Guylines both visible and stealthy?

[Stumphges]

Maybe an impossibility, but has anyone found a type of cordage that is both visible to avoid tripping and stealthy to avoid campsite detection?

[Rick Reno]

I’m not sure if this is what you mean but Nite Ize makes 2.5 mm line that’s green with reflective tracers woven in. The tracers are very bright when you shine light directly on them, but otherwise the green line’s not easy to see. It would be somewhat stealthy during the day, but not at night if somebody walking by shone their light directly on the line.

[Kevin Babione]

I’ve had pretty good luck with a bright yellow line (I think it’s fishing line) that works with my mini line-locs.  It’s visible as I walk around the campsite with my headlamp, but you can’t see it from very far away.  I love having a reflective tracer woven in because it’s ALWAYS easy to find your campsite by just twisting your head.  The downside is that anyone can see the laser lines of your cordage simply by shining their headlamps in your direction.

[BlackHatGuy]

I don’t really know, but I think a dark red non-reflective cord would do the trick. Seems to me you’d see it if you were close, but it would blend in well at night if lights were sent your way. I guess you could also just tie a small yellow ribbon or some such at the stakes, keeping them low would let them be seen close up but not so much from a distance. Just some ideas, never actually tried them.

[Greg Mihalik]

^^^

If you are using a stealthy low power red LED headlamp you may not be able to see red non-reflective cord.

I suggest a night time test with the specific cord and headlamp you would use.

[Brian F]

My Dan Durston X-Mid has the line that Richard is referring to and it definitely does what you’re looking for. It’s a pale green that blends in nicely during the day. Didn’t even realize it had reflective strips in it until I pointed my headlamp right at it.

[Chris R]

Swapped out the lines on my x mid for another colour after I fell over them.

[Eugene Hollingsworth]

Well…not dark red ’cause I had that and tripped over it all the time in daylight. Not reflective because that is not stealthy at night, and doesn’t nothing to help during daylight.

IMO you need different colors for low to the ground tripping lines, lines up in the air, and different forest and seasonal conditions.  Addendum: there is multi-colored nylon fish line that varies so much and is so thin it should be perfect for stealth. Just put some bright flags or tags on it close to the ground so you don’t trip, and never put them at chest or neck height.

Summer:

Very low to the ground lines use a bright contrasting color like yellow or white. Less chance of being seen from a distance because they are low to the ground, but you can still see that color during daylight and with your headlamp.

Any lines up in the air, above head height, use camo that matches the foliage, usually just a OD green or mottled gray. If that line transitions from high to ground, then join 2 lines, using the bright near the ground as above.

Winter: (snow)

Very low to the ground lines use a bright contrasting color like lime green or even bright red. The red will actually look gray or black-ish in overcast and low light. Orange is way to bright and can be spotted a mile off.

Any lines up in the air, above head height, use gray-ish to match the gray-ish trees, or white if in a very light colored area like out in the open.  If that line transitions from high to ground, then join 2 lines, using the bright near the ground as above.

Take into account if you are being stealthy from view from above or below. From above the low to the ground lines need to be more subtle. If on a hill and being stealthy from view below, then match the color of the line to the sky and high foliage.

Let me know how that works out for you. LOL. Just a thought-experiment I guess.

 

[Eric Blumensaadt]

I always liked Kelty TripTease (golden W/ reflective threads) – but now it’s out of production.  :o(

[David Thomas]

I wove “glow-in-the-dark” threads into my guy lines and carried a UV LED flashlight when going potty so that only I could illuminate them on my way back.

Until I got busted by a ranger who was also a scorpion researcher and always walked around by the light of his UV headlamp.

[Eugene Hollingsworth]

Until I got busted by a ranger who was also a scorpion researcher and always walked around by the light of his UV headlamp.

Busted. LOL

[David Thomas]

That was all tongue-in-cheek.  I’ve only brought the extra weight of a UV LED light a few times when I myself wanted to look for scorpions.

I do find the reflective stuff quite helpful and if you’re stealth camping, shouldn’t you be out of eyesight of the trail, anyway?

[Stumphges]

This thread got really good:)

Thanks, everyone, for your suggestions.

David, out of eyesight of the trail is easy, out of all lines of sight sometimes tricky.

[two pints]

I use reflective guylines so I can easily find my way back to camp in the middle of the night after taking care of business.  I think if I chose to go with non-reflective lines for stealth, I would take a little keychain light (i.e. photon micro light), and leave it on in my tent when I left the immediate confines of my camp at night.

As a nice bonus, its a backup light that weighs next to nothing and can be hung in the tent for area lighting.

[David Thomas]

I like two pints’ idea the best, since I always have a $10, 10-gram NiteCore Tube along.  Its 1-lumen setting lasts 51 hours, so 10 minutes for a potty break is a de minis usage and since it’s rechargeable, you start every trip with its full capacity.  And, yeah, I always have it along because I could, if needed, finish any trip with it.

I think reflective guy lines really shine (hah!) in a crowded campground.  *I* know where my guy lines are relative to the tent, but other people don’t.

[Erik G]

Lawson’s Lime Green Glowire might fit the bill. I put it on my MLD Cricket mostly because I like the look, but it does blend in pretty well/look pretty natural while also still being quite visible, day or night.

[Todd T]

…I would take a little keychain light (i.e. photon micro light), and leave it on in my tent…

^This.  Most of the time I don’t even carry a light with me to go do my business.  It’s surprising how well you can see when you’re vision isn’t limited to a flashlight’s tunnel.  100% of the time, I leave a light on in the tent.  Far, far easier to find your way back.

[two pints]

It’s surprising how well you can see when you’re vision isn’t limited to a flashlight’s tunnel.

Well put.  Though I remember one night in the Smokies…   It was heavily overcast, no moon, and we were in one of the deep valleys between ridgelines.  I was waving my hand in front of my face, and I could not detect it.  I have ‘seen’ that type of darkness in a cave, but never before or since have I experienced that kind of darkness outside.  Eerie!

Glow wire, tent lights, and a mega lumen headlamp all would have been a welcome thing for a late night nature hike with a trowel.

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