Hunter Blue?

[ykspydiefan]

Hunter Orange is a thing. Well, recently a forester friend of mine pointed out that we have no blue vegetation in Canada and blue is a good color for tools in the bush. "Hmmm." I said.

I have no orange Spyderco, so I used a stand in. The blue scales are Halpern on a Mule, the Yellow scales are home made, black is Pacific Salt.

What do you think? Is Hunter Blue a thing? Could it be?

[riclaw]

Hunter Orange is a thing. Well, recently a forester friend of mine pointed out that we have no blue vegetation in Canada and blue is a good color for tools in the bush. "Hmmm." I said.

I have no orange Spyderco, so I used a stand in. The blue scales are Halpern on a Mule, the Yellow scales are home made, black is Pacific Salt.

What do you think? Is Hunter Blue a thing? Could it be?


IMG_20230803_124655815hunterblue.jpg

IMG_20230803_124611859hunterblue2.jpg

I think I remember that deer can't see orange, hence it's use in hunting apparel. Blue will stand out in nature but that's a large part of the target demographic too lose.

[jmj3esq]

Yes, if there is any color a deer can see it is the color blue. They see orange as a shade of gray.

[mikey177]

Would be cool to see how those colors appear at twilight and nighttime as well.

[ykspydiefan]

Well. Stuff I never knew. Never hunted deer. Moose, yes. But, always wore camo and hunter orange so the other guy doesn't shoot me.

[Doc Dan]

I like the blue on the VG-10 Endura quite a lot because it is very visible and is not garish.

[aicolainen]

As far as knife handles go, I’d argue that color makes very little difference to the outcome of the hunt. What little sticks out of the sheath or pocket can easily be tucked under a shirt or jacket, so the orange handles are more fashion than function. It appeals to hunters.
Bright blue handles are arguably the more functional choice. In autumn the vegetation around here turns overwhelmingly orange, so a orange handled knife left on the ground can be really hard to spot.
I don’t know how nice that bright blue would look after repeated exposure to blood though.

Personally the bright blue doesn’t appeal to me, so however practical, I’m sticking to the more traditional colors like orange, black etc.

[jmj3esq]

I have been looking for blaze orange G10 scales for my 15V Mule and just found some on Etsy. I personally love them. They will work great on my Colorado elk hunt in 2 weeks. I figure I can spot these in a gut pile from a distance. Tough to not see. Plus orange just makes it look like it’s made to hunt. Now if I could just find some orange Shaman scales…

[bearfacedkiller]

I doubt that a deer will see your knife but as others have stated deer can see only a small spectrum of colors and blue is one of them which is why hunters avoid it.

I have deer hunted all my life and haven’t lost a knife yet. I’m not sure if I need a bright colored knife.

I have always heard that a blue tarp, like the classic space blanket, is a great survival tool because it is so easy for search and rescue to see because it isn’t common in nature. I have to agree on that one.

[bearfacedkiller]

It is also important to realize that deer see UV light. If something glows under a black light then deer can see that. It’s not a bad idea to inspect your gear with a black light. It’s also a good idea to avoid washing clothes in typical detergents as many will make clothes glow.

[SaltyCaribbeanDfly]

I hunted with a buddy of mine one time that was just getting into bow hunting and I invited him to our farm in Kentucky where there was definitely no shortage of game, well it was raining opening morning and he walks into the kitchen with a baby blue rain suit on and there were several seasoned hunters in the room…we just kinda smiled and raised an eyebrow but didn’t tell him all he was gonna encounter that day were white flags…so he gets back after the hunt and said he didn’t see anything but heard a lot of blowing…we all kinda chuckled then took him to a local hunting store to get him some Scent-Loc camo rain gear

[Manixguy@1994]

I hunted with a buddy of mine one time that was just getting into bow hunting and I invited him to our farm in Kentucky where there was definitely no shortage of game, well it was raining opening morning and he walks into the kitchen with a baby blue rain suit on and there were several seasoned hunters in the room…we just kinda smiled and raised an eyebrow but didn’t tell him all he was gonna encounter that day were white flags…so he gets back after the hunt and said he didn’t see anything but heard a lot of blowing…we all kinda chuckled then took him to a local hunting store to get him some Scent-Loc camo rain gear

I tried to explain the blue issue years ago . Buddies couldn’t understand me wearing camo bibs or jeans .

[ykspydiefan]

Never thought to inspect gear with a UV light either. Good tips, thanks team.

[Coastal]

I like the idea of a blue knife for gardening because blue stands out so well. I plan to paint my gardening Matriarch's scales baby blue.

[Wartstein]

Hunter Orange is a thing. Well, recently a forester friend of mine pointed out that we have no blue vegetation in Canada and blue is a good color for tools in the bush. "Hmmm." I said.

I have no orange Spyderco, so I used a stand in. .....

Well, this (blue a very rare color in nature) is the very reason why I always spray paint or "tape" my no spin throwers in orange AND blue in order to have an easier time to find them when I miss (orange alone can blend in surprinsingly well (or NOT well in that case ) especially in fall when the colors turn more into brown/yellow/red/orange)

[Notsurewhy]

Pretty sure visibility is the reason Benchmade made the original bugout bright blue. Designed as a lightweight backpacking knife (not for hunting), it makes sense. It would be easy to find in the trail or at the camp site if you set it down or dropped it.

But the tacticool crowd didn’t like it (bright blue isn’t manly enough or something). So the next version was “ranger green” and much more army surplus looking, so it would blend right in with the surroundings. Then they were so happy because they could color coordinate their knife with their camo outfits and hats and bags (usually worn while not hunting), which is much manlier.