Talk:Crawling (human)

ARMY CRAWL ?
add army crawl section please — Preceding unsigned comment added by RJJ4y7 (talk • contribs) 18:54, 10 September 2020 (UTC)

Taught to me as Leopard Call in the military (Canadian Land Forces Reserve, 1987-1988)
There is a very different variation of the Leopard Crawl. It involves lying face down, your arms over your head (thus in line with the ground), and your body flat and as narrow as possible to prevent as little silhouette for the spotter to see you). You would use your forearms and toes to move, but not by a drag. You'd advance your toes as far forward as you could and your elbows/forearms as well. Then you'd lift straight up, move your body while a few inches off the ground forward, then set the body down. The lack of sliding means it is a *very* quiet technique. I saw one search turn up a different name (Scout Crawl) supposedly with some North American Indigenous origins. The only other example of this, and it is youtube... is this Russian video. The soldier in the image is slow at getting to the move, but you will see it is very different than the version you have described as the Leopard Crawl. It is slower than the (elbow-and-opposite-knee synchronized version) Leopard Crawl. But it is far quieter. AND if you are moving through an area with twigs, dry leaves, etc... between advances, you could surreptitiously brush aside the leaves and twigs so that when you let down the body after your next movement, there will be no crackling. I imagine this sort of move would also be very good for snipers. I learned it as part of fieldcraft, but I mostly used it (being a reservist) in paintball where I could crawl across open areas slowly and never be seen by people under 20m from me.