Hacking out - Hi Viz?

Wearing Hi Viz out hacknig

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The Fuzzy Furry

The Fuzzy Furry

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Do you or dont you wear it? I mean YOU, not just perhaps your horse for this poll :)

This comes from the 'where do you put your phone' thread & so many mention jodh pocket or bra, but not many mentioned a hi-viz pocket etc (perhaps their hi viz doesnt have it tho?)

Whether on road, off road or just round your farm tracks etc - do you put it on every time?

If not, why not? (no fights, but just asking) :)

I know emergency services say its easier to spot a fallen rider (sometimes they have missed a lone rider as too camoflaged).
 
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I ALWAYS wear hi-viz and my horse does as well. We don't do much road hacking as we are lucky to be on a yard with a lot of farm tracks.
I just don't see the point of not bothering when it only takes a few minutes to put it on.
Even on farm tracks as tractors and farmers etc can see you better and plan what they are going to do as you go past.
 
Every time, both me and my horse. And any bike riders/walkers who come with us!

Apparently drivers see a rider with hi-viz 3 seconds faster on average than one not wearing any. Might just save your, and your horse's, life.
 
Yes, every time. I got in the habit when I used to ride in a busy traffic area. It's much quieter here, but I have had a couple of farmers on their tractors spot me through the hedge and wait for me to go past before starting up the hedge trimmer/fertiliser spreader. So it's very useful out in the sticks too. Plus I do use my tabard pocket to keep my phone in. :)
 
I always wear hi-viz for hacking on and off road, whatever the weather. I wish ALL hi-viz tops had pockets. It would make things so much easier, especially in summer when I usually have no pockets. Maybe a good design of hi-viz phone holding tabard would encourage more to wear it. They are not easy to find!
 
Gosh yes! Every time. Why would you not? I feel naked without it!
I have a fleece from the local agricultural merchant which has lots of useful pockets. Although my phone goes in my jods
pocket.
 
Always wear high viz even in broad daylight , luckily very few, but there are people that drive like nutters in my village and wouldn't risk someone not seeing me. No excuses if they were to cause an accident, get many comments on how "bright" we are and that's just how I like it.
 
I always wear high vis. I have a hat band that stays on, and wear a tabard too (it doesn't have pockets- hence phone in chaps!) In the winter I wear a toasty gillett that has many safe pockets lol.
only time I didn't wear a tabard I went out with someone else- she hadn't been out in ages and hers was mouldy and spidery! So she used my tabard and I had the hat band.

Ax
 
I wear reflectives on the road, during moose hunting season or during those times of day the sun is rising/setting. My usual riding jacket is a kingsland high-vis with reflective strips so I usually have it on without thinking. Horse gets strips on all four legs and reflectors hanging from the stirrups. On default though, I only specifically choose to wear it where there's call for it. We cross a lot of wilderness with no paths or roads and I've lost count of the high vis horse gear that is tangled or twisted in some bush out in the forest.
 
As our hacking is so close to a main road, we sometimes have ridiculous drivers and I don't want to take any risks. Even if hacking in broad daylight, the bright yellow can get you noticed.
It's not hard to just slip on a hi viz anyway, I have a £1 pull over one for hot days and two padded gilets for cold days so no excuse!
 
On the roads yes, but when up on the hills, I don't - unless it is foggy, then I do. Horse doesn't wear anything unless it's a youngster, we put the reflective breast plate on.
 
If I ride on the grounds at work - no, the grounds are small, so even if I did fall off, I doubt it'd take them long to find me. I usually go with someone or tell them where I'm going anyway.
If I go anywhere else - 100% yes, both me and Ned.
 
Always. We can't get to off-road hacking without going on the road first, and both the farm where the horses live and the farm where I live (sometimes trailer them up and hack out from there) are on roads which people use as short-cuts between main roads. Narrow country lane + people driving like they're still on the main road = I want to be seen as clearly as possible. I usually like to wear bright coloured tops underneath the hi-vis as well, for added 'oomph'. Although, we don't generally smother the horses in hi-vis in summer. In winter they have hi-vis neckstraps and reflective wrap things for their legs, but they're both violently orange with white socks (like a pair of traffic cones!) and in summer I feel a bit sorry for them if they're sweating under extra bits and pieces.
 
The Fuzzy Furry said:
Do you or dont you wear it? I mean YOU, not just perhaps your horse for this poll :)

This comes from the 'where do you put your phone' thread & so many mention jodh pocket or bra, but not many mentioned a hi-viz pocket etc (perhaps their hi viz doesnt have it tho?)

Whether on road, off road or just round your farm tracks etc - do you put it on every time?

If not, why not? (no fights, but just asking) :)

I know emergency services say its easier to spot a fallen rider (sometimes they have missed a lone rider as too camoflaged).
Click to expand...

I wear one all the time. I specifically bought one with pockets for keys, phone and polo's.
 
One day the government will get around to legislating that riders wear helmets & Hi Viz. When I was a kid helmets on motor cycles were optional but due to injuries & death the wearing of them became law. I feel sure that eventually 'the choice' to wear or not will be removed & it will be mandatory. ;)
 
Pebble101 said:
I wear one all the time. I specifically bought one with pockets for keys, phone and polo's.
Click to expand...

My neon pink front zip waistcoat for spring/summer is the same, 2 zip pockets & its v thin so not too hot to wear on hot days, also fits over body protecor when the velcro sides are let out :)
The winter one is a well lined Dickies yellow fluorescent jacket :)
 
I insist on as much hi viz as I can every time I leave my premises with an equine. Sadly my partner refuses to use any and I am unable to persuade him otherwise unless it is at dusk.
 
I always wear hi viz too. I recently got an Equisafety Air Waistcoat (I went for the Polite one!) which has two zipped pockets - I didn't know that when I bought it but was thrilled because it means I have somewhere to put my phone/treats.
 
We go out fully decked out if on the roads. People take the mick about how it must take longer to get ready than we are out for but better safe than sorry as it's so busy round here. I don't go out on the roads with out knee boots either. We do a lot of road work so he can self trim (long story short, foot imbalance due to being shod so I took the shoes off and he's sorting out has own feet)
 
Always. IF it is very hot, I have a cycling T-shirt - was taught always to wear long-sleeves for safety - so phone has to go in my breeches pocket, otherwise I have several different weights of hi-viz jacket. Horse wears it too.

I once watched a group of riders from our RC on a day ride across the valley. They must have been about 3 miles away as the crow flies but because we insist on hi-viz on these rides, they were easy to spot. I can never see any-one riding on that route without hi-viz.
 
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I always wear a high viz mesh waistcoat when out hacking, irrespective of the weather. Although it surprises me how few at my yard do.
 
I always wear it regardless of being on the road or not. I stitched a little pocket into the inside of tabard for my phone since I never have decent pockets on anything unless its a rain coat. There is often a group who shoot regularly next to the bridleway and so they spot my high vis through the hedge a fair distance away and stop shooting. Nobody at my yard wears one and I often feel a little stupid being the only one wearing it when hacking out in a group so having the phone pocket in it forces me to wear it.
 
I always wear a fluorescent and reflective tabard, regardless of where and when I ride.
Most of my "optional" hi-viz gear is for my horse (he has rein strips, a noseband and four leg bands which he always wears on the road) but I do put a band around my right leg when riding on the road, to ensure drivers can see how wide we are (not that we're wide! Just so we have "boundaries". Actually, we may be a little bit wide...)
I'd like something with sleeves for myself, and a hat band, and gloves / glove covers. We have "enough" for the moment though :)
 
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