While most outdoor apparel has a few reflectivity hits already built-in, it can’t hurt to add even more. For your next dawn patrol run or after work ride, why no apply one of these reflective paints to your skin or clothes before heading out.
German company Hey Sport showed off their Lightflex reflective spray at ISPO earlier this year. It can be sprayed onto pretty much any textile and if you want to get creative, use stencils to make fun shapes or letters — the company even offers a downloadable PDF with tons of different stencils you can cut out and use. In the daylight, it will look like a simple gray film, but at night it will reflect back any light directed towards it.
The reflective spray is waterproof yet washable — it won’t come off in the rain but when you get home, simply throw the apparel in your washing machine with some tech wash and it’s good as new.
At Sea Otter, I ran into Ohio-based company Safety Skin ($19). A bit like a deodorant stick, this roll on reflective is meant to be used straight on your skin. When rubbed on your legs or arms, it appears light grey in color, reflecting once light hits it.
You apply it to your skin by rubbing firmly in one direction and then another — you can keep applying until the desired reflectiveness is reached. The reflective skin spread removes best with a wet wipe or scrubbing with soap and water.
Safety Skin is composed of 7 ingredients, including skin-conditioning agents, emollient and antimicrobial, binders, viscosity increasing agents, suspending agents, and reflectant.
I know longer days are ahead of us but you can never go wrong with a little added reflectivity here and there.