Bright colors or not?

[E C]

I use a green Bibler in cold/northern Fall conditions & a yellow Bibler in snow…
Otherwise, everything else I own is subdued greys, tans and olive drabs.

[Brian James]

My Dad always tied a few inches of orange surveyor's tape to his pack. He grew up in the north and paid for his Master's degree prospecting in the Yukon. He said that every now and then someone in the bush would set their packs down and never find them again. I expect that has more to do with field work than trail hiking, but it makes you think: if your pack is your only piece of life support, do you want it and your camp to be easier to find or harder?

I always remember that piece of faded orange tape flapping on the top of his pack.

When I first heard about it, the idea of stealth camping piqued my interest. It sounds romantic; just slipping through the forest unnoticed and unmolested. But the truth is that only soldiers know how to do that, and they spend a lot of time moving on their bellies and at night to make it work. If you hike like a regular person (upright, in the daytime) you are not stealth hiking, period.

Which brings us to the question of who might see you despite your best efforts to buy green and brown clothing. You may think you know where the hunters, poachers, and grow-op people are… but you don't. Some guys will just randomly pull their trucks over and try a grab-shot over the hood when they spot motion in the bush from a backroad. Unless you have been trained in stealth, you are not stealth no matter what color your gear is.

I say it's better to declare yourself flagrantly than surprise or be surprised by the people who are not in the outdoors to take pictures.

(Of course if you hike only in populous state parks and never leave the trail/your camp, then why not dress all in green and enjoy obfuscating your presence a little bit…)

[Author]

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