Before the revolution of leaf suits, way back when I first started sniping, I invested in this suit as a base to attach tons of jute thread onto and moved around looking like a big pile of coloured string. It was featured last summer in my ghillie build guide as a base for a “hybrid” grass/leaf suit that worked well, but this year I want to redevelop it as a pure grass suit. Inbetween work on it, I thought I’d take the opportunity to show the MOSS without garnish and do a quick review on it, as well as discussing the merits of a more traditional sniper cloak vs the leaf suits.

First off, here’s a pic of my trusty old cape. It’s originally an olive green colour, but as you can see here it’s been caked in inks and sprays down the years to help break up that flat colour. It has spots of glue on where I’ve added bits and bobs, but despite all the abuse, there are no rips or tears in any of the material and the whole thing is still extremely robust. This is my only “pro” sniper item. The one thing in my collection that wasn’t a bargain buy. It was bought with the idea that something of this quality would last for many years, and it hasn’t let me down yet. It covers the head, shoulders, arms just past the elbow depending on how big you are (I’m 6’3″), and stops halfway down the back so as not to interfere with belt order. It isn’t full coverage, but does cover the important bits provided you’re facing your enemy.

Two clips attach the vest across the chest and the front of the vest gives space to access your webbing underneath, which makes it ideal for longer games or objective based missions where you might need more kit.

The hood is wired, which means you don’t have it flopping down in front of your face, and can bend the wire to shape it as you need it (I usually have it sloping down from right to left so it fits just above my scope, then covers a bit more of the open side of my face). It is supplied with a netting that covers the face, but I cut this off to allow me to see better. The hood is actually separate to the shoulders, hence Modular in the name, and is tied on with the same paracord that forms the larger square attachment mesh. A back panel is available too which lengthens the suit from mid-back to just lower-back length, but I didn’t go with this option when I bought it. I may look to add a length of mesh to the bottom of the back to compensate.

UK Sniper Systems developed such a good reputation for their products that they were acquired by the MoD to develop solely for the British Army, which is unfortunate, but the MOSS (MOdular Sniper System) is still available publicly if you know where to look. There are plenty of sniper hoods on the market flooding across from China and Russia, and if you wanted to build a grass suit, or more of a leafy cape (guide) to throw over yourself once in position, the Webtex concealment vest is a great option too, and is available at around the £35 mark.

Here’s a pic of it mid-disassembly with the cheap 95p netting cable tied on. I was reluctant to strip this off. It was quite effective at a few metres. Below, a comparison between an MFH leaf suit on the left and my homemade attempt on the right. Not bad for £1.90 and some spray paint.

The reason I’m looking to rebuild this old-school suit is largely because leaf suits have limitations in very grassy environments, and as much as I’ve attempted a few “hybrid” suits to try and do both, I’m now set on building one leaf suit and one grass suit, depending on the environment I’m in. One of the advantages of using a smaller ghillie setup like this for airsoft is that it’s much lighter than a full grass suit, and for the purposes of a standard sunday skirmish, gives enough concealment in a prepared position to be useful, without hindering movement. In a set position, the hood allows you to move your head a little without moving your concealment, and its larger, looser fitting profile hides the head shape better than a leaf balaclava. It’s extremely tough and has plenty of attachment points; the paracord grid is ideal for stuffing extra natural vegetation in if you need to as well. If you like your artificial vegetation instead, it’s easily cable tied on and can then be changed over for different vegetation as the seasons dictate. Unfortunately, threading grass-like material onto a suit does take a lot more time and effort than gluing a load of leaves onto a leaf suit so be prepared to put time and effort in.

Yes, leaf suits will give you more concealment and are lightweight and easy to run in, as well as easier to craft. But they are very specific to woodland (without modification) and I’ve found that generally they give too dark a silhouette to be useful in this sort of environment :

Additionally, unless you’re willing to part with serious cash, they do have a tendency to be quite fragile, and tear easily. In a sniper vs sniper game, I’d certainly look to a leaf suit for better visibility (the hood does have limitations when people are behind you) and more overall concealment, but up against a few skirmishers who aren’t paying a lot of attention, this should be spot on. I’ll do updates on my Instagram account as I go, and do a full review on here once it’s built and tested.

“>Want a MOSS suit? Link here (they’re very rare now)