Tent styles range from single person to large cabins for over a dozen people. The purpose of the tent dictates the style that campers choose. Expedition trekkers will likely choose small, lightweight tents. Families who are car camping will choose larger, heavier tents.
Does tent color matter when selecting a tent? Visibility is the most significant concern, whether you want to stand out from the environment for safety reasons or blend in. Color can also have a small effect on comfort.
Search and Rescue
Nobody plans to need to be rescued, but high adventure campers who trek into remote places such as the Pacific Crest Trail should have visibility in mind when choosing a tent. Campers in the remote backcountry may become victims of sprains, insects, or illness that make hiking home impossible and rescue a necessity.
Even if rescuers have an exact GPS location for a stranded hiker they still need to get their eyes on his or her exact location. In areas with heavy tree canopy or reduced visibility, this can be difficult, and mountainous terrain can make searching hazardous for the rescuers.
Orange tents, such as the Flytop Backpacking Tent, are the standard choice for adventurers who have search and rescue in mind. Orange stands out against the lush greenery of summer in the Eastern United States and against snow and ice in mountainous terrain.
But orange is not the best choice for visibility in all areas. The desert Southwest has orange and red terrain, where an orange tent would blend right in. The same is true in the Eastern United States when the woods are painted with fall colors.
How can you know what color will make your tent stand out from the landscape? Check out a color wheel.
The colors that are opposite each other on the color wheel will provide the greatest contrast with each other.
If the background environment is green then the color opposite green on the color wheel is dark orange. An orange tent is easy to spot among the bright green leaves.
If the background environment is filled with yellows and oranges, then a blue tent will have the best contrast. That would make your tent stand out among the hues of the southwest or the faded leaves of autumn.
If you would like to use the same tent in multiple terrains, you can you look for a tent with two colors. The North Face Domey 3 tent is made of blue and orange which gives you high contrast in multiple environments.
Tripping Hazards
Campsites can be dangerous at night. When the sun goes down no amount of lanterns, torches, or flashlights can provide the amount of light people are accustomed to indoors. Trip hazards can be everywhere, such as firewood, fire rings, axes, roots, rocks, tent stakes, and tent guy lines.
Guy lines are thin ropes that run from a tent’s fly to a tent stake, stretching the fly so it is taut and keeps rain off of the tent. These lines pose a trip hazard day or night. Using a reflective flag on the guy line and a tent with a light-colored fly will help keep your campground safe.
Pollinating Insects
Bees are a hazard in the wilderness. During the summer, bees are busy gathering pollen, and they work out of hives and cover a large area. When you pitch your tent you will probably not know if there is a beehive nearby, but you will find out after a few hours at the campground. If your tent looks like a large bunch of flowers you will be bothered by unwanted insects while bees are foraging for pollen.
Yellow is the most thought about color that attracts bees, but many wildflowers are purple, red, or white. Any tent color that looks like wildflowers can attract bees, not just yellow. For this reason people who are allergic to bees should avoid any tent in colors similar to wildflowers.
If bees are not a concern for your environment, you probably don’t need to be factor them into your decision.
Can the Color of a Tent Attract Mosquitoes?
It is commonly believed that mosquitoes are attracted to dark colors, and some people will choose lighter colored clothing, or even tents, as a precaution.
However, this is really just a myth. Mosquitoes will be more interested in body heat, carbon dioxide, or the composition of your sweat. Tent color won’t be factor.
Will Bears Be Drawn to a Tent Color?
The first question to ask is whether bears can see color. Yes, bears can see color. Will that matter one way or another for your tent? Probably not. The most important consideration for bear safety when camping in bear country is smell. Bears have a sense of smell that is stronger than that of dogs, and can detect smells from over a mile away. Be sure to follow good guidelines for food preparation and waste handling.
Hunting Season
Hunting season brings a unique set of hazards to the backcountry, and a brightly colored tent can help keep you safe. During hunting season campers should make every effort not to be confused with wild game in the field.
It may seem unlikely for a person stepping out of a tent to be confused for a deer, but in early morning light with morning fog and a tired and over-eager hunter, tragic accidents happen every year. Be mindful of the color of your tent during the hunting season. High contrast colors will help you be seen by hunters
Vehicle Hazards
Camping should be a happy and safe time. Unfortunately, crowded campsites and dimly-lit windy roads can bring tragedy. Any tent pitched near a road should be brightly colored or reflective. The Field Candy Snow White Tent is a good choice for this purpose because the all-white color contrasts from most backgrounds and it is also reflective, warning drivers to stay on the road.
Environmental Impact of Tent Color
“Leave No Trace” (LNT) camping is practiced by most backcountry enthusiasts. The LNT practice typically involves packing out what you pack in and leaving nature the way you found it.
Conscientious campers use LNT thinking in choosing their tent color by picking tents that blend in with their surroundings so they do not spoil the wilderness for wildlife or other campers. (Squirrels have feelings, too, right?) Choosing an earth tone-colored tent is a practical and thoughtful way to preserve the unspoiled wildness of the outdoors, especially during busy seasons when even remote destinations attract troves of campers. Tents like the Marmot Tungsten Tent are made of an earth-tone color that blends in with most natural surroundings.
Tent Color and Temperature
Tent color can affect the temperature of the occupants. This is mostly a concern for extreme hot or cold environments. Tent color will only have a small impact on temperature, but any impact is appreciated.
The Tangkula Pop Up Ice Shelter is an example of a tent that uses color to help keep occupants comfortable in extreme cold. This tent is all black, based on the fact that black colored objects absorb light instead of reflecting light and convert that light into heat, similar to the reason solar panels are dark-colored.
Campers in hot weather may choose a light-colored or all-white tent, which reflects sunlight off the occupants and keeps them from getting even hotter in the sun’s rays.
Tent Color and Sleep
Northern latitudes see as much as 16 hours of daylight each day during the summer. This can have an over-stimulating and tiring effect on campers, particularly young children. This effect is particularly noticeable if the kids are up late at night before waiting for the sun to set, and then later enjoying a campfire or fireworks after a late summer sunset. When morning comes adults may not be ready for the kids to be woken at first light, and missed sleep is not good for children’s mental and physical health.
When the sun comes up, the walls of a light colored tent can light up like light bulbs. If you need to sleep beyond sunup, there are measures you can take. You can get a darker colored tent. Coleman’s 10 person Dark Room tent is a great choice for families who want to protect un-disturbed sleep in the early morning.
Another precaution: find a spot for your tent that will be shaded by trees from the sun rising in the east. And of course, you can cover your eyes as you lie down to sleep to block the morning sun.
Concealment
Camouflage tents take concealment beyond “Leave No Trace.” Camouflage tents are designed to blend in with their surroundings. They are covered in woodland or pixelated images to break up the pattern of the tent, so at first glance, the tent does not appear to be a tent at all. This is important for hunters or naturalists who want to observe wildlife undisturbed.
Some hunters or naturalists may prefer a camouflage tent so they do not scare off the animals. If this is your purpose out in the woods, then you should consider a camouflage tent. In untouched wilderness, animals are very sensitive to an unfamiliar human presence. Taking precautions such as a camo tent will not make you invisible, but it will put animals at ease and send a message that this new person in your habitat wants to blend in with the natural surroundings.
However, don’t forget about safety. If there may be other hunters in the area, be careful. During hunting season campers must make every effort not to be confused with wild game in the field. They will also want their campsite to be clearly visible to any hunters in the area.
Choosing a Tent
Understanding the functions of various tent colors will help you choose the best tent for your purposes. Fortunately, there are so many varieties and colors of tents available today that campers should be able to choose a tent that meets their needs.