I’d like to buy some tent guy lines that would glow in the dark.
Does anyone have experience with Chinese glow ropes? Are they really visible in the night?
Do you mean like GITD paracord?
I had some in lanyards and keyrings and that thing glows a bit after taking some light (for a long period of time), but it won’t last long. GITD tape is better in that aspect.
You can always get “reflector” paracord, that will “reflect” if you wave a source of light to it!
Yes, I mean precisely GITD paracord. Or, if anyone has experience with that, some thinner lines.
I travel every year to the Woodstock Poland. So far I used a tent that didn’t need guy lines but this year I may take a new, larger one that needs them. OK, it probably won’t arrive in time for this year. But I’d like to find something good for the next one.
People walking without flashlights are common there and seeing tents with kicked-off guy lines is common as well.
Reflective will work for those with lights but I don’t think it’s good enough in general.
And flashlights of people passing by may recharge the GITD ropes a bit.
I have had several types none lasted for more than a few minuets and couldn’t be seen more than a few feet away the reflector line is very good could be seen 25 -30 yds away.
Chris
—
Chris
richbuff said “Sometimes, I feel depressed about my spirit having been cast down to the hostile surface of this one-star planet, without my asking God first, and without God asking me first. I have found that a brief burst of maximum light from what is currently the smallest size flashlight per power makes it all ok/fine for a while, until the next time I feel the need to repeat.”
I bought 10 meters of GITD paracord from Ebay. After a full hour in direct sunlight, bring it in darkness and it will last 3 minutes. After that, you will see a faint glow for about 1 hour. Not very good.
Visibility from a few feet away is all that I need – I just want to prevent people from tripping over my guy lines, not be seen from distance.
But is really doesn’t sound like a well working idea.
I see that I have a few options:
go with an expensive imported glow line
expensive
everybody claims to have the brightest
uncertain result
go with a moderately expensive glow line claimed to be made in Poland
this one is 2.5 mm – I like it being lightweight but this reduces the glow prospects…
go with a moderately expensive glow-reflective line from China
the only one that I see seems to be a variant of the cheapest glow one – won’t be much better than just reflective
I really like reflective guy lines. I am usually wearing a headlight and the reflective tracer works very well even if the headlight is on super low moonlight mode.
Thinking that many people can use their smartphones to light the way, maybe the reflective ropes can be the best!
I checked with the GITD Paracord I have but it doesn’t last long
Unless you glue some GITD tape in stripes along the rope to make it more visible! Otherwise I’m afraid it may not work properly…
I really like reflective guy lines. I am usually wearing a headlight and the reflective tracer works very well even if the headlight is on super low moonlight mode.
+1 I Have the Nite-Eze brand guy lines they work incredibly well. I also hang the cheap coin cell key chain lights on the guy lines near my tent. That helps for me to relocate after a trip to the outhouse.
GITD Paracord vs GITD Tape
This “test” was conducted by putting some UV light shinning above both materials and then a Wuben T70 (+- 4200 Lumens) .
After shining the lights (left) and after 20 minutes (right)
The rope cannot be seen almost! Even at naked eye. I located the place through the GITD tape.
the cheap GITD tape is very good – i’d just get some of that and put a few rings of it around my ropes
it will seriously glow all night
wle
—
"You never have the wind with you - it's either against you,or you're having a good day." Daniel Behrman, "The Man Who Loved Bicycles". It never gets easy, you just go faster. -Greg Lemond. ,ø¤º°`°º¤ø¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø¸
Lots of nice input, thanks.
Man Without Shadow, do you have experience with these ropes? So far everyone who actually tried the stuff shows disappointment…
I’d rather have something inexpensive and cheap-looking. For 2 reasons.
A large part of what I like in the festival is not having to care. The less stuff I take, the less it’s worth the more free I am to enjoy myself.
The other reason is crime.
On average there are roughly 500 000 attendees to the festival (though it swings a lot). With so many people sleeping in tents, often drunk or having fun at concerts away from their places – there are thieves as well. Being (and looking) cheap is a good strategy…and a very common one, people just don’t take much stuff there. It’s easy too stand out as a good target. LED ropes, wires and pegs – may be good in general but are not a good idea for my use case.
Throwies are cool, I may try them. 90 cents for 10 LEDs (reusable). $1.5 for 10 cells. Some tape. Before starting the thread I considered spending $20 on a 3mm rope that would likely not work.
Cheap, cheap-looking, likely to work well. I’m slightly worried that it’s cheap looking from up close but maybe not so much from a distance…but I like it nevertheless.
Too late for this year but may try it later.
I really like the idea of using reflective tape stripes. I have such tape so I may try it this year. Even before the festival.
Glowing pegs, fasteners, guy line bands…could be interesting as well, but I’ll leave them for later.
People walking without flashlights are common there and seeing tents with kicked-off guy lines is common as well.
Advice a steel rope if you don’t mind a dozen of tripped over, drunk fellas sight in the morning around your tent. Long titanium pegs could be useful as well.
People walking without flashlights are common there and seeing tents with kicked-off guy lines is common as well.
Advice a steel rope if you don’t mind a dozen of tripped over, drunk fellas sight in the morning around your tent. Long titanium pegs could be useful as well.
Interesting take.
But I do mind. I don’t want any drunk fella tripping over my tent just because they didn’t think about taking some light before they went on a binge…
And for some weird reason – most tend to think about drinking rather than about lights.
Hang a chem light. I bought a couple 50-packs of the small ones to use night fishing (they go in bobbers). They’re cheap enough that when the kids get rowdy I send them in the basement to turn off the lights and play “Star Wars” and throw them at each other.
Yeah, that sticks could work as well.
Though I’m not very fond of replacing them every day. I’ll try othe options first but I’ll keep this one in my head as well.
Thank you!
Same experience with the GITD paracord – wasn’t very bright, I bought it thinking it’d make for good guy lines for a tent also, but never bothered using it.
I have a tent with reflective threads in the lines and that works well with only a small amount of light (I guess at a festival there will be some ambient light around to make them show up…)
Other idea would be to leave a light inside the tent, so the tent itself is a little illuminated. That’s my usual trick when camping, so I can find the tent in the dark and have a reasonable idea of where the guy lines should be
Agro, did you finally pick any of glowing ropes?
Don’t forget to make some pics. I would gladly take advantage of your findings as I’m planing a scouting bivouac with my toddlers…
Thanks MascaratumB.
I’m leaving for Pol’and’Rock the day after tomorrow so it’s unlikely to arrive by then. Just like the relfective rope that is on the way. So…for this year I can only try glow tape strips. For the next one – I have a lot of time to collect and test various ideas.
GITD tape isn’t super expensive. Why not apply a few pieces taped over each of the guy lines. Like about 4 or 5 “tags”? Or if you camp frequently, maybe get some cheap GITD markers and use a little duct tape to secure them in place spread across each guy line?
Do you mean like GITD paracord?
I had some in lanyards and keyrings and that thing glows a bit after taking some light (for a long period of time), but it won’t last long. GITD tape is better in that aspect.
You can always get “reflector” paracord, that will “reflect” if you wave a source of light to it!
MY REVIEWS THREAD /// My Flashlight Collection /// YouTube Channel
Mods: 1 / 2 // TIR: 1 / 2 // Others: Biscotti 3 + 1*7135 / Triple TIR w/ XP-G2 /// My Review's Blog (PT) /// OL Contest 2019 /// OL Contest 2020 /// GIVEAWAYs: 1 / 2 / 3
Yes, I mean precisely GITD paracord. Or, if anyone has experience with that, some thinner lines.
I travel every year to the Woodstock Poland. So far I used a tent that didn’t need guy lines but this year I may take a new, larger one that needs them. OK, it probably won’t arrive in time for this year. But I’d like to find something good for the next one.
People walking without flashlights are common there and seeing tents with kicked-off guy lines is common as well.
Reflective will work for those with lights but I don’t think it’s good enough in general.
And flashlights of people passing by may recharge the GITD ropes a bit.
I have had several types none lasted for more than a few minuets and couldn’t be seen more than a few feet away the reflector line is very good could be seen 25 -30 yds away.
Chris
Chris
richbuff said “Sometimes, I feel depressed about my spirit having been cast down to the hostile surface of this one-star planet, without my asking God first, and without God asking me first. I have found that a brief burst of maximum light from what is currently the smallest size flashlight per power makes it all ok/fine for a while, until the next time I feel the need to repeat.”
I bought 10 meters of GITD paracord from Ebay. After a full hour in direct sunlight, bring it in darkness and it will last 3 minutes. After that, you will see a faint glow for about 1 hour. Not very good.
There is this one however that seems a lot better: https://www.boredparacord.com/products/glow-in-the-dark
Thanks a lot for the input!
Visibility from a few feet away is all that I need – I just want to prevent people from tripping over my guy lines, not be seen from distance.
But is really doesn’t sound like a well working idea.
I see that I have a few options:
I really like reflective guy lines. I am usually wearing a headlight and the reflective tracer works very well even if the headlight is on super low moonlight mode.
Thinking that many people can use their smartphones to light the way, maybe the reflective ropes can be the best!
I checked with the GITD Paracord I have but it doesn’t last long
Unless you glue some GITD tape in stripes along the rope to make it more visible! Otherwise I’m afraid it may not work properly…
MY REVIEWS THREAD /// My Flashlight Collection /// YouTube Channel
Mods: 1 / 2 // TIR: 1 / 2 // Others: Biscotti 3 + 1*7135 / Triple TIR w/ XP-G2 /// My Review's Blog (PT) /// OL Contest 2019 /// OL Contest 2020 /// GIVEAWAYs: 1 / 2 / 3
+1 I Have the Nite-Eze brand guy lines they work incredibly well. I also hang the cheap coin cell key chain lights on the guy lines near my tent. That helps for me to relocate after a trip to the outhouse.
Paul-
There was a VAN BERLO TentLED guy line light but it looks like they may not be in production any more.

Then there are these which aren’t cheap but solar powered and have LEDs in them!
Lumarope
gman7228
There are 10 kinds of people in the world. Those that understand binary notation and those that do not.
How about cheap “throwies“ (with resistor) ringed around each cord to slide down to the base?
It won’t light the rope, but will at least show the “footprint” of the tent-area.
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
GITD Paracord vs GITD Tape
This “test” was conducted by putting some UV light shinning above both materials and then a Wuben T70 (+- 4200 Lumens) .
After shining the lights (left) and after 20 minutes (right)
The rope cannot be seen almost! Even at naked eye. I located the place through the GITD tape.
MY REVIEWS THREAD /// My Flashlight Collection /// YouTube Channel
Mods: 1 / 2 // TIR: 1 / 2 // Others: Biscotti 3 + 1*7135 / Triple TIR w/ XP-G2 /// My Review's Blog (PT) /// OL Contest 2019 /// OL Contest 2020 /// GIVEAWAYs: 1 / 2 / 3
How about tying white ribbon onto the lines?
the cheap GITD tape is very good – i’d just get some of that and put a few rings of it around my ropes
it will seriously glow all night
wle
"You never have the wind with you - it's either against you, or you're having a good day."
Daniel Behrman, "The Man Who Loved Bicycles".
It never gets easy, you just go faster. -Greg Lemond.
,ø¤º°`°º¤ø¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø¸
Never played with it, but sounds like EL wire might due the trick. Here is some info:
https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/getting-started-with-electroluminescent-el-wire/all
or, can thick fishing line carry light from a 5mm led?
Lots of nice input, thanks.
Man Without Shadow, do you have experience with these ropes? So far everyone who actually tried the stuff shows disappointment…
I’d rather have something inexpensive and cheap-looking. For 2 reasons.
A large part of what I like in the festival is not having to care. The less stuff I take, the less it’s worth the more free I am to enjoy myself.
The other reason is crime.
On average there are roughly 500 000 attendees to the festival (though it swings a lot). With so many people sleeping in tents, often drunk or having fun at concerts away from their places – there are thieves as well. Being (and looking) cheap is a good strategy…and a very common one, people just don’t take much stuff there. It’s easy too stand out as a good target. LED ropes, wires and pegs – may be good in general but are not a good idea for my use case.
Throwies are cool, I may try them. 90 cents for 10 LEDs (reusable). $1.5 for 10 cells. Some tape. Before starting the thread I considered spending $20 on a 3mm rope that would likely not work.
Cheap, cheap-looking, likely to work well. I’m slightly worried that it’s cheap looking from up close but maybe not so much from a distance…but I like it nevertheless.
Too late for this year but may try it later.
I really like the idea of using reflective tape stripes. I have such tape so I may try it this year. Even before the festival.
Glowing pegs, fasteners, guy line bands…could be interesting as well, but I’ll leave them for later.
I wonder why do throwies need a diffused LED. I can buy 10 clear red LEDs for $.65. And 5 mm ones are another 10 times cheaper.
These uv keychain are kind of cheap and look cool.
Advice a steel rope
if you don’t mind a dozen of tripped over, drunk fellas sight in the morning around your tent. Long titanium pegs could be useful as well.
[WTS] HID host: http://budgetlightforum.com/node/68693
[WTB] Interesting LEDs:http://budgetlightforum.com/node/68968
Interesting take.
But I do mind. I don’t want any drunk fella tripping over my tent just because they didn’t think about taking some light before they went on a binge…
And for some weird reason – most tend to think about drinking rather than about lights.
Flood vs throw.
Just get some sandpaper and scuff ‘em up.
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
What about hanging glow sticks from the rope?
Hang a chem light. I bought a couple 50-packs of the small ones to use night fishing (they go in bobbers). They’re cheap enough that when the kids get rowdy I send them in the basement to turn off the lights and play “Star Wars” and throw them at each other.
Yeah, that sticks could work as well.

Though I’m not very fond of replacing them every day. I’ll try othe options first but I’ll keep this one in my head as well.
Thank you!
Those lumaropes look sweet! Thanks for the find gman. The price isn’t that bad. I will add them to my wtb list.
Same experience with the GITD paracord – wasn’t very bright, I bought it thinking it’d make for good guy lines for a tent also, but never bothered using it.
I have a tent with reflective threads in the lines and that works well with only a small amount of light (I guess at a festival there will be some ambient light around to make them show up…)
Other idea would be to leave a light inside the tent, so the tent itself is a little illuminated. That’s my usual trick when camping, so I can find the tent in the dark and have a reasonable idea of where the guy lines should be
I’m not sure if it’s still worth it or if anyone mentioned this before, but here’s something I saw in AliExpress and made me remind this thread:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32894563098.html?spm=a2g0s.8937460.0.0.6...
Maybe it is useful for your purposes Agro
MY REVIEWS THREAD /// My Flashlight Collection /// YouTube Channel
Mods: 1 / 2 // TIR: 1 / 2 // Others: Biscotti 3 + 1*7135 / Triple TIR w/ XP-G2 /// My Review's Blog (PT) /// OL Contest 2019 /// OL Contest 2020 /// GIVEAWAYs: 1 / 2 / 3
Agro, did you finally pick any of glowing ropes?
Don’t forget to make some pics. I would gladly take advantage of your findings as I’m planing a scouting bivouac with my toddlers…
(Woodstock is just frog’s leap away)
[WTS] HID host: http://budgetlightforum.com/node/68693
[WTB] Interesting LEDs:http://budgetlightforum.com/node/68968
Thanks MascaratumB.

I’m leaving for Pol’and’Rock the day after tomorrow so it’s unlikely to arrive by then. Just like the relfective rope that is on the way. So…for this year I can only try glow tape strips. For the next one – I have a lot of time to collect and test various ideas.
GITD tape isn’t super expensive. Why not apply a few pieces taped over each of the guy lines. Like about 4 or 5 “tags”? Or if you camp frequently, maybe get some cheap GITD markers and use a little duct tape to secure them in place spread across each guy line?
That’s what I intend to try this year.
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