DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0014] FIG. 1 illustrates a cold weather three-dimensional camouflage knit hood 10 embodying the present invention. The knit hood 10 consists of a hood member 14 and a face mask 26. The hood member 14 is preferably made from a stretchable knit material with good insulating characteristics. The passageway 24 near the bottom of the hood member 14 allows the wearer to easily put on or remove the knit hood 10 over his/her head. The neck portion 20 defines the passageway 24 and covers the wearer's neck. The hood member 14 has an opening 22 that provides an aperture for the wearer's face, and generally runs along the wearer's forehead, around both cheeks, and under the chin.

[0015] The face mask 26 is attached to the hood member 14 at the opening and substantially covers the wearer's face. The preferred embodiment has an eye opening 66, a nose opening 70, a nose piece 74, and a mouth opening 78, but the invention can include any combination of these features. The face mask 26 could have one eye opening 66 for both eyes, or a separate opening for each eye. The nose opening 70, nose piece 74, and mouth opening 78 are not necessary for the invention, but they are shown in the preferred embodiment. Excluding these features does have some camouflage and warmth benefits, but including them provides the wearer with many advantages. The mouth opening 78 allows the wearer to use certain game calls and facilitates breathing, speaking and eating while wearing the knit hood 10. The mouth opening 78, nose opening 70 and nose piece 74 may help prevent a wearer's eye glasses from fogging-up in cold weather because the warm exhaled air may pass through the nose opening 70, instead of through the eye opening 66 near the lenses.

[0016] The face mask 26 includes a foam backing 62, a liner 64, and a three-dimensional composite camouflage material 30. In the preferred embodiment, the camouflage material 30 is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,931,320, incorporated herein by reference, and commonly known as Intrigue®, a trademark of the Milliken Corporation, Spartanburg, S.C. The camouflage material 30 consists of a continuous sheet 38 bonded to a substrate 34 along spaced attachment lines 42.

[0017] In the preferred embodiment, the substrate 34 is a mesh, net, or other light-weight fabric, and provides stability for the camouflage material 30. The bond between the sheet 38 and the substrate 34 may be stitching, an adhesive, or any other bonding agent. The sheet 38 preferably has a camouflage pattern that corresponds with the environment where the hood 16 is worn. In the preferred embodiment the camouflage pattern on the sheet 38 uses colors that match a forest or wooded terrain, although a pattern resembling other terrains, such as arctic or desert, are possible.

[0018] The sheet 38 is preferably cut between the attachment lines 42 in an irregular zigzag pattern. The cuts create lobes 50 with a base 54 adjacent to the attachment lines 42 and a peak 58 at the end opposite the base 54. The lobes 50 project outward from the face mask 26 and simulate the appearance of natural objects of a terrain, such as leaves or foliage. The jagged zigzag cut of the sheet 38 forms the pointed shape of the lobes 50 that alter the wearer's profile. The projecting lobes 50 allow the wearer to blend in with the environment and typically make it more difficult for game animals to detect the wearer of the knit hood 10 than a person with a solid outline.

[0019] FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate the multiple layers that may make up the face mask 26. The camouflage material 30 is preferably bonded to a layer of foam backing 62 that provides additional protection from cold weather. Since the substrate 34 of the camouflage material 30 is usually a mesh material, the foam backing 62 blocks wind and insulates the wearer's face. In the preferred embodiment, a liner 64 covers the inside of the foam backing 62 that contacts the wearer's face. The liner 64 makes the face mask 26 more comfortable and allows the knit hood 10 to be worn for a longer period of time without irritation. The liner 64 is preferably made from felt, fleece, brushed polyester fabric, or any other soft material with insulating properties.

[0020] In the preferred embodiment, the knit hood member 14 includes an anti-microbial layer 18 that reduces the scent of the wearer. The anti-microbial layer can be made of Amicor® from Acordis UK Ltd, in Bradford, England. The anti-microbial layer helps prevent the spreading of bacteria and formation of odors. Animals can often smell the scent of a human long before they can see the human. Even if a hunter is completely visually camouflaged from an animal, the hunter's scent can often alert the animal of the hunter's presence. Therefore, the present invention preferably includes the anti-microbial layer to substantially limit the wearer's scent so that the wearer can more closely approach game animals.

[0021] An alternate embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 5 in which the camouflage material 30 covers the entire knit hood 10. This embodiment has many of the same features as the previously described preferred embodiment, however, camouflage material 30 is bonded to the hood member 14 as well as the face mask 26. Additional camouflage benefits are obtained with the extra camouflage material 30 covering the entire knit hood 10, because there are more lobes to obscure the wearer's outline or profile.