Disclaimer: I received an assortment of products from Brilliant Reflective to review as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!”
Let’s be honest. A LOT of drivers don’t always pay attention to where they are going and what is on the road in front of them. I have lost count on how many times I have been running and can bet that the driving in a passing car didn’t even know I was there. And that is in the day light! What about those times when we are out there in lower light conditions?
What about those early fall and winter mornings when the kids head to the bus stop?
I know, in a perfect world, we wait until daylight to get in our morning run, or finish work early enough to get in those 6 or 7 miles before the sun went down. We don’t live in a perfect world and I will be the first to admit that if I don’t get my run in right away in the morning, I find every excuse NOT to go out there.
But that means we have to worry about being seen at all times, but other cars, cyclists and everyone else!
Yes, I have lights that I take with me for many of my morning runs, but that is usually to light up the ground in front of me so I don’t trip! What about making sure that you are seen from behind? Or even from the side if your light is not shining that way? Sometimes you need just a little more.
Think about this… White and bright-colored clothing increase visibility during the day but do very little in low-light and dark. Wearing white clothing at night doesn’t afford any amount of visibility. White is a 1 on the Reflective Brightness (RA) scale. Any other color is a ZERO. All Brilliant Reflective material is 300+.
One of the easiest ways to increase your visibility is to add reflective components to your own clothing! No need to add an extra layer!
That is were Brilliant reflective comes in!
Brilliant Reflective is retroreflective material. That means that when the light from a car’s headlight shines onto the strip, almost 100% of the light will reflect off and go directly back to the source. There’s no diffusion, no waste, all the light bounces back to the driver.
Brilliant Reflective comes in both Iron On and Stick on options. Plus, they have added family packs, which contain fun colors and shapes that the entire family will love! I was excited to receive an assortment of both stick on and iron on options to try!
After A LOT of debating I finally decided on a few pieces of clothing to try out my Brilliant Reflective on. I found and dug out my iron (yes, I had to FIND it because I don’t own any clothes that need to be ironed on a regular basis!). I set the heat according to the directions on the package, based on the fabrics I was working with. Next step was to come up with how I wanted to arrange my strips!
Brilliant Reflective does give you ideas on placement for the best visibility, so I used this as a guide and started creating! Since I wanted to see how the different versions on the product held up over time, I decided to use both iron on and stick on pieces on one of my running jackets.
I did notice that it did take my iron on strips a little longer to become adhered to the fabric than the package said. I am chalking this up to the fact that I was ironing on to a tech fabric. So, if you do the same, just be aware that you might need to apply heat for a longer than instructed! I just kept checking and testing it until the reflective parts stayed when I started to peel the backing off.
The stick on pieces are awesome! Simply pop the stickers out, peel off the backing and stick where you want it. You do need to apply some pressure to make sure it will stay where it belongs, but it’s as easy as that!
I also opted to add a few strips to each of the arms of the jacket to add to the 360 degree visibility.
Since we are officially getting into the fall running season and I find myself grabbing an extra layer but don’t need quite as much warmth, I also added some reflective strips to my favorite BibRave hoodie! Since this is more of a cotton blend, I didn’t have to apply quite as much heat to get the strip to adhere.
The only thing left to do was to take this outside for the true test. 5am track workout was the perfect time! (yes we all meet at the local track at 5am to get our sped work done before the sun even comes up!)
How well does Brilliant Reflective work? See for yourself! This photo was taken at 5:15am with Crystal’s headlamp pointing at my back.
So far I am loving these products and have started added reflective flare to other items, including my bike helmet! As I mentioned, the family packs contain fun shapes, so even the kids will love these!
I still have more stick on pieces left that I might bring to my niece and nephew to let them decorate their school backpacks!
Right now, you can save 30% on any family packs or strips with discount code BRP30!!
I have a full arsenal of light up gear, lights, and now Brilliant Reflective to make sure I can be seen when I am on the go! Do you wear reflective clothing? How do you make sure you are seen on your early morning (or late night) runs or walks?
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