Retroreflection
LSI has chosen the Avery Dennison Omni-Brite TM
retroreflective tapes as our standard prismatic product
offering and we want you to know exactly why we have
made this choice
Unlike road signs, people are in constant motion.  The other current
popular tapes being used in this industry for Hi-Vis garments were
designed in the same way as traffic sign materials i.e. fixed position
applications.  Simply stated...the Avery Dennison material offers
superior reflectivity when your workers are moving, bending
and twisting during work activities due to its rotated prism
technology!
If you have seen our tape you
may be wondering why does
our tape have "little squares"?
Unlike other prismatic safety tapes currently being used (which can lose
up to 50% of their original values when rotated), Omni-Brite incorporates
micro prisms rotated in 30 degree increments.  This means that
regardless of the wearer's activity, the garment remains reflective and
visible!
There is a very good reason why, though we use
glass bead material in some applications, we do
not promote it for industrial applications.
The single biggest reason we do not promote the use of
glass bead materials on our industrial Hi-Vis Garments is
because all glass bead materials (regardless of who
manufacturers them) will lose up to 80% of their reflectivity
when they are wet.
What are the other advantages of microprismatic sheetings over
glass bead retroreflective materials?
There are several key advantages to using microprismatic sheetings for
Hi-Vis applications.  They would include the following:

  1. Abrasion Resistant
  • Due to the reflective elements being on the back side of the
    vinyl, microprismatic materials are able to stand up to
    extremely rough work environments  increasing the useful life
    of the garment.
  1. Hi Brightness
  • Microprismatic materials on the whole offer higher levels of
    brightness resulting in outstanding visibility even at long site
    distances.
  1. Fluorescent Color
  • Unlike glass bead sheetings, microprismatic tapes reflect in
    fluorescent colors giving excellent performance at dawn and
    dusk.  There is also less likelihood that a worker will be
    mistaken for a fixed light.
Photo to left shows the reflectivity of our tape vs glass bead vest
after 3 minutes of 1/8-inch rainfall simulation & 4 weeks of field use.
If you allow active-x controls running on this page, you should be
able to view the actual footage of the effects of water on the glass
bead material.  Ask about our CD which gives a fuller explanation.
The diagram at the left shows how rotated prisms always have
some reflective elements facing the light source regardless of
how the garment is positioned
With all the obvious advantages of prismatic materials over glass
bead reflective, why would anyone ever use glass bead reflective
materials.
There are some situations where it might makes sense to use the glass
bead technology.

  1. Glass bead materials tend to be lighter weight and for some  
    applications marry better to the substrate material.
  2. In applications where abrasion is not a big issue, glass bead
    materials can be successfully used.
  3. Where washing or dry cleaning is an issue, glass bead materials
    tend to be a better choice.
  4. In applications where sewing might not be a good option, glass
    bead materials offer heat applicated  versions of the material.