With the growing popularity of “survival”, products catering to this market are increasing as well. A wide range of kit is now available to enhance one’s survival toy box and satisfy all possible needs and wants.

In terms of survival, many of these items fall short in the colour department. At the end of the day, OD green, camouflage, and black, are but a few very familiar and popular colours in the world of bushcraft and survival. While these colours are in keeping with the lifestyle of the survivalist and bushcraft enthusiast, they are quite counterproductive in an actual survival situation.

Military issue supplies usually make excellent survival kit, but has their colours chosen based on military applications. Even if some of it is meant for survival purposes, military survival tactics call for concealment to help with evasion. The civilian caught in a survival situation wants to be seen, and these colours serve to accomplish the exact opposite.

Orange – Yellow – Red – These colours are ideal to help a person be spotted. Not only that, but if you happen to drop a piece of olive drab coloured kit in the bush, good luck trying to find it. If on the other hand your item is bright orange, it stands out as a colour that is not ordinary to your surroundings, making it easier to spot. Having brightly coloured survival kit not only provides great contrast, it also makes everything very visible at first glance. It is quite easy to put something down for a moment, only to find yourself looking high and low for it because it blends in with your surrounding environment.

If you have kit that is poorly coloured for a survival situation, try orange or yellow spray paint to add highlights to areas of your gear – it can make a world of difference.