I must admit that I am not the most sociable person in the world. I’m not one to walk up and start a conversation, especially with strangers. I’m also not one to enjoy people coming up to me and starting a conversation, although I can be sociable when that happens. But usually it’s not a long conversation. When I’m walking around the ‘big city’, I’m going somewhere to do something, and ‘sitting on a park bench chatting with the locals’ is not my thing. I also don’t stand out from the crowd… apart from my altitude. I don’t dress to be seen. I don’t act to be noticed. I don’t intentionally call attention to myself. Not that I have anything against being visible. I would just prefer to ‘be in the background’. Call it leftovers from living a life of being in the shadows.
A lot of this comes up for me when I’m working ‘in the field’. I’m there for a purpose…usually treasure hunting, metal detecting, or gold prospecting. When I’m focused on my activities, I don’t want to be approached, especially if I’m wearing headphones (listening to the almost imperceptible changes in tone of my metal detector) or working around or underwater looking for gold. I’m not paranoid, but in my experience, not everyone is friendly and well meaning. I’m wary of people I don’t know coming up to me in the middle of nowhere, especially if I’m looking for or digging up valuables and some stranger walks up to me wanting to know what I’m doing. It’s not like I’m trying to hide either. If it was, it would go into a full “stealth mode” (an entirely different topic). So when I’m “out and about,” I dress for success… my kind of success.
I can’t tell you how many times I go out into the woods only to see loads of people walking the trails dressed like they’re trying to be seen from space. Now, I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with wearing neon colors, if that’s your thing. if it communicates [some kind of] a fashion statement is part of your enjoyment of going out in the desert, by all means do it. As a treasure hunter, doing so has some inherent risks…especially if you are successful or perceived to be successful in your quest.
When looking for clothing and gear for my treasure hunting activities (in all its forms), I have a couple of basic criteria. First of all, it must be functional for what is needed. Second, it should be “earth tones” or at a minimum “non-flashy”. I won’t even consider bright reds, blues, yellows, oranges, lime greens, you name it. I choose to mingle. Camouflage is great. I have a lot of camouflage “stuff”. But, camouflage is not mandatory. Dark blue… OK. Dark orange (like an autumn “burnt orange”) – OK. If I am going to use it, carry it or use it, I want it to NOT draw attention… to it or to me.
One of the easiest things to spot is a bright unnatural color against a natural colored background. Fortunately, there is a large selection of good quality clothing and gear that manufacturers make in earth tones…many of which also come in bright colors (if you so choose). Fleece lined for warmth, rainproof Gortex, 400 Denier nylon for durability. They all come in “soft” colors. There are other modern fabric technologies besides these three, many of which are good. But, whatever it is, I choose ‘soft’. I recommend you do the same.
Now, a piece of contrary advice. Always…and I mean always…wear something that’s bright orange, signal red, or at least “very bright.” Why? If you get hurt. If you get lost If you’re marking a location for planes or rescue groups, you need to have something they can easily spot. Keep it handy at the bottom of your pack, or carry a scaled-down version in your cargo pocket or a pouch on your belt/canteen pack. Objective, take one.
The main intention of going out ‘into the woods’ while searching for treasure is to have a good time. If part of that ‘big time’ is bringing people in so you can interact and educate the public while you work, by all means “Dress for Success.” However, if you prefer not to have crowds around you watching you spot, dig, channel, and find coins, jewelry, and gold, then I highly recommend my “Dressing for Success” kind of thing. or not) on your next treasure hunting adventure!
