I have the same type of issue. I walk my dogs at night in (near) Seattle where it is likely to be dark and rainy. At times it seems it just eats headlight beams as if it was a black hole. The area around my house has
places where there are no sidewalks and we have to brave these stretches where you are basically forced to be on the road.
While I take lights with me, I wear a bright orange reflective safety vest. It has a 3" reflective strip around the mid-drift and 2" stripe around the shoulders.
The problem with lights are that you have to see/hear the threat and do something about it. W/o constaint reference, it is hard for the auto to get a clear picture of where you are. [edit - that is to say, just having the light blink on, then off, once or twice, the person in the auto has a harder time with depth perception and location so they may know something is around there, but not *where* exactly]
The vests are clasified by ANSI as class I, II and III with III being the most visible. My vest is a class II vest but if I had realized the III vests existed I would have gotten one of those.
www.galls.com
Regarding the stigma of wearing a bright orange vest with big reflective strips -- I think the neighbors at first probably thought it a bit odd, but I suspect after seeing me head off in the night in the pitch black and rain I suspect they probably realize it makes sense. And if not, well, I'd still rather be alive than worry what they think.
Another type of marker that I have found works well is the Photon III Crystal w/the Rav'n crystals. I have a red one set on blink attached to the dog's collar. It's amazingly bright - the crystals work very well. Even though I use mine on my dog this should work well on your person as well. The Rav'n party light would also be good (RGB instead of single color) but I was being a bit conservative. (BTW, the batteries are pretty cheap if you buy them in quanity via mailorder. $.50 or less each.)
http://www.photonlight.com
You can also find some pretty nice reflective collars, self lighted collars and reflective dog vests but I wouldn't count on them alone. I think the dog is too low, the reflective materials too weak or too small and the dog could often be at an angle that the material isn't toward the auto. I'd say a reflective device and a Photon wouldn't hurt tho.
Note, stay away from that silver powder looking reflective material -- it wears off easily and I don't think it works as well, either.
(This is one of the types we have. I got them at Petsmart but I couldn't find them on Petsmart's web page. Perhaps only at their brick and mortars). It's more striking in person that in this photo.
www.basspro.com
We also have one [similar to - older style] of these. I've posted some more pictures of this below. This light is good in that it is lighted and reflective. The downside can be coverage area depending on the size. Actually the one I have doesn't quite look like that, but the ones I've seen in the store still look the same. Not sure if maybe their picture here is bad or if they are changing styles.
radiofence.com
www.estellesreflectivewear.com
Let us know what you do.
Be safe,
-john
[edit - more pics added, below]
[edit - fixed up broken links]
Photon 3 Crystal in action
Self lighted collar examined. Purchased at Petsmart
Note, if I'm with my wife (so each takes one dog), I take a SF 10X. I find this is good because you can have a normal brightness, long life light or a VERY bright light if needed. However, the lack of a holster for this light is a serious drawback. For dog walking you want to be able to stow the light and untangle the dog or whatever. The light is also too big to bring if you are handling two dogs.
After trying random things, I think a clickie style light would be nice. Maybe an E2E w/clickie?
The SF A2 is also very intersting as you typically don't need a lot of light (especially when scooping from the middle of someone's yard!). If only someone would make a two stage clickie.
I'm also considering a headlamp, especially for those nights when I'm walking both dogs alone. I've been thinking about the Photon Fusion but haven't decided yet.
-john
places where there are no sidewalks and we have to brave these stretches where you are basically forced to be on the road.
While I take lights with me, I wear a bright orange reflective safety vest. It has a 3" reflective strip around the mid-drift and 2" stripe around the shoulders.
The problem with lights are that you have to see/hear the threat and do something about it. W/o constaint reference, it is hard for the auto to get a clear picture of where you are. [edit - that is to say, just having the light blink on, then off, once or twice, the person in the auto has a harder time with depth perception and location so they may know something is around there, but not *where* exactly]
The vests are clasified by ANSI as class I, II and III with III being the most visible. My vest is a class II vest but if I had realized the III vests existed I would have gotten one of those.
www.galls.com
Regarding the stigma of wearing a bright orange vest with big reflective strips -- I think the neighbors at first probably thought it a bit odd, but I suspect after seeing me head off in the night in the pitch black and rain I suspect they probably realize it makes sense. And if not, well, I'd still rather be alive than worry what they think.
Another type of marker that I have found works well is the Photon III Crystal w/the Rav'n crystals. I have a red one set on blink attached to the dog's collar. It's amazingly bright - the crystals work very well. Even though I use mine on my dog this should work well on your person as well. The Rav'n party light would also be good (RGB instead of single color) but I was being a bit conservative. (BTW, the batteries are pretty cheap if you buy them in quanity via mailorder. $.50 or less each.)
http://www.photonlight.com
You can also find some pretty nice reflective collars, self lighted collars and reflective dog vests but I wouldn't count on them alone. I think the dog is too low, the reflective materials too weak or too small and the dog could often be at an angle that the material isn't toward the auto. I'd say a reflective device and a Photon wouldn't hurt tho.
Note, stay away from that silver powder looking reflective material -- it wears off easily and I don't think it works as well, either.
(This is one of the types we have. I got them at Petsmart but I couldn't find them on Petsmart's web page. Perhaps only at their brick and mortars). It's more striking in person that in this photo.
www.basspro.com
We also have one [similar to - older style] of these. I've posted some more pictures of this below. This light is good in that it is lighted and reflective. The downside can be coverage area depending on the size. Actually the one I have doesn't quite look like that, but the ones I've seen in the store still look the same. Not sure if maybe their picture here is bad or if they are changing styles.
radiofence.com
www.estellesreflectivewear.com
Let us know what you do.
Be safe,
-john
[edit - more pics added, below]
[edit - fixed up broken links]
Photon 3 Crystal in action
Self lighted collar examined. Purchased at Petsmart
Note, if I'm with my wife (so each takes one dog), I take a SF 10X. I find this is good because you can have a normal brightness, long life light or a VERY bright light if needed. However, the lack of a holster for this light is a serious drawback. For dog walking you want to be able to stow the light and untangle the dog or whatever. The light is also too big to bring if you are handling two dogs.
After trying random things, I think a clickie style light would be nice. Maybe an E2E w/clickie?
The SF A2 is also very intersting as you typically don't need a lot of light (especially when scooping from the middle of someone's yard!). If only someone would make a two stage clickie.
I'm also considering a headlamp, especially for those nights when I'm walking both dogs alone. I've been thinking about the Photon Fusion but haven't decided yet.
-john
