How do you go from Drab Green to Orange

Factual Questions
1

I work for a land surveying company, and I am buying a couple of things that you need when you are out surveying, namely a canteen, and a military web belt to carry it on.

I like the military styles of canteen, and the web belt, but they have one problem, they are drab green. Green is good for the military, but bad for surveyors. I would like to bleach the green out and then dye them a florescent orange color. Any ideas would be appreciated.

Ficer67

2

Try to locate a fabric shop for thier dye and dye remover products.
Alternately and easier would be to use a can of traffic marking spray paint in your choice of color. Spray away.

3

Flourescent orange duct tape would be another idea.

4

Look for the RIT brand of fabric dyes. The company makes a color/dye remover which is sometimes sold alongside the dye line. Try that first to get rid of as much color as possible before trying a dye on the fabrics. I would avoid bleach in this case as it might destroy the fabric when used in concentrations strong enough to remove dye. Spray paint for the canteen itself, using a primer first.

To be honest, I’m not too optomistic about bleaching and re-dying fabrics made to meet MIL Spec standards. If it’s a manmade fabric, I wouldn’t even try because the color might be blended right into the fiber material, rather than applied over it as in dying natural fibers.

As an option, I’m told that US Cavalry Surplus at www.uscav.com sells a “dress” web belt in white and that you may even find a canteen cover in “dress white”. You know, as in a dress uniform having white accessories. That, at least, takes care of the olive drab color problem. Getting them the color orange is still a problem, though, unless they are made from cotton. If they are, then the dye should work.

Another option might be to take the belt and canteen cover to a tailor shop. Maybe they can work up some sort of cover for the belt and maybe remake the canteen cover in an orange fabric.

…orange fabric…BING!
You know, hunters make heavy use of fluorescent orange fabrics and accessories. Someone I know gets several hunters supply catalogs. If you want some links, mention it here and I’ll post some later.

5

If all of the rest of your clothing is safety orange, how much of a problem would just a green belt and canteen be? I mean, as long as you have anything bright on you, shouldn’t that be enough to make you visible?

6

Thanks for the great ideas, guys. I went and bought two army drab green canteens and a nylon web belt. I Spray-painted everything safety-orange. I had to apply several coats of orange paint to the belt because the first coat tends to be absorbed into the nylon fibers. The hammer holders that are for sale are too heavy and too expensive, so I made one out of steel weld-rods, and fire polished the ends so they would be rounded. I will use the teqnique again if I need to add another holder for something else.

Now, when I go out to survey something, I can convienently carry two canteens of water (if I want to) my hammer, and either two wooden stakes, or 4 property irons, and a roll of tape.

Thanks again for the wonderful input.

Ficer67