High Viz versus Cool

First topic message reminder :

I just started riding, I did a lot of Personal Injury cases back in my early career and so I opted for what I thought was a "no-brainer" decision on the type of jacket - High Visibility Yellow-Green. I got this one:

http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/1/1/39/10312/ITEM/Tour-Master-Transition-Series-2-Jacket.aspx?WT.ac=SLIsearch

However on my first ride today I ran into perhaps 50-70 other bikers and not one - not a single one had a fleck of high visibility anything on. The majority were in black leather, the next most popular was black/grey fabric combinations.

Of course safety first but I also don't want my jacket screaming NEWB - what do you were for colours? I'm actually considering sending the high viz jacket back and going for something more middle of the road and getting the same jacket in the black/red combination.

Folks - this is on the verge (about 3 pages ago) of being about less than nothing. Time to thumb noses and walk away.

No "pissing contest" where legs cannot get wet is very satisfying.

Walk away and let it go.

Okay, I will try to explain myself a third time for you.

When I said "this thread is not for you" it pretty obviously means "you may not gain a lot of insight from what people say in this thread because it may not apply to you."

You seem intent on taking it some other way as a means of insulting me. I have ABSOLUTELY ZERO agenda of stifling anybody's opinion on this board. NONE.

And Dale, I do not intend to let someone imply that I do when everyone knows that has never been and never will be the case.

And I disagree that the thread is about nothing. When people talk about safety gear on here it sometimes seems to me that people say "whatever is safest is always best" and I disagree with that.

If it were purely a pissing contest about high viz or cool I'd agree, with you. However, it has been stated who this thread is "for" and who it is not. I'll object to that always. I'm done though.

You took it as an insult when none was intended and you respond with an insult. Nice job.

Meldrew wrote:

After a time Hi Viz gear can look really scruffy, it gets dirty from road spray and sunlight fades it.

Good point. I have two identical hi-viz mesh jackets (perhaps the same version as thomphoto's Firstgear Mesh Tex) for summer and two identical hi-viz textile jackets for winter. Except for very cold, icy, or stormy conditions, I commute just under 60 miles round-trip on my Silver Wing almost every work day. The hi-viz jackets go through the wash cycle far more than the darker jackets I used to wear, so with two I usually have one reasonably clean jacket to wear in the appropriate season. Unless I let the first dirty one lay around too long before getting it in the wash, which has been known to happen.

x

I guess I was right in thinking people had some strong opinions about cool vs High Viz huh?

Acquit wrote:

I guess I was right in thinking people had some strong opinions about cool vs High Viz huh?

You're right! For a future hi-viz jacket purchase, it may be worthwhile to ensure it uses flame resistant materials.

Hi-viz and cool are not mutually exclusive. =)

Cool-viz!

Sweendog wrote:

Hi-viz and cool are not mutually exclusive. =)

Cool-viz!

Yea, I think my Hi Viz is mighty cool.