Reflectors are not found on many people’s autumn and winter clothing; we put them on our children, but forget to put them on our own clothes. Instead, we go out in dark winterwear, in the belief that the closest lamppost will show drivers that we’re there. However, without a reflector, you’re only visible at a distance of 25 metres, which is too short a time for a motorist to react and stop. Why is this? Could our lack of reflector etiquette be linked to our knowledge of them?

We decided to get to the bottom of the issue by interviewing Gösta Werner, who has helped develop our high-quality, certified reflectors, and who has 30 years’ experience of researching light and reflectors at the Research Institutes of Sweden.

In the interview, you can read Gösta’s four most important tips for choosing, using and positioning your reflectors.

What is the most important thing to consider when choosing a reflector?

Firstly, the reflector supplier must be able to prove that its reflectors comply with the relevant quality standards. If the reflector is CE marked this must be visible on the reflector and/or its packaging, so you can easily evaluate the product before buying it. You should check whether it is quality-assured even if you get it for free.

A quality-assured reflector may be a little more expensive, but it provides you with a guarantee that the reflector makes you visible and provides you with enough protection.

Unfortunately, the market is overflowing with cheap advertising reflectors with no quality certifications at all, providing no basic protection and lulling you into a false sense of security. This also applies to reflectors sewn onto clothing.

Where should I position my reflector so motorists see me in time?

When you are out walking along roads and streets, it is important that your reflectors are positioned so they can be hit by light from headlamps and reflect it back to the drivers.

Therefore, it’s best to position your reflectors below your waist, on both the back and front of your body.

Full beam is sometimes used on country roads, which gives the light a chance to reflect no matter where on the body the reflector is. But on busy roads and streets, where full beam can’t be used, you should position your reflector below your waist, where the light can reach you and be reflected. Also, more reflectors are better than one. Putting them on legs and arms also gives movement, which further boosts your chance of being seen.

Remember that normal streetlights do not make you more visible to motorists, as reflectors only reflect light in the direction it came from. This means it goes up to the streetlight again, so it’s not visible to a driver.

How many reflectors should I wear?

You should wear at least one reflector on each side, so one on your right and left arm or the equivalent leg.

You should have at least one hanging reflector per side and reflector bands should be placed on both your left and right legs or arms. It is important that you think about positioning reflectors all the way around yourself, i.e. 360 degrees. This way, whichever way you turn, there is always an active reflective surface facing the motorist.

How long does a reflector last?

A reflector can last several years, depending on quality. At the start of every autumn, it’s important to evaluate whether your reflectors can still provide enough protection.

You can often decide whether you see any changes in the reflector’s material by looking at it closely. The easiest way to test an old reflector is to compare it to a new one. Hang them both up at eye level in a dark room and shine a torch at them from four metres away. If the old reflector gives off less light than the new one, it’s time to change it.

Remember that reflectors/reflective materials are fine optical products that should be treated carefully. This allows them to retain their optical effects longer and thus extends their life.

All reflective materials and reflective products are now exposed to wear and various environmental tests as part of the quality-assurance process. Certification of a reflector is therefore a guarantee of its long-term sustainability, as well as its quality and reflective performance.

Rawness is a web portal that adopts products and other things that inspire an active lifestyle. They felt that Smart in the dark reflectors would be interesting to test, which pleases us no end!

They’ve tested parts of Smart in the dark’s Nordic Silver Collection to see how well these premium reflectors work and how they compare to regular reflectors available in retail stores.

The summary reads like this:

“Smart in the dark’s reflector products are truly brilliant. Elegant style coupled with a user-friendly design in a collection with a great range of products. Founder Ann-Sofie Hermansson has given reflectors a soul and a place in my everyday life.

I hope we can soon see a dedicated sports collection with the same excellent visibility and thinking. The products I tested were designed for the city environment and are excellent for everyday use and are not entirely out of place in woods and countryside.

Smart in the dark is not a dedicated fitness product; several of the products lack elasticity in the material which is worth bearing in mind if you’re aiming to use the product solely for keep fit activities.”

We want to contribute to a stronger Europe, and there for we choose to have the production in Eastern Europe. We want to be in control and be sure that the work takes place under good conditions. Therefore  we visit our factory regularly.

Our production takes place in Bulgaria where we are working with a factory where six seamstresses, and subcontractors are involved in the process. In the development of the products the seamstresses are involved in testing, development and evaluation. We want that everyone included in the process should like to work with the products and feel involved in the work.

Smart in the dark stands for quality and we believe that everyone in the process should have the opportunity to influence their work and their compensation. We strive to work with suppliers and retrieve our accessories to the greatest extent from Europe. Fabrics is for example manufactured  in a factory in Romania.

Long ago, the people of the Nordic lands roamed from place to place. It was important that the belongings they carried were valuable, durable and light.

These people developed a life-long love of silver and have been called the “sparkling people” because they could be seen from afar. We want to bring the brightness of Nordic Silver Collection to the darker places in the world. A simple way to make a worthwhile difference.

Nordic Silver is available in four patterns – Northern lights, Mountain top, Braid and Cloudberry.

Reflectors even more important nowadays.

Today, we find ourselves spending time both in town and in the countryside. Many pedestrians, cyclists and joggers use smartphones to talk or listen to music. The risk of being involved in an accident increases, because we are distracted or completely lose two of our most important senses; vision and hearing. We therefore believe that wearing reflectors is even more relevant in 2016.

It is not new that people can be vane. We are flooded by the media telling us that reflectors save lives, however it is only a fraction of the population that use reflectors in the north. Vanity governs us and we want to look fashionable when we’re out and about. At Smart in the dark we design and develop products to wear fashionably at work or during our leisure time. We want people to wear our products with pride and at the same time feel safe.

By wearing visible reflectors the risk of being involved in an accident is significantly reduced. 40% of all car accidents involving pedestrians occur in the dark in the urban area. Street light helps you look, but you cannot see everything. A dark face only appears when we are about 30 meters away. With reflectors visible we can be seen at least 125 meters away and by wearing reflective products on moving parts such as arms and legs we can increase safety further. It can be difficult for a pedestrian to understand how difficult it is for a motorist to see them dressed in dark colors. It’s usually when you get behind the wheel and drive in the dark that it becomes obvious how bad visibility is.

Smart in the dark products make you visible from at least 125 meters compared to 25 meters in dark clothes and 60 meters in light clothes. A car travels at 19 meters per second at a speed of 70kms an hour therefore our products make a very big difference to the driver as they spot you and slow down to overtake.

Reflective material

We work with 3M, a market leader in reflective material. All products are tested at SP in Sweden and certified according to EN 13356 (personal reflections). A certification means that the material is examined and tested to meet the same requirements as the standard requires. For example, the reflector continues to reflect even when wet. The material which the Smart in the darks reflectors are made of is also approved for safety attire. It also means that they can be washed. They are also tested so that the reflectors reflect light back into the spotlight and not elsewhere.

We have chosen to work with one of the best and safest reflective materials on the market. Our determination was to make an excellent security product and hence we examined both the choice of reflective material as well as the design of the reflectors.

When you move in traffic, you must make sure you are visible from all directions. Carry reflectors on both your right and your left side. Reflectors can also be worn further down on your body to make you more visible and we recommend that hats are also complemented with any of our other products.

The idea of developing Smart in the Dark arose when Ann-Sofie Hermansson realized that there were no attractive safety reflectors available for the well-dressed man or woman. It started when she had purchased a black jacket which was both warm and stylish; it became her favorite right away. However, on evening walks, on her way to the city to work or to meet friends, she felt a bit dismaying to wear yellow reflectors with silly shapes and designs. She simply didn’t want to feel the same way she did when she were standing in the sandbox during the days.

She started to look for attractive reflectors that she could wear with her jacket, but she couldn’t find any. She realized that very few people who were dressed up were wearing reflectors. There were simply no products available for them and it was this that later became the starting point for this company. Imagine being able to offer well-designed, stylish, and safe and secure reflectors that match the black and strict attire that is common-place up here in the Nordic countries. She started looking at the possibility of making her idea come true, which at that point in time consisted of a creating a reflective product.

To go from an idea to a finished product has many challenges. Finding a partner who is willing to produce the product is not easy, especially not when you are a solo entrepreneur and a start-up company. In October 2014, almost three years later, she was launching Smart in the Dark for the well-dressed man and woman.

Take care of yourself in the dark!

September 2015