Posts tagged safety vest
Cooling and Hydration in an ANSI Class 2 Surveyor’s Vest
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Working outside on a hot day near oncoming traffic? This vest from Vinatronics might just be the perfect vest for you.
High Visibility
First of all, it’s a bright green/yellow ANSI Class 2 high visibility polyester safety vest with 3M™ Scotchlite™ silver reflective stripes. If you’re working near oncoming traffic, or anywhere that it’s a good idea to be easily seen, any light source (like a car’s headlights, for example) is going to light you up like a Christmas tree. If you’re wearing this hi vis vest, people are going to see you. And you know, if you’re working near traffic, you definitely want the drivers to be able to see you.
Surveyor’s Vest
Second, it’s a Surveyor’s Vest, so it’s loaded with pockets – seven, to be exact, plenty of places to put your stuff. There’s a pocket for your cell phone, and even a huge zippered pocket across the small of the back where you can stick an entire clipboard.
Vinatronics Cooling Hydration Vests
Cooling Apparel
But here’s where it gets really good. This vest is also Cooling Apparel. To keep you cool and help avoid heat stress, the vest has two large pockets that hold freezer gel packs called Ice Bricks. Put the Ice Bricks in the freezer overnight, then stick them back in their special designated pockets, and they will help to keep you cool all day.
With a Hydration Pack
And last, but certainly not least, this vest has a Camelbak® drinking water reservoir built into the back. Now it’s hot, so you’re going to get thirsty, right? So you carry your own drinking water in the Camelbak reservoir. Just fill up the leakproof 50-oz long neck reservoir and slide it into its pouch on the back of the vest. A long drinking tube runs from the Camelbak reservoir, up over your shoulder and down the front of the vest, where it’s handy to get to. So when you feel thirsty and need some water, just put the end of the drinking tube in your mouth, bite down on the special valve, and rehydrate with a long drink of water. Another good way to help avoid heat stroke.
Four Vests In One
So you can see what a versatile vest this is. It’s high visibility, so oncoming traffic can see you and avoid running you down. It’s loaded with pockets for storing your personal stuff. It’s got the freezer gel packs to help keep you cool on a hot day. And it’s got the drinking water reservoir so you can keep yourself hydrated. Oh, and one more thing. It’s made in the U.S.A. So like I said, if you’re working outside near oncoming traffic on a hot day, this is the vest for you! You can find it at eSafetyStore.com. Click here.
ANSI VESTS
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Basic Traffic Safety Vest: Circa late 1990s
When I started in the safety business more than a decade ago, there weren’t nearly as many options for high visibility clothing as there are today.
Not that long ago, low cost safety vests were the norm… standard traffic vests that all looked pretty much the same. Sure, you could choose DOT reflective tape on occasion, or between a zipper or hook-and-loop front closure, but if you wanted to look good and feel comfortable in your traffic vest, you were out of luck.
Fast forward to 2012. That stiff polyester mesh piece of safety gear that was the norm years ago has been replaced by a whole lot of options when it comes to reflective clothing, and the options abound in both ANSI Class 2 and ANSI Class 3 safety wear.
We’ve seen the production of surveyors vests with more pockets than a pool hall. Safety vests with storage backpacks built right in. Breathable micromesh can be used instead of that stiff old polyester, which means that the safety vest no longer has to be the hi vis clothing equivalent of a medieval torture device.
Outdoor workers have also benefited greatly from the increase of the safety shirt. Why would you wear a hi vis vest, if a a reflective T shirt is an option? You wouldn’t. Myriad styles of ANSI shirts have been developed with the sole purpose of keeping workers visible and comfortable. Micromesh or bird’s eye polyester material is extremely breathable, and when combined with 3M Scotchlite segmented Comfort Tape, it’s one comfortable hi vis work shirt.
We’ve seen amazing progress in the reflective clothing market. What’ll happen in the next 10 years? Maybe they’ll find a way for cotton to hold its fluorescent color. Or maybe robots will be doing all of the road work.