RE: [Paddlewise] tape

> Has anyone actually used the 4" x 4" pieces of reflective 
> tape sold at West Marine on their PFD?  I am concerned that 
> the tape won't adhere well long term to the fabric.  Good 
> comments from Jack Martin.

I bought the reflective tape as a roll. It's 2" wide and you buy the length by the yard.  I have strips of it on both sides of both paddle blades, a patch of it on each breast of my PFD and a stripe across the top of the back of my PFD (Lotus Rio Grande). I also have a piece on other equipment, like around my pump, on the paddle float, etc. The tape on my paddle blades has been in the water approximately 200 hours and isn't even beginning to come off.  Not even on the corners.  It's equally stuck to my PFD.  IT's been in very salty water, and has endured low temps in the 20's and our recent heat index of 110-115 F. The other equipment doesn't get much abuse, so saying it's still stuck to that stuff isn't really saying much.

Incidentally, when I first put the tape on all that stuff, I played a little hide-and-seek.  One dark, moonless, cloudy night, I had my kids take all the stuff out into the front yard and place it in spots of their choosing but not behind a tree or around the corner.  Behind some relatively thin bushes and amongst low lying flowers and stuff was acceptable.

When they finished, I stood on the front steps with a flashlight.  Some of the stuff was a good 50 yards away, and as I worked the light around, it all came into clear view very quickly.  You don't have to have the light directly on the item for the reflectiveness to "light up" enough to spot it. 

I then had one of the kids carry the PFD into the ladies yard across the street.  I passed my flashlight (small 2-c battery kind)across her yard and the PFD lit up very well at that distance.  I haven't checked it out at further distances, like "down the block" and so forth, buy may give it a shot tonight, just for kicks.

Anyway, after my little test, I was very confident that the tape would work for my intended purposes.  Since then, I've also become confident of the adhesiveness as well.  

All in all, it's not "the" solution or an "end all" solution, but it's relatively cheap, easy and effective.  I paid about $4 US for each yard.  I bought two yards and still have some left over.  

Rick - Poquoson, VA

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