Flame "Orange" Wars

[Paul Wagner]

OK, it’s true.  When I started backpacking, I used a bright orange tube tent, and it served its purpose.  And there’s a reason that alpine shelters are bright orange.  When you need a rescue in the snow, that orange color can help get you seen, found, and rescued. But what does that have to do with backpackers today?  Not much.  And frankly, I’ve grown a little tired of seeing bright orange and yellow blobs of color decorating so many photogenic sites, as if they are posing for the cover of a magazine.

If we really subscribe to Leave No Trace principles, shouldn’t that also apply to leaving the landscape views unmarred by glaringly unnatural colors?  It’s a little like those hikers in the Southwest who insist upon climbing up into the rock arches, and then staying there for hours, ruining every other hiker’s hope for a more natural photo.

So when was the last time you saw a magazine photo of a backpacking camp that didn’t feature day-glo colors blobbed onto the wilderness?  That’s hardly the epitome of the natural world.  We hope that tent manufacturers will take note:  stop polluting the views with your logoed eyesores.

Epic campsites?  They should be quietly hidden in among the trees, where they can’t be seen (and where you can also enjoy some shade during the day), not plopped into the view of every other hiker who makes the effort to enjoy the wilderness. When I started making my own tents, I began with a neutral slate blue material.  And then later on, I used an even lighter pale granite color.  This was so successful that we once found that another group had set up their camp within 25 feet of ours, because they didn’t realize that our tent was a tent, not a granite boulder among the trees.  And today, I have to give kudos to our Tarptent.  I’m delighted with the performance of the tent.  And I’m delighted that it fades nicely into the landscape with its soft grey color.  LNT indeed.

 

Posted with no initial sacrificial text.  Let’s hope it works

[Franco Darioli]

There are at least 3 FaceBook sites dedicated to Tarptent.

The Tarptent one, the Scarp/Tarptent(Henry Shires) owners Groupa and the Tarptent Owners and Prospective Owners Group.

They all have some lovly photos of the TT shelters in use.

Some from recent posts, the last one in particular well illustrates your point.

[Ken Thompson]

Back in the olden times gear was marketed to hunters and backpackers. Deer do not see orange well so you were hiding from them, while being clearly visible to hunters. If you have ever looked for a tent from a helicopter, good luck.

[BlackHatGuy]

Happy to post an opposing view here. (I know, what a shock…) :-)

I’ve long maintained (perhaps incorrectly, perhaps not) that if you were hiking and saw this big, bright orange bush or flower in the middle of a field, a bush or flower that wasn’t native to the area so was ‘out of place,’ you’d ooh and ahh at how beautiful it was, take pictures to show others, etc. But if that out of place orange thing is someone’s tent, suddenly it’s hideous and reducing your enjoyment of the outdoors.

I think the whole thing is simply a misplaced bias against ‘those others’ and not the color itself. And, as others have said before, if seeing such a thing would ruin your day (not saying that the OP or anyone else in this thread have said such a thing) then that’s really much more your (generic your) problem, not the person with the tent’s problem.

And yes (not that anyone asked) I feel the same way about elaborate cairns. Who cares? Not me. Sometimes they even make me smile when I think of the effort that someone put into one.

[Ken Thompson]

True Doug. Paul comes across as grumpy and entitled here.

[BC Bob]

And yes (not that anyone asked) I feel the same way about elaborate cairns. Who cares? Not me. Sometimes they even make me smile when I think of the effort that someone put into one.

Most effort on a cairn I’ve ever seen.  It was about 7′ tall.

[Ken Thompson]

Paul should get rid of his website and stop promoting people to get out there. No more trip reports.  Victim of his own success. Like Paul Mags.

[Kattt]

I am not into bright colors but there sure are beautiful bright colors in nature. If the being reminded that there are other humans around Is an issue then maybe one ought to hike in more remote areas.

edited …. as my avatar shows me in my orange sweater 😂

[Roger Caffin]

Big Cairns:

I think that was Great Fell in the UK on the Pennine Way, many years ago. Beat that!

On the other hand, you can make up for ‘small’ with ‘lots’:

Near Oberstdorf, at the end of our 2 months on the Via Alpina. Cult thing maybe. They get washed away every Spring in the thaw.

As for bright tents – well, there are times when being visible helps:

Near Mt Kosciusko, Australia, after all-night storm. The late afternoon the day before had been lovely. There was nobody anywhere around to object.

Cheers

 

[Matt]

Bright gear and bright clothes in the backcountry make me happy.  I find them joyful and energetic.

[Lester Moore]

Would you rather spend a week of casual backpacking in the rain inside an olive drab tent or in an orange and bright blue tent?

[BlackHatGuy]

“Near Oberstdorf, at the end of our 2 months on the Via Alpina.”

Wow! Love it! Reminds me a bit of a Calvin and Hobbes comic (best comic ever).

[Tom K]

“Would you rather spend a week of casual backpacking in the rain inside an olive drab tent or in an orange and bright blue tent?”

Yes.

[Ken Thompson]

Living in California with always some flexibility in planning you never need to spend a week of casual backpacking in the rain.

[David P]

Kat- The Look on your face in the avatar seems like you are definitely questioning the color of the sweater! Like an awkward gift from Aunt Barb :)

Roger- that stack of rocks is enormous! It must have taken you ages to erect that one (jk) ;-) what it lacks in “length” it makes up with “girth”

Reply to OP- In my state of Maine, the bright colored clothes I wear hiking are more so I don’t get shot by a drunk hunter who translates my grey or brown shirt into “Look, Jimmy, a deer!” Or “Look, Jimmy, a tall coyote!” One lady was hanging her laundry up wearing white gloves and was shot, at her own house! The gunman claims he thought the white gloves were a deer tail swishing back n forth… I can never assume around here, even in national/state parks, that there isn’t someone armed out there, even on Sundays I hear gunshots.

On the other hand, in Maine, backcountry camping is not allowed on many trails. (Makes me miss Colorado) Because if this I often Stealth camp and use the light green DCF from MLD for shelters to decrease the likelihood of being seen from trail… I have no qualms with the color scheme of others tents. If I’m in the backcountry camping I’m expecting to see at least a few tents… bright ones, like wildflowers, only augment the scenery for me and if they pack up all their trash, etc… I believe it’s still LNT… LNT shouldn’t be confused with “not ever being seen by other hikers so as not to spoil their photographs” you would need an invisibility cloak for that… And if you take that perspective, you are just as much ruining THEIR photographs with your greyish green presence. Even an Earthtone tent in the middle of a beautiful landscape is still obviously a tent… I don’t really pay no mind, maybe I have authority issues but please don’t tell me what color tent or clothes I should use… to me, that’s way more annoying than Bright colors… my little wildflower… Fish River , Fort Kent, ME A great place to visit if you want some photos with absolutely nothing but trees and hills and no one around…

[Kattt]

Ha ha, no…I made that sweater and was trying to show the detail in an  awkward selfie. I love that sweater :)

I agree with your post though!

[Paul Wagner]

What started me thinking:  this is from the LNT principles website:

“Bright clothing and equipment, such as tents, that can be seen for long distances are discouraged. Especially in open natural areas, colors such as day-glow yellow may contribute to a crowded feeling; consider earth-toned colors (ie. browns and greens) to lessen visual impacts.”

[Kattt]

“contribute to a crowded feeling”

Well that settles it then.

[Ken Thompson]

Leave no trace, not have no presence.

[Roger Caffin]

this is from the LNT principles website:
But bear in mind that those are simply the prejudices of the author of that web site. As such, they have no more validity than anyone else’s opinions.

Cheers

[W I S N E R !]

If you really want a lot of hikers not to like you, try camo.

You can’t win.

[Ken Thompson]

   Maybe we can meet halfway?

[Geoff Caplan]

I’m rather surprised that so few people are agreeing with the OP.

Here in crowded Britain, we  tend to frown on colourful tents. Local brands like Lightwave, Vango and Terra Nova will generally only use bright colours on their arctic and mountain tents, using muted shades for their general offerings:

https://www.lightwave.uk.com/products/tents/lightwave-tents

Same with our only native cottage maker, TrekkerTent:

http://www.trekkertent.com/home/16-products

This is the official advice of the Dartmoor National Park:

Stay out of sight – backpackers should use very small and lightweight tents which easily blend into the landscape. Part of the enjoyment of experiencing the National Park is its unspoilt and vast landscapes, so it is important that other people’s enjoyment of Dartmoor is not impaired by tents dotting the view.

Given our drizzly weather we often favour cheerful yellow inners, but most flys are muted green. No-one here is producing the aggressive colours you’ll find on, say, the Sierra Designs tents.

More generally, we are influenced by Unna’s Rules – that land should be left as wild as possible, with a minimum of paths, cairns, bridges, signage etc. There is an annual expedition to clear random  cairns off Ben Nevis, for example, leaving only the official, life-saving navigation cairns.

[Ken Thompson]

Geoff, I think it’s the way it was presented.

[HkNewman]

There’s visibility to others if hanging out in the tent (or tarp) all day, but color can also give a psychological effect (according to the late C Fletchers’ Complete Walker).

Orange, reds, and yellows can be “warming”, while greens and blues “cooling”.   He also mentioned the marketing effect for the majors (i.e.  which colors sell on the showroom floor?).  If a hiker is setting up camp towards the evening is it going to really matter?

 

After personal experience, I may want at least reflective lines if other hikers or campers stumble along at night. There may be instances of even shelters usually set up/taken down at night being “pressed” into daylight service.  I like SMDs light grey sil-polyester, and wish it were used in lighter shelter.

Clothing wise..

David P said ..In my state of Maine, the bright colored clothes I wear hiking are more so I don’t get shot by a drunk hunter who translates my grey or brown shirt into “Look, Jimmy, a deer!” Or “Look, Jimmy, a tall coyote!” One lady was hanging her laundry up wearing white gloves and was shot, at her own house! The gunman claims he thought the white gloves were a deer tail swishing back n forth

Holy smokes. I’ve been switching to SPF 40 to 50 white clothing for UV protection here in the West, but may need to dangle some accessories in teal, purple, and other colors not found in nature to avoid the high powered dimwits. Maybe flashing mini-Xmas lights … give it the whole ‘80s treatment.

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