Pajamas PMed me asking a bit more about the Gloflex and I figured I'd answer here the best I can.
I suspect he doesn't mind if I re-post the questions here.
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1. Brightest yet longest lasting GID adhesive tape?
Glo-Flex, Glow Reflect, Extreme Glow
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Answer is I don't know. When I purchased my Extreme Glow, it was about the best thing on the block. However, I get the impression from this thread that the Readysetglow product is better. I defer to those who have seen them both. Also note that I haven't really done any studies on how long this stuff glows. However, others here have and I'd seek out that info if it is importaint to you. When I looked at this stuff, I figured I'd get as good as was around, but didn't dwell on it too much. I didn't have specific requirements. [Edit: I see that Vcal/Doug was the one who did the GID painting stuff (see link, below) and he recommended the Readysetglow stuff in this thread. If you read his painting post, you'll realize he knows a lot more about this than most of us and I'd take his recommendation to heart!]
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2. Brightest reflective tape?
Reflexite, 3M SOLAS, that red/white truck tape, Glo-Flex
see the
www.Identi-Tape.com website
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Again, I don't really know. I get the impression that Reflexite (the stuff they put on trucks) is some of brightest. I link to their web site in the thread GreenLED referenced. HOWEVER, the upside is there are reflective standards that the serious stuff like Reflexite reports (how visible). So, if you really want, you can probably figure out which is brightest by looking up the spec sheets and comparing. The downside is that when you are buying something at a shop you need to determine what exactly it really is they are selling. Also, less serious stuff probably isn't going to be rated (but then again, I doubt any of these will be contenders for most visible).
Note on the web site you reference, go to Safety Reflective Tapes and then High Intensity Tapes. The stuff listed their is made by Reflexite and indicates it is 8-10x the stuff they have in their "engineering" products. It is available in 1-6" widths and various colors. Looks cool.
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3. Hybrids like Glo-Flex: Are there any other options better that do both?
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Gloflex and Glowrelect are the only ones I know of. Gloflex is the only one I've tried. I doubt you are going to find many more options here.
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If it helps, I plan to put long lasting GID on certain household objects (like fire extinguishers). I want to put the reflective tape on my Turboflares for more visibility. The reason I listed the hybrid Glo-Flex in both the GID and reflective questions is the possibility to put it on everything. But only if it is close in comparison. I would think there are better lasting GID than Glo-Flex as well as brighter reflectors too.
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Ah, finally something I may be able to help with!
This is exactly what I purchased Gloflex for. Ironically my main fire extinguisher has both Gloflex and Extremeglo on it.
I took and posted some
pictures for you.
The first one is in the dark with freshly charged material. Top stripe is Gloflex, bottom is Extremeglo.
Second pic is in indirect light with flash activated. This shows the Gloflex really does it's job as a reflective material.
Third pic is in the light.
Bottom are closeups of Gloflex glowing, and in the light.
In the end, I have a couple of comments and observations.
1) IMO you are way overthinking this.
a) Almost any decent reflective tape will show up well when you shine a light on it. I would assume this means you have a smoke filled room and are flashing your flashlight around looking for the extinguisher.
b) The glow stuff might help, but I don't really think any of these are going to be glowing very much at 3AM after the lights have been out for hours.
c) If you are like me, your extinguisher is in a place that doesn't allow it to charge well anyway.
d) Hopefully your extinguisher is mounted somewhere and never moves. You should be able to find it w/o being able to see.
e) If things are bad you don't need your extinguisher, you need to get out!
f) There is limited amount of space on the extinguisher that doesn't have writing. Personally I don't think you should cover that. That makes using seperate GID/reflective materials difficult.
2) Gloflex works fine for this purpose. If you look at the photos, I think Gloflex is the perfect solution for this problem. It reflects peachy. It glows ok. It sticks good and is nice and wide. Also, if it is good enough for fire-fighters, it is good enough for me!
3) Gloflex is thick and stiff. It is fine for fire extinguishers and flat surfaces, but not for small diameter stuff. So, for example, it doesn't wrap around flashlights well. Extremeglow wraps well, but it does tend to come off over time and isn't as durable as Gloflex and the other "plastic" type reflective materials. Glowreflect looks a lot more flexible, but I haven't tried it. I suspect it would be just peachy for this application as well. In the end, it is a real pain to get anything to stick well to small diameter stuff.
4) The Turboflares might be a bit of a special case. I would probably try to get some Reflexite and cut it to fit an the parts of the base that face traffic. GID material isn't going to help here at all. Then, maybe cut some GID material (one "square" of the Glowreflect would probably be good) and stick it on the top of the unit and the bottom of the unit to aid finding it in your car trunk.
5) I think the 3M SOLAS stuff that Flownosaj recommends is probably good, but I'd go larger than 1" if the application allows. I tend to like 2" for most things, larger for use in traffic. In the
dog walkig threads I list the reflective vest I use. The reflective material around the waist is 3.5". When it comes to traffic bigger and brighter is better IMO!
6) If I didn't use Gloflex on my fire extinguisher, I'd probably just use a 2" strip of a good reflective material like Reflexite.
7) If you wanted to get really carried away, there was a post [EDIT: I found it.
Here it is.] about how to mix glow powder with clear paint. I guess you could put a 2" strip of Reflexite on the extinguisher, and paint the rest with a clear paint with the GID material in it. As long as you didn't go too thick, you could probably still read all the instructions and stuff. Might be cool actually. I'd mask off the Reflexite and guage when painting. Actually, paint might stick to the small diameter parts better, anyway. I'd practice on something other than the fire extinguisher first tho.
8) You might also consider a blinking LED by your emergency equipment as well. I suspect a blinking LED hooked up to a couple of "D" cells would run darn well forever.
9) Ok, maybe I'm overthinking this too!
-john
