In contrast, a murmur of excitement ran through our group when we heard this description "female, 5'7", 105 lb, blonde over blue."- Quite a contrast to the usual male zit-faced teenagers that were our usual quarry. We did have a description of her foot print and about 10 PM I spotted it, heading down a trail in the longest canyon in the Catalinas (S.Arizona). About 4:30AM, we caught up with her - "You hiked all night to find me?" she asked, fluttering those blue eyes. Be still, my heart!

We had a much better time of it than the folks in base camp, where her husband had been creating problems all night. Incidentally, I have no recollection of the color of her clothing, but she definitely was blonde over blue.

Although I like orange, sometimes I feel that lots of it is too shocking to the senses in the wilderness. Often my preference is for colors that are out of place in nature but not shocking. My favorite is a light royal blue that Kelty used back in the early 70's. It has come and gone many times (although the day pack I bought back then is still in my closet - and still is in useable shape for all its travels). Blue, particularly bright blue, is an uncommon color in the back country and is easy to locate but does not jar the eye as much.

I do put something bright on my equipment that is in dull colors, my GR1 in sand has orange ranger beads on it. Surprising how little bright color is necessary to make something stand out.

Lots of color is best though when you want to be found. An orange or chartreuse vest or shirt and hat are available when I need to be seen.

Respectfully,

Jerry

Back in the old days (1950s) you could get any color you wanted - as long as it was Army surplus olive drab. We used to put bright ribbons so we could find them in the brush.

You are right - Kelty blue is a nice compromise. Even their early packs were ASOD,come to think of it.

Jerry,

As long as you have something bright and unnatural to show when you want to be found. Obviously even camo has it's place, but even military folks generally have some sort of glaringly bright aircraft recognition panel they can display when they need to be seen.

Light blue might be OK, but don't assume even somewhat darker blue is all that visible. This became clear to me a few years back when I was doing some geo field work in the northern Brooks Range foothills. We were working in two separate teams of two, and late one day my partner and I were flying back to pick up the other two guys. We knew exactly where the other guys were (where we had dropped them on a wide open gravel bar, and we also had a GPS location). The weather was good, high overcast with an occasional very light sprinkle of rain.

I was sitting in the front seat of the Long Ranger next to the pilot. We all wore bright orange field vests, and as we flew straight towards the pick up spot I could see one orange vest from literally miles away. For some reason I couldn't spot the other guy??? We got closer and closer, but I still could only see one orange vest?? I was astonished how close we got before I realized the two guys were standing side by side! The difference was that one guy had put on a blue rain jacket over his orange field vest. It was amazing how well that blue jacket blended in to the surrounding gravel bar!

While not all my clothing and gear is in bright colors, I always carry something really visible. And if I am going alone (which I sometimes do), I try to actually be wearing something really bright and visible. That way if I get knocked on the head, there might still be a chance of finding me.

AKSAR,

Absolutely agree, not dark blue (except on the snow).

Hikermor,

Yes, all my '50s gear was OD as well. Lost a real nice jacket that came untied (never carried my jacket on the outside of a pack since :-( and could not be found in less than a mile of trail.

Respectfully,

Jerry

Bright Colours really do work Great as a Passive Signal. International Orange (Engineering) appears to be the best overall, but I always advice adding a Contrasting Colour to any of these four to ensure it works in all conditions.

I tried wearing all red once. Apparently having a red shirt/jacket and red gaiters is ok, but if you add red pants to that, it's woman repelling. Or atleast they give you *the look*. So I guess more reason to wear contrasting colours.

BruceZed,

Although these colors work great in most situations there are areas, particularly in the American Southwest where red, yellow and orange disappear into the background. White is often the best there, except in winter. I have had trouble finding someone from the air several times for this reason.

Respectfully,

Jerry

AKSAR,

I had the same problem near Point Lay, but this was before GPS and the individual had done a transect but missed the pickup point. Had to fly slowly down the river at about 50 feet to see him in his navy coat.

Jerry

Which is why I carry a bright neon colored fleece scarf - hunter orange, pink or neon green. Plus I have a fleece scarf along.