Thread: Safety Colours

I wonder if Swazi or H&F etc will start making safety clothing available in a light blue option. Don't get me wrong, I love my NZHS blaze beanie but in the last few day with the recent events I have also purchased a bright blue beanie for future bush armed and unarmed walks.

What do you guys wear in the way of safety clothing and or lights? What about your dogs - do you kit them out too?

I have a selection of blaze and yellow stuff as does the dog. And seeing as I talk about him a lot, might as well share that I have had some frustration with finding a sort of racing silk type pull-over that is both light weight but also a bright colour. I think I will have to resort in making something less target-like for him.



(This last one is KiwiGreg rocking a sweet NZHS beanie but also a rad bush shirt that I like the look of - Sweet hood!)

At the end of the day it wont matter what you are wearing if they dont identify there target.

There is a article in a mag round here on blaze, facts are your 80% less likly to be killed wearing blaze. and virtually 0 chance of being shot by a bowhunter because they have to identify which part of a animal they are shooting at just as a rifle hunter does but some rifle hunters are happy to shoot at hindquarters or any part of the animal

Originally Posted by veitnamcam

At the end of the day it wont matter what you are wearing if they dont identify there target.

Exactly right.

There is no doubt that clean Blaze Orange stands out and is one of the easiest colours to to see in most light conditions.

Does that aid in identifying your target, i.e. distinguish person from deer? Maybe.

Will it make you less likely to be shot, in circumstances of target misidentification? No definitive evidence for or against, in NZ bush conditions, as yet.

Reference: Green, J. & Boyes, M.A. (2006). Deer hunting in New Zealand: Safety lessons from the field. New Zealand Journal of Outdoor Education, 1(6) 34-49. (This paper has been reprinted in booklet format by the NZ Police for issuing to firearms users).

I am going to ask for permission to have a copy of this article posted in this section as a resource. I don't think there will be an issue, but just want to check with the author first.

Originally Posted by veitnamcam

There is a article in a mag round here on blaze, facts are your 80% less likely to be killed wearing blaze. and virtually 0 chance of being shot by a bowhunter because they have to identify which part of a animal they are shooting at just as a rifle hunter does but some rifle hunters are happy to shoot at hindquarters or any part of the animal

I read the article about the 80%. The 80% statistic is not a relevant statistic. It doesn't mean you are 80% less likely to be shot by wearing blaze orange. It just supports the fact that of the people mistakenly shot in the past, less were wearing blaze orange. That fact on its own is meaningless and does not correlate to less deaths because of wearing blaze.

I will explain in full later, as it is late and I am tired. Also I will need to look the exact numbers used in that article.

For now, consider this: There is 100 hunters hunting. 1 wears Blaze and 99 don't. 1 hunter wearing blaze and 1 hunter not wearing blaze get shot. 100% of hunters wearing blaze were shot, and essentially only 1% of hunters not wearing blaze were shot. Is it correct to conclude from the above events that you have a 100% chance of being shoot if you wear blaze? Of-course not. In the past less people wore blaze, so even if the risk of getting shot was the same, less people in blaze would be shot.

The only way to show if wearing blaze makes you less likely to be shot is to know not only what those who were shot were wearing, but also what those who were not shot were wearing.

PS: In the roar on public land I wear blaze. It helps people to see me and thus lets other hunters know were I am. Will it completely prevent another hunter from mistaking me for a deer, NO. Will it help to prevent another hunter from mistaking me for a deer, well maybe. The most helpful part would be that I stood out when he/she did not think they saw a deer. They would see me, come say hello, and we then we would arrange to hunt separate areas.

I am still not convinced that if proven target identification measures are followed, that blaze would be any better than no blaze. Blaze is no substitute for poor target identification. It will help you to be seen, yes, but that won't mean it will stop you from being shot by mistake, especially when you are not identified correctly.

Yeah, wtf that it bollocks!

Take a look at my avatar, photo taken in low light in the bush.
It goes human stag human(well Greg anyway) neither of the humans look like the deer but the one in blaze definitely does not look anything like the stag

I wear the polos/t-shirts similar to this for work, occasionally wear them while hunting too... don't spook the deer too much. Once you wear them in they are not as bright, rather be seen than dead.

<> Hi Viz Tee Shirt <> B SAFE B SEEN <> | Trade Me

I saw a pic on here that truley shows the blaze orange blending into our bush and hunting grounds.

This is Leathel's pic hope you don't me mind sharing it.


Sun down and sun up there is a lot of blaze in the bush.......but theres still no excuse too shoot at blaze!!!

I might have too invest in some bright clothing but most of mine are camo or green. Blue sounds safest and I have personaly witnessed a knob about too take a shot at a white moving object before the clown pulled the trigger I gave the prick a look thru my binos and it was some dude walking a creek bed in white overalls.Didn't know the rifle owning clown but was just at the right place at the right time......Ferkin idiot!!!!

Personaly I wouldn't feel safe in blaze. Every one to there own I guess

Ideally blue as there is f all in our bush thats blue, unfortunately its one of the colors deer see and see exceptionally well.

Came across this exert from the Mountain Safety Council "developing safe hunting practice" pdf......
http://www.mountainsafety.org.nz/ass...Summary(2).pdf

No one colour is satisfactory as a protective factor for all conditions, however ‘United Nations’ blue
came out as the most visible colour in the greatest variety of conditions, but can be affected by going darker when wet
if made of an absorbent material. A range of high vis orange clothing was tested. It was good in most conditions, but
there are circumstances where it might be confused with deer, especially in some light conditions. The outcomes of this
project indicate that the wearing of colour that contrasts with the environment, on its own, is not sufficient. Rather,
hunters need to modify a range of behaviours.

Originally Posted by cambo

Came across this exert from the Mountain Safety Council "developing safe hunting practice" pdf......
http://www.mountainsafety.org.nz/ass...Summary(2).pdf

No one colour is satisfactory as a protective factor for all conditions, however ‘United Nations’ blue
came out as the most visible colour in the greatest variety of conditions, but can be affected by going darker when wet
if made of an absorbent material. A range of high vis orange clothing was tested. It was good in most conditions, but
there are circumstances where it might be confused with deer, especially in some light conditions. The outcomes of this
project indicate that the wearing of colour that contrasts with the environment, on its own, is not sufficient. Rather,
hunters need to modify a range of behaviours.

What do you mean?

The problem with blue is it will contrast you with the deer as well, more than any other colour

This last poor guy to be shot ,did they say what he was wearing ie blaze ?

Originally Posted by Beavis

The problem with blue is it will contrast you with the deer as well, more than any other colour

Apparently deer can see blue/purple very well?

I've been thinking long and hard about this one and we are flogging a dead horse , I'm thinking and yes there a flaws but hear this out . Modern tec now , why can't there be a compatable fabric with say optics . A bit like the polorised sunnys , but when you look through the scope it reacts with it , ie glows or reflects . Not a quick solution but not out of the question. Open sights well your F#%ked sorry to say . Thoughts anyone ? .