balzaccom
Trail Wise!
Waiting for spring...
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Post by balzaccom on Aug 20, 2019 7:49:44 GMT -8
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.
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Post by Lamebeaver on Aug 20, 2019 8:31:06 GMT -8
HYOH
I generally tend to favor drab colors as well, though there have been times when I had difficulty finding my tent at night, that I wished it were international orange.
For me, there are much worse offenders to LNT than the color of people's gear.
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Post by Lamebeaver on Aug 20, 2019 8:35:27 GMT -8
Oh, I'm sorry, this was supposed to be a flame war.... Screw you and your inoffensive camo tent, and your khaki shorts. Your mother was a hamster, and your father smelt of elderberries!
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balzaccom
Trail Wise!
Waiting for spring...
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Post by balzaccom on Aug 20, 2019 8:39:54 GMT -8
LOL. Thanks. Actually, my wife avoids bright colors in the back country for a very different reasons. "If I am off answering a call of nature, the last thing I want to do is call attention to myself!"
Then again, this is directly from the LNT 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."
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Post by johntpenca on Aug 20, 2019 9:45:23 GMT -8
For me, there are much worse offenders to LNT than the color of people's gear. Ditto. I sometimes like bright gear in my photos. It lends a human element.
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whistlepunk
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I was an award winning honor student once. I have no idea what happened...
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Post by whistlepunk on Aug 20, 2019 12:48:50 GMT -8
Several years ago a Forest Service speaker at an outdoor gear manufacturer convention raised the same issue.
The idea was not well received. Polite response and conversations afterward basically shunned it. Bright colors sell better. Drab and earth tones are less popular with consumers. So blame the customers. Manufacturers produce what the buyers want, not what the manufacturers think they should have. I prefer the drab colors myself. I usually carry one bright article in the remote chance I need SAR, otherwise I prefer anonymity.
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reuben
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Gonna need more Camels at the next refugio...
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Post by reuben on Aug 20, 2019 13:05:11 GMT -8
I have a gray tent and a yellow tent. Which one I take depends on whether I'm hiding from the feds or just the local cops.
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Post by bradmacmt on Aug 20, 2019 15:02:50 GMT -8
In the 70's when I started backpacking, bright colors were "de rigueur"... I have no objection to bright colors other than what they do to me in a tent. I can't stand harsh, overly saturated colors (like international orange), not because of any supposed violation of the wilderness aesthetic, but because I don't like the psychologically oppressive nature of living inside such a tent!
Backpacking in our modern world is an artificial construct anyway...
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rebeccad
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Writing like a maniac
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Post by rebeccad on Aug 20, 2019 16:20:02 GMT -8
Doesn’t make for a very good flame war, but I like a tent with some bright bits, so that it can be visible at need, but mostly more subtle.
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texasbb
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Post by texasbb on Aug 20, 2019 16:29:12 GMT -8
It's a little off-putting to see lots of candy colored tents. It's a lot off-putting to see people set up right in the middle of the good view, regardless of their tent color.
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Post by JRinGeorgia on Aug 20, 2019 17:51:12 GMT -8
When you need a rescue in the snow, that orange color can help get you seen, found, and rescued. Orange is pretty visible when you need a rescue and there's no snow, too.
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reuben
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Gonna need more Camels at the next refugio...
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Post by reuben on Aug 20, 2019 17:58:18 GMT -8
I don't mind orange tents in the wilderness, but it really gets on my nerves when someone wears a brand new pair of O.R.A.N.G.E shoes in the gym and scuffs up the wood floor in the yoga studio.
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daveg
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Michigan
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Post by daveg on Aug 20, 2019 19:10:54 GMT -8
I confess. Orange Vaude Refuge tent, yellow GoLite pack, orange bandana.
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balzaccom
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Waiting for spring...
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Post by balzaccom on Aug 20, 2019 22:12:37 GMT -8
At least you won't have any trouble finding it!
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Hungry Jack
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Post by Hungry Jack on Aug 21, 2019 4:44:42 GMT -8
When I saw the thread title. I assumed it was about Trump.
But I have a Eureka Backcountry 1 tent. I like the design, but it’s dark puke green color makes being inside of it almost unbearable when not at night. For some reason, the color makes it really claustrophobic.
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