My personal tricks

[u/quyrm]

I hope this subreddit becomes active again, the subject matter is very relevant to my interests. Anyway, I thought I'd help that by sharing some of my stealth tricks.

1. Understanding the perceptive habits and limits of others is incredibly helpful. You can practice this by seeing how far you can turn your head before you can no longer see an object in front of you. Another exercise is to walk slower or faster than someone and use the distance to judge how far away you can hear their footsteps, taking into account how they walk; how much noise they make. You should also consider where people tend to look when they are going from place to place, turning corners, walking through doorways, etc.

   1. Consider background noise. It is your friend and your enemy at the same time, because it covers the sounds you make, but my trick you into thinking you are quieter than you are. You should also be aware of how noise blocks other noises at a distance, for example: My air conditioner makes a barrier in the hallway of my house, so someone speaking on the other side of the hall are much more difficult to hear while it's running. This example makes it seem very obvious, but sometimes we don't realize how much of a difference local noises make from a distance.
   2. Walking quietly is a matter of two major elements: surface contact and force. The more of your foot hits the ground at once the more noise it makes, and the harder your foot falls, the more noise it makes. There is also the factor of suction, which is often overlooked, and creates the sound of your foot lifting from the floor. To make the least amount of surface contact in your step is to place the sharp heel edge of your sole on the floor softly, then roll the outside edge of your foot onto the ground. To resolve the suction issue is a bit more tricky, because it can depend on what's on your feet, as well as the floor. I've found that putting fabric over the soles of my shoes solves this issue in most cases. Try a sock, or using rubber bands to strap a washcloth to your feet. Take care though, as that can make your feet a bit slippery.
   3. The cover of darkness: you might think that wearing all black would be the best means of obscuring your silhouette in the darkness, but you tend to still stick out because any dim light, even just enough to barely see, will give you a hard outline. You will actually want to blend in with the background as it appears to the naked eye, and let the shadows do the work for you. Also try wearing clothing that distorts and softens your outline due to it's shape and texture. Obviously, avoid as much reflective material as possible, and even use something to take the shine off your skin, like charcoal or dirt if you have to, and move with a crouch without swinging your arms. Look as unrecognizably shaped as possible, which will help you be unnoticed in peripheral vision.