super expensive and because of the huge diffraction of long wavelength (simple physics) IR imaging systems have far less resolution that optical imaging devices like your ordinary digital camera.

    So I doubt that a drone flying really high(!) above you can make a high resolution IR picture, no matter how expensive or sophisticated that device may be.

    You have to be within some hundreds of meters to see if a hot spot is a human or an animal.

  25. Why not use highly reflective paint on a double pane window glass that blends in with the surroundings. The paint will have an emissivity that is higher than the glass thus giving you a variable IR signature yet will not allow the persons body heat to be seen through to the collector. If all someone is looking for is a camoflaged hidey-hole, this would work great. If one is looking for mobility, why not a ghillie suit of reflective mylar with a plexiglass face-shield such as those used in arc-flash protective equipment? An understanding of how Forward Looking IR (FLIR) cameras work makes a huge difference also.

  26. i think that those “cooling gel mattress pads” might work petty good if you could somehow line your clothing with it, then wear a ghillie suit over that.

    1. You would have to keep cool packs handy. and swap them out frequently to keep your signature low enough to blend…

  27. I have actually been designing a temperature controlled suit to wear that effectively blocks Thermal Imaging and Infra Red detectors as well as any visual observation system (cameras).
    It involves an thermally insulated suit and a build in liquid cooling system to keep body temperatures at an ideal temperature via a controller regardless of what the outside temperature is at.
    The best part is that it is also very water resistant.

  28. I am going to put this here in a basic way because I do not want the one who taught me to know that I broke my promise so pay close attention folks it is not that difficult if you do EXACTLY what I say to a TEE….

    -IR Avoidance-

    1. MUST have a CLEAN DRY piece of ‘LIGHT COLORED’ fabric. (cotton or natural NOT synthetic)

    2. SOAK it in WAX BASED POLISH. Lemon Pledge is what I was taught with but there could be one better suited for this project. so tinker….
    (I mean SOAK it) –Let it Sun or air dry NO DRYER! 100% dry…

    3. Repeat step 2 but use “FEBREZE” this time not Pledge.

    4. Repeat step 2 but use “Real Rain X” not generic!

    – JUST REMEMBER TO LET IT 100% DRY BEFORE STARTING NEXT STEP & YOU WILL BE AMAZED IN WHAT YOU JUST ACCOMPLISHED.

    -I have done this for myself and I know what it does so pick the right size cloth and enjoy…..

    1. I would think you could do that with all of your clothes right and shoes or boots also correct and then something to cover your face and head?

    2. Big,,, how neat is that and something a regular person can accomplish.

      1. Big, Another question will this cause the negative black spot look?

  29. Here’s an idea. Design a temperature-controllable suit for the entire body and make it adjust the temperature of the suit to match the ground temperature, thus effectively camouflaging the wearer. Small temperature probes on the bottoms of boots would detect the ground temperature. This is entirely possible, but only with a significant amount of time and money.

  30. Most of these posts seemed targeted to people in motion; what about over night camp sight?

  31. You said about heat building up…but can’t that be solved using a cooling system?With liquid nitrogen for example.Just a little.It would turn into a gas which will go through a hose cooling the body.I don’t think it will make frostbites since it wouldn’t be too much(gas state too,not pouring liquid nitrogen on the body)…Of course,just when the temperature go too high.Would that work?

    Btw…you were talking about scopes,right?Can a army satellite see that close at night to spy using the object’s heat?

    1. LN2 is not too good an idea. It cannot be stored for very long since it will evaporate all the time. Trying to pressurize it to stop the evaporation will result in an explosion! If you had a tank car of it, yes, it might last a month or so, but you can’t make it without some very specialized equipment that requires a LOT of electricity. I would not include LN2 in my plans for when TSHTF.

      I might add that being odorless, colorless and tasteless, it can be VERY dangerous since you can be asphyxiated and not even be aware of the danger! It is being considered as a humane way to execute people since breathing it makes you pass out and die before you are even aware of the danger.

    2. We can read serial numbers on a pistol from space. Retired intelligence chief usmc

  32. The Army guys had trouble seeing through the acetate covers of billboards when in Iraq. Glass and acetate may have the same properties but im no expert. Ive coated an existing umbrella with acetate. Consider as well a water bottle to mist the umbrella to keep it cool for extended periods if necessary. Sew strips of cloth or rope on the umbrella allows one to weave branches and brush in. Palm leaves stay very cool.

    Another idea is to warp your heat signature. Complete coverage may not be necessary but enough to not look human.

    Soil maintains about a 54 degree temp. Burial or partial burial may help or even a soil roof like the old dugout cabins.

    There is a saying in the air force when it comes to IR, “shoot everything pink”.

  33. Unfortunately you cant avoid detection if you are in the open , heat builds up behind blankets etc ,the best plan is to dig in but even then you can be blown out of the ground!
    Best way is to hide amongst government officials!

  34. Dig under ground shelter during day and cover with lots of brush under a heavy tree canopies for a good nights rest and don’t forget the scent so dogs don’t find ya.

  35. 3 or 4 layers of construction style trash bags completely blocks ir signatures …as long as there is an air gap between them and the heat source

  36. I was a Survival Instructor in the Army, and this topic (IR) is the most important one I have run across in some years. The last thing, which changed my thinking, was a book by Laurence Gonzales, “Deep Survival”. If you happen to be military in nature, or have served, the book is a must read. Much of our military indoctrination is contrary to Survival. Think about that for a moment. The book is an excellent presentation of the mental attitude required to “beat the odds”.

  37. The best way to avoid IR detection is to cover yourself in pig shit and roll around in the mud making grunting noises.

  38. What about interspersing mylar strips into the burlap strips of a ghillie suit? Seems like the coarse burlap would help disapate escaping heat and break up the visual outline while the mylar strips would help break up the heat signature (outline). Since they are strips rather than a solid sheet, the heat retention would be minimal. It would be short term since eventually a heat “blob” would surround you, but may be a workable solution, especially if the area is “breezy”.

  39. As more and more people realize the great potential of this imaging technology, thermal cameras are being used today in many applications and many different ways. In many countries worldwide, thermal cameras play pivotal roles in a wide range of government, commercial, and industrial activities. So in the future we can expect there will be measures to control the misuses.

  40. I found this batting years ago, it is meant to line oven mits. But I purchased 4 yards of it and inserted it into a duster including the hood.

    When it’s closed up it’s very warm in most any condition and shields me from IR.

    That was the point, built it after watching a history ch episode on the evolution of night vision.

    They melded IR with night vison, was not feeling safe any more than I was.

  41. This also depends on what type of “infrared” technology “they” are using to look for you. A space blanket works well for Longwave (7-12 micron) since it picks up mostly emitted heat/energy. Midwave (3-5um) is a mix and will see a space blanket in the woods…while SWIR (.7-3.0um) will see the space blanket like an eyesore in the woods (or other non metallic environment). Your best bet is more of a combination of things. Make sure your outer shells look natural and you don’t have obvious heat vents. SWIR doesn’t see dye (unless it’s special SWIR resistant) and your walmart camo looks like white coveralls in SWIR…but in LWIR it will block a lot.

    Overall a great starting article, but before you take this tidbit of info and run you should research more how infrared works.
    (Source from working in the infrared optics field)

    1. Since you work in the infrared optics field, what techniques would you suggest, or is there literally no way because of the combination of LWIR MWIR and SWIR? Which wavelength is most often used by ‘them’?

      1. There is no one wavelength or one way. They all have balances tho. LWIR is great for seeing detail in large temperature swings (is people next to a forest fire) but the resolution of the microbolometer that is most often used is poor. You can tell if people are next to the fire, but you are never going to tell who it is. MWIR is much better at detail because of the shorter wavelength (also research nyquist frequency) but is easily blinded with something hot (ie a flare next to your face makes it very hard to see features). SWIR is great at seeing through moderate fog and smoke, but starts to get blinded by smoke that is lit up (since SWIR is almost all reflected light..just like visible).
        Without knowing what infrared images look like, it’s tough to do…but think about things from all 4 wavebands (vis, SWIR, MWIR, and LWIR) and how they look. Most drones out there have at least a vis (or vis-swir combo) and one of MWIR or LWIR…some have all 4. Camouflage is all about who is looking for you. We wear orange into the woods so other hunters can see us, but deer only see gray.

        Infrared can’t see through roofs and walls like in the movies (although radar does, but that is another can of worms), but it can see heat escaping windows and chimneys (inferring there are people nearby). A good guille suit (apologize if poorly spelled) with native vegetation will break up your outline a lot. Just like the airplane radar game (and outrunning a bear) you don’t need to be the fastest or invisible…just better than the next guy.

  42. Bit off topic, but was wondering if there is any substance, may be an inch big in size which could emit heat higher than body temperature. The reason I am asking is, I am using PIR sensor to detect the motion, but I what if I want to detect the motion of the one particular person, I though of having that heat emitter hooked on that user and then detect that person instantly as the heat temperature will be higher.

  43. I have a problem with my home security camera. In the day it’s fine, but at night, I found my front door neighbor is aiming an Infrared light to block my camera. I have my camera aimed at my driveway, but he’s not a sane person. I strongly believe he’s using a hunting scope, since the police just confiscated a large amount of weapons from him too. Is there any type of filter I can use that will allow my camera to work? I’d really appreciate any help.

    Thanks

    1. You might consider moving the camera to the edge of your property and aim it back towards your place or add a camera to the system in this position because it will stop that blocking nonsense, give you access to car tags and still allow you to see what your wanting.

  44. **Shodans** If your camera is filming any of his property at all, or even if he thinks you are filming him, then he has a right to his privacy and you are the one who is invading his Constitutional Right to privacy.

    I know how to stop them from getting heat signatures from me. Either a large baseball bat used on their equipment or a few well placed bullets into that same equipment. Excuse me, but I’m a little sensitive about my Constitutional Rights to privacy, especially when it is in my own house or my own property! I just loved that video on the news about 6 months ago where the guy did some skeet shooting with his shotgun on that drone hovering by his house!!

  45. I was thinking of making a blanket of mylar car window covers that protect the car dash. Combined with a couple layers of foil connected to camo tarp, repel rain and conceal during the day?

  46. so, how about make yourself a shield/poncho out of pink insulation? you say glass will block it, maybe there is enough glass in pink to block?

    “Fiberglass insulation, a man-made mineral fiber constructed from a variety of materials, such as sand and recycled glass”

    ??

  47. – A lot of the comments on this thread appear to assume that thermal/IR imaging only refers to airborne (aircraft/drone/satellite) assets. Trust me, they are the least of your worries. Thermal and IR (Infrared), incidentally, are not the same thing.
    Having played with both, and used them, there are multiple weapon systems with thermal and/or IR capabilities. These include all M1and M60 series tanks, M2 and M3 Bradleys, Dragon missiles and even individual sniper weapons such as the M40-series rifles.
    During the Persian Gulf War, Battle of 73 Easting, at least one T-72 was destroyed due purely to its exhaust being visible from where it was hidden behind a berm.
    The tank was hidden behind a bulldozed berm, and according to tank doctrine for defense, it would watch for American tanks, pull up to clear the berm, and shoot at them. The driver would throw the tank in reverse as soon as the cannon went off, and duck back behind the berm.
    The American troops became annoyed at this and ultimately one M1A1 gunner, able to see the waves of heat from the Iraqi tank’s exhaust, fired a “guesstimated” sabot round through 3 meters of dirt berm, the T-72’s front slope, the driver, the base of the turret, the tank ammunition compartment, engine, fuel tank, rear armor, and several meters of dirt behind the vehicle.
    Just sayin’
    – Papa S.

  48. I like this post. Have been wondering how to accomplish hiding our body heat. There is some very informative ideas and information. For many of us though the simpler the better. So I appreciate the help with that. If the soaking of cotton material works, that application would be helpful in many situations and convenient to achieve.

  49. I really enjoy it when we add our knowledge and ideas in the comments. It’s part of what makes MSB such a great resource and so enjoyable to visit! As far as avoiding Infrared detection, there are allot of factors to take into consideration when determining what method(s) to use to conceal your IR signature…

    *What is being used to detect you? Keep in mind, not all IR is thermal based. Night Vision also utilizes part of the IR spectrum to enhance images by combining it with the part of the spectrum we can see, but it does not include the thermal information. Thermal detection produces a different set of information based on temperature differences. Even if you could completely conceal yourself from thermal imaging detection, you may still be plainly visible to simple night vision.

    *Are you stationary or moving?
    Some of the ideas offered will be more effective for a stationary position such as a guard post, entrance to your BOL, etc., but are too heavy, complicated, cumbersome, or fragile for using on the move. Others would be effective for very short term applications in the field such as a mylar blanket, “treated” clothing, ghillie suits, etc. where you will not be under observation for long. These will trap heat and thus, you will start getting hot rather quickly. They only provide a brief concealment.

    *What is looking for you?
    Is it a human with an IR scope? You may or may not detect a human being using an IR scope. Thus, you may not know where that person is, from what direction they are looking, how far away they are, etc. In fact, you may never know they were there in the first place.
    A civilian drone with a FLIR camera? Civilian drones have limited range and flight time. They tend to be pretty noisy and are more easily detected. Still, by the time you hear it and figure out “where” it is, you may have already been detected.
    A military/gov drone? Military drones are going to be undetectable to most people. They can fly high enough to conceal their sound. They can stay aloft for 24 hrs on a single tank of fuel. They have multiple cameras that can be used in concert to detect you. These include regular cameras, IR cameras, and cameras that can see through air obstructions such as smoke and clouds. They can also carry ordinance to use on targets.
    A helicopter? Helicopters are loud, and thus will likely be used more in a pursuit scenario where the presence of a target is known, rather than in a general surveillance mode.

    *The season, time of night, weather, etc. If it’s early in the evening following a hot summer day, you will tend to “stand out” less compared to your surroundings as they are hot/warm from the heat they soaked up during the day. I’ve seen footage taken from a thermal imaging FLIR camera on a helicopter where the subject appeared much darker than his surroundings because he was fleeing through an area that had absorbed massive amounts of heat during the day. In the winter, you’ll stand out like a campfire in the mountains at night. Rain, wind, and other environmental factors can work for or against you.

    For the purposes of thermal imaging, you want to be at or very close to the temperature of your surroundings… that is hard to do. Too warm and you’ll stand out. Too cool and… you’ll stand out!

    For many of us the most practical thing will be to alter our thermal outline through partial concealment and/or posture, get under or behind something (especially foliage), or suddenly alter our heat signature by doing something drastic like jumping into a pool or pond. Trying to contain our heat signature will not work for long as Ken pointed out because we will either overheat, or the body heat we are producing will start to seep out at the edges, or both.

    There are some neat ideas out there. Try doing an image search on terms such as hiding from thermal detection, mylar blanket thermal camera, etc. You will see success and failure.

    An idea I have been considering for a while is two lightweight but large wool blankets with a sheet of mylar sandwiched between them. It would be portable, effective for longer than simply a mylar sheet or a wool blanket alone, and would serve another purpose as it would also help keep us warmer in colder weather. I look forward to seeing more comments

  50. Make your wife wear a hoop skirt lined with mylar, in the style of the fashion of the Civil War…and hide under it…as she walks about with a mylar parasol.

  51. I really don’t worry about thermal imaging or infra-red. I’m guessing that if the normal, everyday prepper is encountering an adversary that has it, he/she has become the target of a government agency. If that’s the case, I don’t figure they have much chance of surviving the encounter. If the decision to take you out has already been made, you’re done for.

    If you are being targeted by a non-governmental adversary that has such equipment, it would be survivable. Know the difference between “cover” and “concealment”. What was once considered “concealment” has no use unless it is also “cover”. What will stop a bullet will also block the imaging.

    Best defense is not be a target and/or have an early warning system to give you a heads up that you are being targeted.

    1. Dennis, This article was originally written years ago when drones were becoming a hot topic and ‘on scene’ in the news. The political climate back then had those on the ‘right’ side of the spectrum quite concerned of what was going on at the time. Since the time this article was first posted it has been a popular hit on search engines. I decided to update it somewhat and re-post it today, years later for further comment. Familiarizing one’s-self with technology may be enlightening for some.

  52. There are a heck of a lot of “targets” for bad people and/or government to hunt before they have to come out here in the woods to find me using sophisticated gear. I am just not worth the effort. If I am the last holdout for whatever, the country is really screwed. Hell, I only have 300 rolls of TP.

      1. NRP
        Ran out of room. I decided that if the world goes to crap, I will just join the other 80% of the population that have no TP. Adapt and …. :(

        1. I did use the hand-held bidet to stretch my TP, but like any mechanical device, it crapped out after three years. I think now, I will just leave IR thermal imaging signatures all over the woods – that will confuse the feds. hahaha

        2. hermit us;
          I do believe the conversations here very often “confuse the feds” I can see it now, 5000 little thermal images showing up on satellite imagining… HAHAHA

  53. So much of this just leaves me scratching and shaking my head.

  54. The original article suggested a Ghillie suit could help. So how about a Ghillie suit fashioned from strips of reflectix? (Of course, in daylight you’d look like a Christmas tree)……

  55. Go to you tube ” Apache Helicopter kill 20 Taliban”
    Wool is one of the best blockers of a heat signature. Look at the wool tents full of people and a cook fire but no heat signature. A full length blanket with a hood would block your signature. This would also be a cheap quick fix using military wool blankets or a classy Pendelton wool blanket. Most of us have a wool blanket in our vehicles or go bag.

    1. The answer is:

      1 or more Infrared Illuminators
      Flashlight, Floodlight, etc

    1. Most older generation equipment wouldnt. But newer equipment will. This applies to vinyl siding, chipboard, drywall. Concrete block, thick stone is the hardest to see thru. But newer equipment will use combinations of different wavelengths, and radio wave emitting equipment also. It is the hardest to deter. So I suggest prepare for the worst to get the best results. Local and State Law Enforcement Agencies have been given alot of military grade equipment and slightly older equipment by Uncle Sam due to our military upgrading theirs. We are in danger of losing our privacy in our own home if people arent made aware. Tell everyone you know about this. Knowledge is power.

  56. Can raising the temperature of the room beyond the body temp of 72• to 80• conceal the body because of the surrounding heat?

  57. Glad I got to comment on this, when you have flight suit I prefer absorbent cotton cover all’s soak them in copper nickel based henna dyes. The jute soak them in the metallic dyes various metals will give you different colors. The best metallic salts to use are indium tin salts. This combination will completely block IR provided your concealed, hat gloves and gators with threads and fabric treated!

  58. Use a large plastic bin bag or two to cover yourself. Noisy as hell but……… Its been defeating IR/PIR for decades. Trust me it works.

  59. You can use spray glue on a fabric then get some jewelers investment powder = ceramic powder. after covering the glue with the powder let it dry. Then you can use fabric paint to paint over it. Black would work well. After it dries you can test it against Mylar blanket. The ceramic stops heat from getting through the fabric. You could make thermal clothing using a similar method that works as good as or better than mylar.

    1. NOMEX–
      This fabric turns heat into mass. Buying a 100% Nomex suit OR blanket (more cost effective) will be a good start. Nomex, instead of heating up, simply expands. Not to be confused with Norwex. It will only expand so much, but can withstand flash heat up to 2500 degrees for ten seconds…so body heat won’t stand a chance if my guess is correct.

      Also try an aluminized fireman’s suit flipped inside out.

      Great fun for kids… buy a budget thermal imager and see who the best Arnold Schwarzenegger is.

    1. Bury decoy shit everywhere, consistent in nature, eg. Like parts of an apparently burned out car or rubbish and crap left behind on a camping site – then hide your object underneath one of those objects another foot deeper. If they even dig it up at all then that’s where they will stop, typically.

      1. no one,
        thats a great idea!!! under an old car or truck would be the thing,
        thanks

  60. what is your op on securing either netting or Mylar inside the home on the ceilings to allow for movement without detection?

    1. 2ndB
      I wish someone had answered your question, as I have the same one. The tenant living above me always knows where I am. So, he can detect through his floor – my ceiling!

      1. No, he can’t. And he’s definitely not using thermal imaging to detect you if he can. But if he were, put a thick rug down.

        It’s more probable that he can hear you – maybe has sensors on the ceiling or is spying on you.

  61. I heard paper blocks IR. I don’t have a FLIR camera and so I’d like to see somebody check that out. And although glass is impractical to lug around, you can build a vehicle, a cart, etc. with fiberglass.

  62. I bought a cloaking device on the internet. Left it on last month and set it down somewhere and now I cannot find it.

  63. One final note – if using insulation such as a blanket to suppress heat then you are destined to failure if you stop moving as you do so. Allow the heat build up to escape as you move around at walking pace. Don’t use it like you have hypothermia, use it like a loose fitting, all-covering cloak.

  64. And if you are googling this at the last minute, once you’ve read it, put your phone on airplane mode, put it in your pocket and keep it turned on so that you can see quickly if you need to using the screen light – BUT NOT THE FLASH, PEANUT.

  65. Being prepared is one thing… being paranoid and defensive is quite another. However… there are multitudes of people who find enjoyment and fulfillment with this lifestyle. God bless you.
    Just because you think you are not paranoid does not mean that someone is not out there to get you !! Those fed guys are like parasites…they are everywhere trying their best to infect and destroy!
    The north american dream style.
    Glad I live outside the states.

  66. “Thermal imaging does not perform well in falling rain” – and therein lies the clue .. if you are hiding a vehicle from a thermal imager, water tanks with windscreen washer pumps hooked up into them that spray water along and over the surface of the vehicle may be a way to prepare a counter-pursuit vehicle.

    And in a pinch, “when the gig is up, light it up” – carry a propane blow torch and a jeri can of fuel – this is a “wild card” solution to a myriad of issues.

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