Cloaking- why not just be invisible all of the time?

dk

The ability to cloak must require a power source that has limitations. Otherwise, why not just cloak all the time? We have seen the Predator attack both ways- and for entertainment sake. But maybe the tech needs to recharge somehow? 

Explain.

Gavin

What little I know of the tech, taken from what we see in the movies, especially the first is...

# When perfect still the Predator does appear 100% Invisible, but if active when the Predator is moving the effectiveness drops, creating a ghost effect.

# The Technology is negatively impacted by water, which seems to short out the mechanism of the technology, drastically reducing the cloak's effectiveness.

# Many have speculated that the cloaking field is generated from the Predators various pieces of armor and the fishnet undergarment the alien hunters seem to also wear.

# Though contradictory to what we see in the first movie, some video games have included the mechanism of automatically decloaking whenever the Predator uses their Plasmacaster (shoulder mounted gun).

I'm sure there is more info on Xenopedia.

As interesting as the cloaking technology is, I have always wanted to see a Predator go old-school, using mud, grass stains and foliage for camouflage, possibly even with old-school weaponry...

Courtesy of AltoContrasteStudio and Vitalii Smyk

I.Raptus

Now that you mention it, water affecting the cloaking technology raises a funny question. 

So the high and mighty superior Yautja stealth technology is useless in the face of a humble water-sprinkler defence perimeter.......

XD   

Granted, the water sprinkler isn't going to help from getting your ass handed to you once you have detected said Yautja. But still, an odd technological weak-point for a species that apparently likes hot and sweaty 

SuperAlien

Wasn't the metal ball that McKenna swallowed in the Mexican pub the cloaking device? He became invisible to the bartender.

SuperAlien

Seeing how quickly McKenna mastered the cloaking after he swallowed the device we have to ask: is cloaking a voluntary process or rather an involuntary one like a chameleon does change its color to match the surroundings?

And if it is involuntary,  triggered by a certain state of mind, the fact that it does not work in the water could mean they feel comfortable in the water, like crabs do. Also, when they are confident they can overwhelm their victims they do not use the cloaking.

dk

The water factor brings up some great questions.

It seems cloaking too much could affect the Predator psyche- too much cloaking didn't work out too well for Gollum.

MonsterZero

I'd like to think water is an added challenge, to make the hunt more interesting.    If not...Where is the challenge? Superior weapons/superior tech....yawn!

Water is the most abundant resource on this planet: Hence, your suit will be susceptible.