Unexpected benefit of camouflage

I stumbled upon this in my wanderings, and thought it might be of interest to some here, especially since some of you deal with bears more than I've had to:<br><br>http://www.backpacker.com/technique/article/0,1026,1647,00.html<br><br>Many years ago, I had a bright blue tent robbed while I was on a side hike because it stood out on the Appalacian Trail in October like a sore thumb- literally visible from a half-mile or so, which takes some doing in that densely wooded country. Aside from civilized considerations like expense, finishing a hike with half the gear you expected to have is an eye opener.<br><br>Since then I've made it a practice to have everything I carry (that's too large to stick in a pocket or lose in the underbrush) in subdued colors whenever possible, with one large exception for emergencies. It's much easier to make a camp of subdued equipment visible in an emergency than it is to make a camp of loud-colored equipment invisible. There have been many times when I've been glad of the practice since, for a variety of reasons, some unexpected... and several times when other people were so close that I couldn't believe they didn't see me.<br><br>I have some actual camouflage gear- pack cover, tent fly, tarps- but it does seem to put people off when used anywhere but in true wilderness. I'm sure it's the cultural demonizing of "survivalists", and thus probably more true in the East than the West. It's hard to come up with an objective reason why it should be viewed as threatening.<br><br>There was, I admit, one instance where I went on a brief side trip to get water without my pack (it was hundreds of feet below), used the camouflage pack cover to keep from being robbed again, and had some trouble finding it when I got back. It's easy to assume, somehow, that your own camouflage won't work on YOU...<br>

presumed, What works with people doesn't work with bears. they have poor eyesight( relatively speaking), but superb audio and olfactory systems. Standing up is not so much an aggressive posture, but merely trying to get a better look. Interesting reference though! Another strategy, is to simply pitch your camp truly out of the way. In regulated parks, I deliberately, and illegally camp away from designated campsites. The bears ( and thieves) know every square foot of their territory. Campgrounds with igloo care baskets are part of that knowledge. This does put the burden of utterly zero impact camping on me ethically.

>>presumed, What works with people doesn't work with bears. they have poor eyesight( relatively speaking), but superb audio and olfactory systems. Standing up is not so much an aggressive posture, but merely trying to get a better look. Interesting reference though!<<<br><br>I have very little personal experience with bears, so I’ll defer to those who do. My personal experience does tell me that it’s appropriate to be concerned about visibility to humans.<br><br>What you’ve said isn’t necessarily at odds with the article, though. The author says their experience is that brightly colored tents tend to attract bears, and camouflage tents don’t seem to. Poor eyesight doesn’t mean they’re color blind. It makes sense that if they have poor eyesight they might be even more inclined to get close to something that unnaturally colored and bright to see what it is. <br>