Best colour hi viz

C

Christmas Crumpet

Well-Known Member
Joined
30 August 2007
Messages
4,035
Visit site
Am replacing my hi viz coat as mine is too long and I keep sitting on it. Am wondering whether yellow or pink is better. I "think" pink is better as in the summer, yellow hi viz can blend into the trees/hedges.

Any thoughts?
 
In my opinion you can't beat bright neon pink! I stand out like a sore thumb (to the point where my husband driving past on the main road at a reasonable speed spotted me through woodland!) and I have lots of it for both me and the horse. Plus flashing bike lights. I drove past someone who was hacking out the other day and they were quite reasonably covered in yellow and orange - they blended in beautifully with the autumn colours. Pink is the only really obviously unnatural colour available and doesn't seem to match anything produced by nature unlike the other options.
 
I have pink and yellow and tend to wear the pink in the summer as there are a lot of rapeseed field round here so pink stands out more.

I use pink or yellow in the winter, and if am going out with another rider will wear the opposite colour to them to cover all bases or if alone will have say a pink quarter sheet, yellow necklace hi viz, yellow leg wraps and pink waist coat so all bases covered again.

All this for less than a mile of road but it's very narrow (single track with passing places) with high hedges both sides for half of it then 3/4 road width that cars tend to treat as double and go zipping past :rolleyes3:
 
I read somewhere once that orange/pink are better for daylight and yellow for in the dark.
I'm not sure if it's true but I think the main thing I spot is the high vis strips on the clothing rather than the yellow/orange/pink as that is what lights up in the head lights :)
 
I have an orange hi-vis winter coat and hat band, horse has yellow exercise sheet and leg bands. Good job we don't do matchy-matchy! Our usual hacking companion has yellow coat and pink exercise sheet. We are pretty bright between us.

In my view, any is better than none! I chose orange to show up again the oilseed rape that abounds in our area in the spring but tend to wear yellow in the summer. I struggled to find anything I wanted for horse in anything but yellow, unless quite expensive.
 
I have yellow and pink.

After seeing a picture my sister took of me wearing the yellow, I haven't worn it so much as I definitely did not stand out against the hedgerow (hough my winter high vis Gillet is yellow, but I normally wear it over a bright pink jumper anyhow (gotta be seen!)).
 
Provis the cycle people do a reversible jacket which is waterproof. Hi viz colour on one side and then that funny white glowing colour in the inside that lights up when its dark. I ride in the dark first thing so need something like that. Just realised though that they don't do orange or pink. Not ideal!!!
 
Last edited:
Most of my stuff is yellow. Different colours are better at certain times of year. I've heard pink is good because it's the only non-natural colour. We have a yellow/orange breast plate and two separate exercise sheets, one yellow and one orange. I'd feel bad kitting him out in all pink :D

The best things on all the hi vis stuff are the reflective (silver) strips! These are what show up when lights are shining on them. You can now get jackets that are made completely out of this and jodhpurs with them on so i'm considering some of them for the duller evenings/mornings.
 


my boy this weekend proving how much we can blend into the hedges etc!

I would say one of each colour so you can mix it up depending on the time of year

make sure whatever you buy, it complies with current regulations, will need to have the correct reflective strips on it!
 
I agree reflective strips are a very good idea but only useful if the cars have their headlights on, and i know around here a lot of drivers wait till it's really quite dark before using lights! So in these instances the new fully reflective jackets offer poor cover whereas hi viz is very effective even in low light. Obviously the best version is hi viz and reflective.

I personally think big blocks of colour are the most effective i.e jackets with sleeves or exercise sheets as i feel strips of hi viz 'gets lost'

Orange and yellow are my go to colours but having recently seen a yellow hi viz blend in to their surroundings while they were cycling on the road, I'm reconsidering my choice!
 
Fun (boring) fact: high viz should be made up of both neon and reflective. The neon is for daylight hours and is useless in the dark. The reflective strips are for in the dark but will only be visible with sources of lights (headlights, streetlights etc). So best bet is wear one with both neon and reflective on it, for daylight visibility but also if you get caught out and need to be seen at dusk or dawn.

I also happen to think one of the best ways you can prevent an accident if you are broken down by the side of the road is to put your high viz prominently on the car, which indicates to all approaching that it is a stationary broken down car far more effectively than the tiny warning triangle (that you should also use) low down on the surface of the road.
 
Reading the replies, the best colour(s) to choose seem to vary both according to location, eg yellow is not great if you are surrounded by rape, and the time of year.

We sport a mix of yellow and orange, the leg wraps and quarter sheet are both two tone, plus a yellow necklace, tabard/top and hat band.

The leg wraps are particulary good, the movement tends to catch the eye sooner, plus the hat band can be seen over a tall hedge well before the rest of us comes into view.
 
Mountain horse have brought out their corrib jacket in ultra reflective silver now. I am planning to have one of them for riding in the dark, I've already got a yellow one. They are for colder days and in my experience not totally water proof in torrential rain. I already have a night rider exercise sheet. During the day I have orange exercise sheet and yellow or pink top if it's raining since my waterproof is pink. Planning to replace that and thought I might go for orange.
 
I have pink for me and some orange and yellow in horse stuff i think it's better than orange .
Orange is not the best for Autumn .
 
I actually have a pink gilet & jacket and a yellow jacket. Horse has an Amigo exercise sheet which wraps round the neck as well. I also have a head torch with a red flashing light on the battery at the back. What i really wanted was value for money - a reversible waterproof coat with neon on one side and very reflective on the other. The Provis one looked great but I don't understand why they don't do it in pink or orange!!!
 
There was a bit of discussion about this recently and I have to agree with our Y.O who says that pink is the best colour to have.

However its a bit more than just having one item of hi viz, my horse has a high viz exercise sheet on, a breast plate and coloured leg bands that flash (from Aldi £4.99 for cyclists) and I also wear a hi viz hat band and a tabard/coat that is high viz. My friend always says she can see me above the high hedgerows round by us.
 
Pink! But yellow is better than nothing, I think some people are now a bit blind to yellow hi-vis as there is so much of it around these days.

Also, an interesting point from an H&S perspective, at a forum held at my last place of work, someone mentioned that they'd been on a motor bike course and the instructor said that sleeves on hi-vis are really important, because the more human shaped something looks the more attention it gets as we are all naturally programmed to look out for human shapes. Now, obviously we can't make our horses look human shaped, but I think it's something to bear in mind when deciding between a tabard or a vest and buying a jacket, especially if there are reflective strips on the sleeves as well.
 
Uplink can disappear against autumn leaves, especially if there are a lot of reds. Best to have multiple colours and use according to the conditions. I use orange in summer (rare field, ripe wheat & barley, leafy hedgehogs) and yellow in winter ( bare arable fields, bare trees etc).
 
The other to remember is that if you have a reflective exercise sheet unless it has a tail flap you can't see it from behind.
Also reflective leg wraps are very useful on their back legs!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top