Best colour hi viz for bright sunny days?

[CobsaGooden]

The majority of my hacking from the yard is roadwork, unless we go out in the trailer. We always wear as much hi viz as I can as I never want to be in a position where a motorist can say they didn't see me. However, driving home from my ride this morning, the sun was low and I came upon 2 very hi vized up horses and riders, but the low sun still made them hard to see. They were wearing yellow hi viz, which is what we have, so now I am thinking I need a change of, or more, colours?

We need a new hi viz exercise sheet so was thinking orange or pink?

Should I be mixing up the colours for more effect?

Any advice appreciated to keep us safe.

Thank you

 

[SEL]

Orange! There's a reason the railways use it

 

[sbloom]

Orange is definitely a good one, technically pink would stand out against green as it's the complementary colour, but mixing more than one is always the optimum. Yellow is least seen of the three against low sun and greenery,

 

[criso]

I always wonder if pink gets used less than orange for things like railway staff as it's seen as girly. My pink jacket stands out really well in most scenarios

I've had walkers and drivers comment on it

 

[Cloball]

I wear a mix usually orange mostly and a bit of yellow. I prefer orange though. Pink is good if you can get the right shade but a lot isn't bright enough I find orange is also better in the summer in dappled light and greenery.

 

[MuddyMonster]

I use pink and it really stands out. I have the odd orange items on occassion but mainly pink as a lot of my hacking is forestry and farmland and I'm not convinced orange stands out as well during Autumn.

Plenty of walkers, cyclists etc have commented how visible we are so it works for us

 

[CobsaGooden]

I have found an orange exercise sheet on sale so will get that to mix in with the yellow I wear. She has a yellow ear bonnet and I have a yellow vest and hat cover so hopefully the orange will give us some extra visibility.

Thank you all

 

[onemoretime]

The majority of my hacking from the yard is roadwork, unless we go out in the trailer. We always wear as much hi viz as I can as I never want to be in a position where a motorist can say they didn't see me. However, driving home from my ride this morning, the sun was low and I came upon 2 very hi vized up horses and riders, but the low sun still made them hard to see. They were wearing yellow hi viz, which is what we have, so now I am thinking I need a change of, or more, colours?

We need a new hi viz exercise sheet so was thinking orange or pink?

Should I be mixing up the colours for more effect?

Any advice appreciated to keep us safe.

The majority of my hacking from the yard is roadwork, unless we go out in the trailer. We always wear as much hi viz as I can as I never want to be in a position where a motorist can say they didn't see me. However, driving home from my ride this morning, the sun was low and I came upon 2 very hi vized up horses and riders, but the low sun still made them hard to see. They were wearing yellow hi viz, which is what we have, so now I am thinking I need a change of, or more, colours?

We need a new hi viz exercise sheet so was thinking orange or pink?

Should I be mixing up the colours for more effect?

Any advice appreciated to keep us safe.

Thank you

Orange is good. I have a mix of colour. Pink zip up hi viz vest with camera in use written on the back. My mare wears an orange and yellow hi viz breast girth which attaches to the saddle by velcro staps and orange leg wraps and I have an orange hat band around my riding hat. I also have rigged up a camera from one of my husbands phones that I wear tucked partially into the hat band. I dont know how to load pictures on here otherwise I would put a picture up. We have been thanked many times for being so easy to spot.

 

[Trot_on]

Yes apparently Orange is proven to be the most visable which is why air ambulance/railway/highway workers use it.

If you think abut it too, because all these workers use it on highways etc, the general public are almost subconsciously trained to notice it x

 

[JenJ]

Combination of pink and orange

 

[Tiddlypom]

My free issue equine hi viz from the local RAF station is orange. Good quality too, from Vbandz. We’re in a low flying area.

Tabards and quarter sheets.

Pink is a good shout too, as it stands out as ‘not natural’.

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

I use pink and it really stands out. I have the odd orange items on occassion but mainly pink as a lot of my hacking is forestry and farmland and I'm not convinced orange stands out as well during Autumn.

Plenty of walkers, cyclists etc have commented how visible we are so it works for us

Trust me, orange does stand out well all year round
I do have pink and yellow, but the orange is the most visible on the heathland and in the forestry too.

Orange with reflective stripes does work very well, make sure you have full body barrel cover in colour, add a bright orange bridle too as well as other bits like hat cover and saddle pad and you'll be seen.
Our forestry workers are all decked out in orange too, very easy to spot

Bright red also shows up well, SAR use it all year round as do MRescue

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

Our boys are dressed head to toe in hi viz yellow, I think that it's the loudest colour to have them wearing. It doesn't matter what colour your horse is wearing when the sun is bright & low, that will drown your hi viz out & you will see nothing.

 

[FionaMc]

We use orange high viz in Lowland SAR and am sure have been told at some point that’s because it has been tested as being the most visible (possibly particularly in woodland). It’s worn over the standard red non-high viz uniforms as mentioned above.

Not sure that red was particularly chosen for visibility though and rather for being distinguishable from other UK emergency responders, but it may have been!

 

[Highmileagecob]

Consider adding lights to your outfit. Flashing LED lights, designed for jogging and cycling are an extra level of visibility. I used the silicone armbands threaded on to nylon dog collars. Round my ankles, the horse's ankles, looped through the hi Viz martingale and looped through a plait in his tail.

 

[Errin Paddywack]

Consider adding lights to your outfit. Flashing LED lights, designed for jogging and cycling are an extra level of visibility. I used the silicone armbands threaded on to nylon dog collars. Round my ankles, the horse's ankles, looped through the hi Viz martingale and looped through a plait in his tail.

This would be my recommendation too. If driving into bright low sun the only things that show up are lights hence why I always use headlights when driving. If cars can be invisible coming towards you so will everyone else.

 

[Tiddlypom]

Consider adding lights to your outfit. Flashing LED lights, designed for jogging and cycling are an extra level of visibility. I used the silicone armbands threaded on to nylon dog collars. Round my ankles, the horse's ankles, looped through the hi Viz martingale and looped through a plait in his tail.

Good shout for lights in daytime.

On a bright sunny winter day like today, with low sun and wet roads, if you’re concealed in deep shadow you can’t be seen.

Lights would have stood out here. The lead rider is wearing a yellow hi viz tabard.

It was only the shadows of the horses and the upper part of the riders above the hedge that we could see until we were almost alongside these two riders. We’d slowed right down as we could see ‘something’, which I presumed must be horses simply by a process of deduction.

 

[poiuytrewq]

Wow, those are scary photo's!

 

[Highmileagecob]

Wow, brilliant illustration of deep shadows.

 

[CobsaGooden]

Fab but scary photos!
Not being seen worries me so much.

I have added in an orange exercise sheet and breastplate and will order some lights today too.

Thank you all

 

[Nari]

This time of year I wear a mix of colours and plenty of reflective plus a band with flashing lights front and back.

 

[Birker2020]

Orange! There's a reason the railways use it

Railway workers use orange because if they wore yellow they'd blend in with trees/grass in their surroundings too much.

Yellow is actually the highest in colour visibility for daylight but is hard to see in bright sunlight. It performs better indoors. On construction sites as most trades work internally yellow is the preferred colour. Class 3 is the best hi viz to buy as it stands out more with more reflective bands (or at least thats how it works on construction sites), with class 1 being the least.

Banksmen (people who direct lorries and plant on site) and slinger/signallers (who signal to the crane driver and know how the load should be slung and prepare it for lifting operations) always wear orange because they are visible from the crane drivers vantage point really high in the air. As they are when lorry drivers reverse massive lorries through a site (reversing in is safer then reversing out). In fact some contractors I've worked with insist that no one but banksmen and slingers wear orange, I had to tell new operatives when I carried out in inductions, which didn't go down very well when they came to site kitted out in orange and had to replace at great cost!

I am going to keep my yellow hi viz exercise sheet with my lights but buy an orange hi viz jacket I think as the experts reckon mixing orange and yellows are better. Where I used to ride were a lot of leafy overhanging trees in lanes, so it was quite hard on a sunny day to see hi viz so I used my lights and flashing leg bands.

 

[teapot]

I remeber going out as a fruit salad once - orange over a yellow non high viz coat - worked a treat!

 

[paddy555]

I ride in orange and OH in yellow. That way we cover all angles.

when I ask people which did you see best they always say the orange.

 

[Exasperated]

The majority of my hacking from the yard is roadwork, unless we go out in the trailer. We always wear as much hi viz as I can as I never want to be in a position where a motorist can say they didn't see me. However, driving home from my ride this morning, the sun was low and I came upon 2 very hi vized up horses and riders, but the low sun still made them hard to see. They were wearing yellow hi viz, which is what we have, so now I am thinking I need a change of, or more, colours?

We need a new hi viz exercise sheet so was thinking orange or pink?

Should I be mixing up the colours for more effect?

Any advice appreciated to keep us safe.

Thank you

Orange is mandatory during American deer and bear-hunting season, apparently, because it is THE fluoro colour which is most visible amongst woodland / countryside.
Makes sense, and railway workers etc over here always use it because of heightened visibility and high speeds.
A friend, who researched for Cranfield Institute of Technology, advised to always combine fluoro with reflective, such as leg gaiters with silver reflective bands, because any headlights will pick up the flashing movement of the horse’s legs. Also said that too many riders cover themselves with fluorescent gear, yet drivers’ focus is much LOWER down on the horse, so not as obvious as they might hope.
Well done for being so proactive, last week came across two riders in the bloody dark - without so much as a glo-worm between them!

 

[Birker2020]

Orange is mandatory during American deer and bear-hunting season, apparently, because it is THE fluoro colour which is most visible amongst woodland / countryside.
Makes sense, and railway workers etc over here always use it because of heightened visibility and high speeds.
A friend, who researched for Cranfield Institute of Technology, advised to always combine fluoro with reflective, such as leg gaiters with silver reflective bands, because any headlights will pick up the flashing movement of the horse’s legs. Also said that too many riders cover themselves with fluorescent gear, yet drivers’ focus is much LOWER down on the horse, so not as obvious as they might hope.
Well done for being so proactive, last week came across two riders in the bloody dark - without so much as a glo-worm between them!

I read that about bear hunting season.

 

[JenJ]

Orange is mandatory during American deer and bear-hunting season, apparently, because it is THE fluoro colour which is most visible amongst woodland / countryside.
Makes sense, and railway workers etc over here always use it because of heightened visibility and high speeds.
A friend, who researched for Cranfield Institute of Technology, advised to always combine fluoro with reflective, such as leg gaiters with silver reflective bands, because any headlights will pick up the flashing movement of the horse’s legs. Also said that too many riders cover themselves with fluorescent gear, yet drivers’ focus is much LOWER down on the horse, so not as obvious as they might hope.
Well done for being so proactive, last week came across two riders in the bloody dark - without so much as a glo-worm between them!

Absolutely this - combine flouro with reflective for proper hi vis, otherwise it's 'better than nothing' vis. Be better than 'better than nothing'!

 

[Exasperated]

Good shout for lights in daytime.

On a bright sunny winter day like today, with low sun and wet roads, if you’re concealed in deep shadow you can’t be seen.

Lights would have stood out here. The lead rider is wearing a yellow hi viz tabard.

It was only the shadows of the horses and the upper part of the riders above the hedge that we could see until we were almost alongside these two riders. We’d slowed right down as we could see ‘something’, which I presumed must be horses simply by a process of deduction.

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Going to add to this frightener:
last winter (broad daylight), was driving uphill towards a local livery horse being ridden quietly along. Horse is c.17hh, no stargazer, rider average height, no problems whatsoever.
However, was only when I drew alongside that I even saw the rider was wearing a bright yellow gilet and horse wearing a bright yellow quarter sheet.
The gradient, size of horse, which holds its head up, meant none of the hi viz yellow was at all visible from the front!
Probably fine from behind, but insufficient for today’s traffic. I was quite shocked to realise quite how significantly the angle of vehicle approach affects visibility.
Cranfield advice for both reflective & fluorescent leg gaiters makes a lot of sense, because not only are these always moving and catching light, providing a road-level reference point for distance, but can be seen 360 degrees too.
The kids always have leg bands now, reflective yellow with red leds fastened by elastic and Velcro - I think designed for runners or dog collars, very cheap from supermarket, so easy to slap on - why wouldn’t you?
(Also discovered ‘Eqco ’manufacturer will make whatever colours, plus reflective, to individual specifications - if can’t find your equine wear preference in the shops, decent quality, too)