There is a reason that Randonneuring requires reflective ankle bands at night, along with reflective clothing, both front and rear.

A friend of mine decided to use reflective ankle bands on our last tour, but his rear panniers obscured the ankle bands, which were effectively useless.




ACA issues every rider on their tours a triangle that is partly reflective. I put that on my left pannier when I tour, even if it is not an ACA tour. The yellow part of the triangle is reflective.



I think that drivers give me a bit more room with that triangle on the left side compared to centered on the bike. In my example, the triangle partly obscures the reflective ink on the panniers, but the orange in the triangle is mesh so the reflective print on the pannier is still partly visible.