Glow in the dark tape? Virgin burner asking

[KirboTurbo]

Hadn't thought too much about getting around at night. I'm seeing a lot of posts on el wire and batteries. However, was wondering if glow in the dark tape was a viable option.

[Canoe]

Not bright enough.
You need to be seen so you don't get run over and end up at Medical or dead.
If only a light on your front, it may mean you get hit from behind.

LEDs are available cheap enough to have a few around you so you're seen from all directions.
El Wire can wrap around you for the same effect. And some drivers can make them blink for added effect.

Although your "see me" lights will light up your path a bit too, you want a small flash light for when you need to see where you're walking. You don't want to get your face, arm, leg, etc., torn open by landing on a tent stake or rebar stake, nor a brain case puncture.

[KirboTurbo]

Thanks. That explains why I couldn't find a thread on it!

[Canoe]

Sorry if a bit indelicate, but being a Darkwad means too much of a chance of an avoidable injury, some of them unbelievably nasty.

[Eric]

LEDs are ridiculously cheap, and as long as they ship from the US you can get them in plenty of time (they're cheaper from China, but they need a 3-4 week safe window to arrive). Like Canoe said, get enough to light yourself from all sides. If you don't have places with LEDs where you live, the stores in Reno usually have them (higher prices, of course), and in the past few years there's been a little Burner market in Gerlach that has lights as well.

[theCryptofishist]

So. How about reflective tape? Foxfur vest style? Experienced burner asking.

[Eric]

Reflective tape is a passive system - you're requiring the other party to have enough light to reflect off your tape. It would be fine in conjunction with other lights, but I certainly wouldn't depend on it as my only lighting.

[maladroit]

Glow in the dark stuff works great, as long as you have your own source of UV light constantly illuminating it. That's way more trouble than most people care to worry about for personal lighting, but it can be useful for structures and vehicles.

[Drawingablank]

My first burn we went apeshit with glow in the dark stuff. Rope, paint, tape, we even added GID pigment to our silkscreen ink. We made glow in the dark tees, bandannas, flag, clothing, guylines, etc...

It worked great - until it was on the playa where It did not have any discernable glow.

Years later, most of it still works great everyplace else.

My theory is that either:
a) The slighted coating of dust blocks out most of the glow.
b) The slightest bit of dust prevents the glow from charging in the sun.
c) Or a combination of a and b.

Edit - It did glow on the playa whenever it was near a UV light source, but only then.

[cyberwicklow]

LED's would be your best bet on the playa, apart from being reasonably cheap, they also use very little energy, you could run enough LED's to cover your body off a battery pack that would fit in your pocket, aside from their effectiveness you want an active system rather than a passive system, relying on others to be visible through dust and darkness can result in injury through collision etc (LED's are also fairly easy to fashion into some seriously fun and funky costumes )

[Fidget]

Yeah LED's and EL-Wire are where it's at. My girlfriend and I had El-Wire on our bags, which were always on us when out of the camp and lights on the spokes of our tires for riding around. We had headlamps for everything else (which I'd generally try to use the red light setting so I wouldn't blind people when looking at them).
The lights on the wheels of our bikes was huge, if you get a decently bright set, they illuminate the ground immediately around your bike which helps a LOT when trying to avoid silt-filled potholes in the dark!

With so many light options though, be creative, there's some really fun stuff you can do to illuminate yourself and the area around you without it being obnoxious or killing your own night vision.