Blaze: The Safety Colour

Hunting is an inherently dangerous sport. You’re handling powerful weapons like bows or firearms, and often stalking mammals larger or stronger than you. But the most dangerous part of hunting isn’t the animals: it’s other humans. Ever heard that half-joking phrase “if it’s brown, it’s down”? Don’t get caught on the wrong end of a barrel or an arrow.

There’s only so much land that is permitted to hunt on, and chances are there are other hunters out there too. How do you avoid being mistaken for their quarry, and protect yourself from accidental shots? This is where Blaze orange becomes a hunters best defence.

This specialised orange colour is invisible to deer, but very visible to other humans, as it creates the perfect contrast between land and sky. Wearing Blaze Orange is the best way to let other hunters know you’re stalking the same area. For total safety, pair an blaze hat with an blaze vest.

Invisible to Deer

Most ungulate game you hunt cannot see Blaze Orange because their eyesight works very differently from our own. Deer, for example, see oranges and reds similarly to browns and greys because they have dichromatic vision. Some researchers believe that they can also see blue up to 20x better than human eyes.While blaze sticks out like a sore thumb, to other hunters from a long way off it’s just another drab colour to your game.

Rather than colour, most game rely on detecting unusual movement, hearing or smelling your presence, or recognising the outline of a predator to alert them to danger. Staying still, quiet and downwind is much more important to getting your kill than what colours you’re wearing.

What about Blaze camo?

Blaze can be worn as a solid colour or as a camouflage pattern. Non-hunters might find the idea of bright orange camo strange like you’re trying to blend in and stand out at the same time. Well, that’s exactly what you need: to blend in for the game and stand out for the human hunters!

Modern research has shown that deer and other game animals don’t have good visual acuity or depth perception. Instead, they visually identify humans and other predators by recognising their overall outlines. That’s why most camouflage now aims to break up your human silhouette rather than totally blend you into your environment. Blaze camo is a great way to confuse your game as you get close, while keeping you obvious to other hunters.

Ideal for Kids

We think it’s very important for kids to wear Blaze when coming along on a hunt. That’s why our new Kids Fleece Packs came in safety-conscious blaze colours. Along with signalling their presence to other hunters, the pattern is easily visible to rescue services should your child become lost or injured. For that reason, it’s great for kids who enjoy hiking, camping and farm work as well as hunting trips

Hunting laws

Ridgeline now has a wide range of Blaze Orange coloured gear in our range to keep you safe (and legal!). Make sure to check your state or territory’s hunting laws to make sure you’re wearing enough to comply with your licence conditions.

The NSW government has recently updated their hunting licence permission conditions to enforce blaze orange apparel. The new condition states:

You must wear an item of blaze orange at all times while hunting in the State forest. The item must be worn externally on the upper part of your body and must be visible from all sides. The blaze orange item can be a: