What is your favorite color?

[David Cohen]

I'm thinking about colors for designing my next round of projects, and was curious about what options are out there. I want it to look good.

I've always liked Forest Green combined with Black, but that's getting a little old.

So .. what are your favorite colors for tarps?
Stuff sacks?
Sleeping bags?
Packs?
Others?

Any pics of items with good colors or color combinations would be really good too.

Thanks!!

[Ken Thompson]

I still like dark colors for tarps, better shade. Stuff sacks in brighter colors so I can see contents easier. Going through a black phase for packs. Happy with that. What about brown? I like subdued colors in the backcountry as I want to blend in with my surroundings, not stand out. Like my avatar.

[Daryl and Daryl]

I like this question. Forces me to think about each item to see what I think. Here goes.

For rainflys and tarps, jackets and coats I like royal blue. It picks up the color in my blue eyes. Here's a pic.

For pants, gloves, stocking caps, etc. I like black.

For sun hats- tan with darker color under visor to reduce relection.

For inner tents-white for light

Sleeping bag-lighter colors so I can see if there are any critters inside

stuff sacks-don't care but like different colored ones so I know what's inside

Backpack-I like the look of all black. Also hides dirt. It's easier to find something in a white pack but they show dirt and wear. Torn on this one.

Socks-white so I can spot bugs and ticks easier but prefer black for not showing dirt

Looks like I'm conflicted on some items between function and looking undirty. So if I'm going alone and won't see people I'll go for function. If I'm walking in Scotland with my wife I'll be forced to consider colors. Generally I prefer to ignore the colors of things except for function.

[Dustin Short]

I have a hard time with this question myself.

As a whole I prefer muted colors to blend into the environment with (grey, black, dark greens and blues). However as I'm moving more into mountaineering type adventures I'm also starting to see the benefits of all those outlandish neon reds and yellows. The visibility they offer provides a small safety factor.

I think the compromise I'm finding is muted colors for most of my base and mid layers with bright colors for outerwear. That way if weather turns foul, (only time I'll be wearing my outerwear) it's better to be seen. This helps with everything from keeping a group together, potential rescue, to even unexpected hunting season safety.

This has come in handy once when I wore a safety orange colored windshirt in a misty dusk storm and stumbled upon some elk hunters. I hadn't realized my weekend was the first day of the season and was quite glad I stood out from the environment so much.

For shelters I think bright ones for winter/alpine conditions are best (highly visibility in snow storms and makes for better landscape photography than white or stealth) and any other conditions stealthy colors are preferred.

[Diane “Piper” Soini]

Tarps: Gray.

Stuff sacks: What are those?
Sleeping bags: Who cares?
Packs: doesn't matter.

[Antti Peltola]

For others: preferably camouflage.
For myself: black, green, brown. Would be nice to have signal color inside the clothing for emergency purposes.

Don't want to see others, so I rather try to stay invisible myself.

Sleeping bag inside should be black/very dark, it helps to gather the sun to evaporate moisture faster.

[Erich Langner]

for tarps and most other things i think gray is the best for heat efficiency. lighter colors in general keep you warmer in the shade or at night because they radiate less heat. though sometimes being inconspicuous is more important. gray is probably the best but i use a dark green tarp most often so my campsite doesn't attract attention.

my pack is gray but i don't think pack colors really mater that much from a performance standpoint. though you might want to use natural colors for your pack and cloths to be more discreet.

my sleeping quilt is the same light gray nylon i use for my pack on top and the inner layer is dark navy blue which absorbs the sun to help it dry faster.

so yeah i like gray too.

[Rob Hubbard]

Tarps – Green or similar stealth color as most wild camping in England has to be done 'quietly'.

Bivy – Same as above for the same reasons.

Quilts – Red or similar loud color on outside and dark, black or grey on inside. The loud color in case I need to draw attention in emergencies, otherwise it's in a bivy. The dark for drying purposes.

Stuff sacks – Not to bothered really but can see the usefulness of multiple colors though I don't use many in total.

Jackets – Blue, but a kind of electric blue. Why? Because I happen to have owned Rab jackets, down and waterproof, for the past 7 years and that's the color they are!

[Steofan M]

The only really colorful items in my pack (a green & black ULA CDT) are a "cementine" orange windbreaker because there are too many hunters around these parts to wear anything else, and the glow-in-the-moonlight "limon" green neo air pad. Everything else seems to have light dusting of dog/cat/chinchilla fur so I guess that that makes them all camo-colored.

[jam hassan]

I like this question.I still like dark colors for tarps better shade. Pics of items with colors or color combinations would be really I like subdued colors in the back country as I want to blend in with my surroundings not stand out. Like my avatar.

[Mary D]

I'll start with the colors I loathe:
Bright colors of any kind; I don't want to be conspicuous
Pink
Purple
Pastels (show the dirt and usually too bright)
Black–because my hiking buddy is a perpetually-shedding golden Lab

My favorite color for a shelter is "silnylon gray" because it's so inconspicuous. My favorite for clothing is khaki, which shows blond dog hair the least.

I do have some items in my "loathe list" of colors because they were on closeout sale. It's amazing what half-price can do to moderate one's color choices!

[Kiyoshi Young]

Tarps/Tents- Grey/olive green i really want my shelter to bend in
Sleeping bags – Black or other dark color so they dry quicker
Baselayers – black or other dark color
Pants, long sleeve t's- Khaki or light grey esp in the desert
Rainwear – This is the one thing I think a bright visible color is appropriate(like others said for rescue, signaling etc.
Packs- I've been loving dyneema-grid grey for some reason (I probably like it just because of the fabrics toughness)

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