Reflective or Non-reflective guy lines

[BPLwiia]

I just bought a Seek Outside tipi and am still undecided whether I want reflective guy lines and also whether I want them in natural/muted or a bright color.The orange reflective provide a great degree of visibility both at night and during the day.

Black non-reflective provides stealth so an unwanted intruder is less likely to find your location. My tipi is a muted green and will blend in well with the wooded environment it will be used in.

It all boils down to what degree of stealth you desire and what you’re willing to do forego to accomplish it. What did you folks decide when choosing guy lines….bright, reflective, stealthy?

 

 

[JCH]

I’m not trying to hide, but I *am* trying not to trip over the lines in the middle of the night and damage the shelter so…

[Matthew / BPL]

I’ve never been concerned about unwanted intruders but I have lost my shelter in the middle of the night while taking a pee so reflective.

[J R]

Reflective *and* a bright color.

[David Thomas]

I’ve never wanted stealth (in a tent) to evade rules or regulations and I find not tripping over my guy lines very helpful.  Also, when I’m returning to my tent, a quick flash of my light shows the guy lines from further out than the muted colors of most of my tents.

I use muted / natural colors in my non-hunting-season clothing and in my tents because I want to cause less visual impact for other hikers.  I don’t like looking down the trail and seeing someone fuchsia-colored Patagucchi puffy nor looking across the valley at some bright orange tent, so I mostly avoid doing that to others.  I’d swing the other way for truly remote or expeditionary location and, again, during hunting season.

[Brad Rogers]

I have some reflective and some that’s just bright but both would be better.

If I had guylines that blended in I would have tripped over them 1,000 times by now.

[Ken Thompson]

My mid has only short guylines, so non reflective works great. Hammock tarp has long lines, so reflective. But not overly reflective like some. The Lawson stuff strikes a good balance. I don’t need the line to look like a laser.

[bradmacmt]

Reflective… makes me reflect where I place my feet.

[R]

I’ve used 2 or 3 variety of reflective and the reflective stuff has not been very durable. It stays reflective enough to be helpful, but it sheds plastic full of who-knows-what chemicals, which is the opposite of what I want to be doing out there.  I’ve actually been some what appalled that vendors sell the stuff.  Unless I see some evidence that this gets addressed some day, my next purchase probably won’t be reflective, unfortunately.

[Greg Mihalik]

^^^

There is definitely some crap quality reflective line out there. That said, I have abused MSR and Big Agnes reflective lines quite a bit and looking at them today saw no broken or missing reflecting strands.

Lawson – care to comment?

[Brad Rogers]

I have used Kelty Triptease for years with no failures or loss of reflectivity.

[Ken Thompson]

I don’t like Tripease. The outer is not as durable as it could be and I am not a fan of cord with a outer that slides on the core. I want it all woven together.

[Todd T]

If I had guylines that blended in I would have tripped over them 1,000 times by now.

Mine are all reflective and I’ve still tripped over them 1,000 times. Reflectivity only really helps when you’re using a light, which I rarely do unless it’s moonless dark.

I’d still go for reflective lines unless I was on the lam.

[Kenneth Keating]

Reflective Glow Wire from Lawson’s Equipment.  Very good quality, I’ve had no issues.  Use the 3mm for LineLoc 3’s.  Highly recommended.

Reflective works out best for finding the tent in the middle of the night.  It’s amazing how you can get up in the middle of the night, walk 50 feet, do your business, and then have no idea where your shelter disappeared to.  I don’t do stealth camping, so no need for camo guys.  Plus the reflective lines helps out in preventing trips.

[BPLwiia]

If Lawson’s current inventory is any clue which color people want, the 3mm reflective cord in black is sold out while the yellow and orange are available. That could be nothing more than inventory timing but if it is instructive then most people are ordering black.

That color provides “secrecy” by day and visibility at night.

[Ken Thompson]

I went with the yellow. Easy enough to see during the day without being day glow.

[Todd T]

Reflective works out best for finding the tent in the middle of the night.  It’s amazing how you can get up in the middle of the night, walk 50 feet, do your business, and then have no idea where your shelter disappeared to.

The smart money’s on leaving a light on in the tent when you go out for a midnight bio-break.  Far more useful than carrying a light with you, not that you can’t do both.  I always hang my tiny hand-held light from a clip at the top of my tent and do my outside business with my headlamp (if I need anything outside at all, which is rarely).

[David Thomas]

“The smart money’s on leaving a light on in the tent when you go out for a midnight bio-break. “

Todd, thanks, that’s good idea.  You could even use one of the flashy modes on the headlamp. It’s not good for anything else (when have I EVER needed to send S-O-S in morse code?!?) but if there was even a contrived use for it, it would be less annoying.

[BPLwiia]

I never leave my tent at night without my trusty HDS flashlight. It’s an opportunity to catch a glimpse of a nocturnal animal that you may never have the chance to see otherwise.

[Brad P]

Are human intruders a real concern while camping in a place remote enough that your other concern is possibly not finding your tent?

[BPLwiia]

It’s a sad commentary but in today’s world there are thieves everywhere. It used to be that backpackers and hunters would never violate another person’s campsite. Nowadays, no camp is safe even in the outer reaches of the wilderness.

I recently had an expensive trailcam stolen. Who would do that? I’m concerned that someone is going to see the orange or yellow guylines by day and decide that maybe they can harvest whatever may be inside the tent or even the tent itself.

The reflective part I’m less concerned because someone would have to be meandering at night and wander into the campsite. At that point, I’d be at the campsite and everything should be safe.

 

[Kenneth Keating]

“The smart money’s on leaving a light on in the tent when you go out for a midnight bio-break. “

This is BPL, I can’t bring along an extra flashlight!!!  : )

[Bill in Roswell]

Many of the better known brands of reflective line and some off-brands will state it if they use 3M reflective. I don’t have a way to prove the longevity, but I’ve used Triptease and MSR cord for almost 20 years and never seen any degradation of the reflective material. I have some more recent Asian made cord that hasn’t shown any wear so far.

Cheers,
Bill in Roswell, GA

[Monte Masterson]

Unabashed stealth camper here. I use the black 1.25 mm spectra line from ZPacks, but I must admit that it’s easier to trip over than the yellow.

[Roger Caffin]

Unabashed stealth camper here.
From whom are you hiding?
We very rarely meet anyone else where we go, so I can’t see the benefit.

Cheers

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