Skip to content
Tags

,

DIY Reflective Vest Upgrade

by Errin on January 12, 2012

For brevet riding you must wear reflective gear in the dark. I’ve had this vest for a couple years now but it’s always bugged me. The thing I don’t like about it is that to wear it you must pull it on over your head. That usually means taking off your helmet. A time waster.

So I had the idea that I’d install a zipper in the front. It seems pretty simple. Sewing in the mesh was trickier than I thought and the fabric stretched a little. In hindsight I should’ve sewn in some fabric to mount the zipper to, instead of just the mesh. Live and learn though.

The vest with the zipper installed.

I used the vest on this past weekend’s 200k brevet. In all honesty it isn’t much better. The zipper teeth are very small, so they are not the easiest to line up in the dark. I think a bigger zipper would make things easier. However, I no longer have to pull the vest over my head which was the point.

Share

From → Bikes

  • Elykrod

    I made one like this for my son and just stuck some velcro on the front. it looks janky but it works well. those big fat #10 plastic zippers are huge and work really welPr

  • M Redmond

    What about using Velcro instead of the zipper?

  • Anonymous

    I wish I would’ve thought of using Velcro. That’s a great idea. I’m thinking that I might just make my own design from scratch. I’ve got some 2″ wide reflective tape coming that I could sew on some mesh and make one that fits me better.

  • http://hatesatourist.blogspot.com/ Antisthenes

    I want to get one of those Amphipod Xinglet’s, because they won’t be so hot in the summer, but they don’t sell them here in Japan…

    http://www.amphipod.com/products/visibility/reflective-vests/xinglet

  • Anonymous

    Thanks for that link. I think I’d like to try one of those. If I bought one here could I ship one to you? Would that work?

blog comments powered by Disqus