Touring - Hi vis clothing

Looking for advice on hi vis outerwear, hi vis wind jacket or reflective vest over street clothes?

I like a jacket that can turn into a vest. I also like strobe lights for running in daylight.

ANSI parka neon Lime with wide reflective stripes.. road workers gear..

for at home , + hub dynamo wired head and taillight.

I'm off the road by dark, on tour.

I have some hi-viz stuff from work, most is ANSI Class 3, I also have gloves and vests. I also run LED head and tail lights as well as a PB Superflash for additional visibility. I try to wear light, bright colors even if I am not wearing the ANSI stuff.

Aaron :)

I fight with the idea of sacrificing high performing clothing with high viz stuff. The construction industry has tons of high viz belts and things you can just sling over yourself. When I was in the army we were issued these reflective belts, cost eight bucks at the PX to wear on ourselves when it was dark. They were nothing fancy, but you could see troops marching from a mile away.
Far as I'm concerned, cheap insurance, but get the belts and things, the jackets are too expensive for what theybprovide

Neon jackets and jerseys can`t hurt, but I`m also of the opinion that it`s easier to get the flashy stuff (vests in my case, or belt I suppose) that I can wear over anything else. Personally, I prefer mesh vests because wearing one isn`t any hotter than not wearing one in the summer sun and when I need cold weather gear ijust wear the same vest over whatever jacket I feel like I need. Since I don`t wear jerseys or "cycling" jackets anyway, I don`t need to keep my whole wardrobe full of Miami Vice clothes. The only downsides I can see are that it`s an extra three ounces or so, and one extra zipper to open before I can get to the zipper on my jacket.

My advice is just use a cheap reflective vest over a brightly colored cotton jacket. (In winter I use two cotton jackets)

In summer I wear only the vest. The yellow type. They're surprisingly comfortable; air flows through it and the Sun reflects right off of it.

I wear hi-vis yellow windbreakers as my outer layer. I look for brightly colored jerseys and I've got a bunch. I figure they may be noticable when I take off the windbreaker. I don't use a blinker in the daylight; when I ride behind people using theirs I don't find them that noticeable. At dusk and after dark I do use a blinker.

The best hi-vis jackets I've found:
http://www.showerspass.com/catalog/men/mens-jackets
http://www.brooksrunning.com/reflective-gear/mens-apparel-nightlife,default,sc.html

I wear hi-vis on and off the bike.

But then again, I'm a dork.

Orange hunting vest(Remington.) Slow moving vehicle sign with US/Texas flags flying. Light show at night. What to do about texting dudes, drunks, and dogs? IDK.

As a driver, my experience is that anything that makes a cyclist more visible makes the cyclist safer. While driving, I would prefer to spot a cyclist 100 metres away than 90 so I have more time to react if I need to. On a bicycle, I almost always don a fluorescent mesh vest (warm weather) or bright yellow jacket (cool or rainy weather).

A few months ago on this forum, someone reported that they found white more conspicuous than any other colour. I don't think it matters hugely whether the colour is white, yellow, orange, or whatever, as long as it reflects light. Bright flashing lights help, too.

As a driver, I get concerned when I spot cyclists wearing dark clothing and not using lights after dark. These cyclists may be virtually invisible at a distance. Sometimes I don't see them until I am almost upon them.

As far as flasher are concerned...I think they do bring attention even in the daylight. I was on a stretch of road in the coastal plains of VA last week and there was a cyclist close to a mile in front of me, first thing I saw was his red rear blinky. Happened to be a PB Superflash from the pattern. We were on a long straight stretch and the blinky really did stand out. Being a cyclist myself I instantly ID'ed it as a cyclist, whether the regular driving public would be able to do that I seriously doubt it, but the light was readily visible even in full sunlight.

Aaron :)

If you're touring on a budget, I'd suggest staying away from good deal of the cycling-specific hi-vis gear. Running shirts/jackets can have very similar fits and come in high-vis too. And if you're looking for something cheap to just increase visibility, check out the ANSI compliant Surveyor's Vests Lowes and Home Depot regularly carry. It's hi-vis, have large (3M) reflective stripes, and you can put it over anything.

I have been very pleased with my Pearl Isumi hi vis windbreaker. It has held it's color much better than some of the others friends wear. I've had many comments from people in cars/trucks thanking me for wearing something so easy to see-so much so that i often wear it wound up around my waist when i don't need it for the warmth.
http://keithreed.smugmug.com/photos/i-ktLK6cG/0/L/i-ktLK6cG-L.jpg

If you aren't worried about wearing kit, you can find a lot of good hi-vis clothing designed for runners. It is slightly looser than most cycling gear, but not so much that it flaps in the wind, and is usually 1/2 the price of cycling specific stuff. I've found some good off-brand stuff at Target and JC Penney. I have sleeveless, short sleeve and long sleeve tech fabric runner's shirts in hi-vis yellow/chartreuse (sp?) and a couple of 50/50 t-shirts in yellow intended for road construction crews or similar jobs. If I'm out anywhere near sunset or sunrise I'll wear bright hi-vis clothing. We've got some runners in the area who wear it and I can see them from much further away than people walking in street clothes.

I'm also a fan of having a bright flashing red light to the rear. State law here forbids flashing lights in the front (though I've never heard of anyone getting cited). Last year I had a white Knog Frog on the handlebar as an attention getter, this year I'll have a decent headlight. I might keep the Frog for gray days and evenings.

We have heaps of Hi-Vis clothing. We have picked up most of the cycling hi-vis clothing from Torpedo7 and Anaconda, but the work shirts come from the local hardware stores or K-Mart ...

I tried to capture the brilliance of the yellow here, but I think it looks a little bit greenish ...
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7151/6666140693_f876a6b0e3.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/machka-bb/sets/72157622865876853/detail/?page=9)