How to stop yourself getting squished on the road when you come off the hill at night.
This week's Monday Tip is all about night-time illumination and safety but off rather than on the hills.
It's the time of year when walkers and climbers often find themselves wandering down unlit back roads after dark and at serious risk of being taken out by passing traffic, so it's worth thinking a little about making yourself visible.
Reflective Material
Quite a few garments and packs feature refective detals, piping or stitching designed to reflect light back towards its source. Generally they work well and have the plus of not being dependent on battery power.
A few points to bear in mind – check that your pack or pack straps don't cover any reflective areas – well-designed garments often have sleeve reflective for this reason. On a pack, make sure the reflective areas aren't covered with mud or dirt from having laid the pack down on the ground.
Even if your kit doesn't have reflective as standard, you can always buy reflective material and stitch it in place, or use lightweight reflective ankle and wrist-bands aimed at runners and cyclists.
Finally, if you have reflective patches or logos on your clothing, avoid ironing them as this can damage their reflectivity.
Incidentally, if you want a really reflective mountain shell, the most lavishly equipped one we've come across is Mountain Equipment's Mountain Rescue Pro Shell jacket, which has more after-dark bling stitched on than John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever.
Lights
Classically you should walk facing oncoming traffic – you may consider switching road sides on tight blind bends however – and a standard headtorch, possibly angled down a touch, will help here. Flashing mode can attract attention but is harder to see by and may also make it difficult for motorists to accurately judge how far away you are.
You should also consider rearwards visibility. You may have a headtorch in place, but there's also a danger of being struck from behind either on a narrow road or by a car overtaking traffic going in the same direction as you.
One neat answer to this is a headtorch incorporating a rearwards-facing, red LED, like Alpkit's Gamma and similar models. Alternatively, Petzl makes a neat, compact, emergency red LED light called the Signal, which runs off a compact lithium watch-style batteries and can be attached pretty much to anything. Alternatively, the e+LITE ermergency headlight also has a red light option.
Or think laterally and go for a compact rear bike light which you can pop onto a pack strap.
Planned Benightments
If you're actually planning to find yourself on unlit, pavementless roads at night, then it makes sense to take things a stage further and consider wearing a high-viz vest or gilet with larger areas of reflective, though it's arguably overkill to carry one just in case. Or keep an eye on the development of the LED-lit LEDwear clothing we told you about last week.
And hey, let's be careful out there.
