Keep Your Kayaks, Lumber, PVC Safe During Transportation With Reflective Tape and Flag // Easy DIY
When you transport your precious kayak on the road, you want to make sure other drivers notice your cargo and don’t rear-end your vessels. Here’s an easy way to make your kayak, dingy, or even lumber or pvc pipe safer while you transport them by adding a reflective kayak flag.
The Flag
With the longest title imaginable, the Kayak Red Travel Warning Flag with Webbing Fit for Kayaks Canoes Trucks Accessories on the Water arrived, and the quality was surprisingly excellent!
The description says the material is tear-resistant and waterproof and won’t wear out in the wind. From your vehicle speed, not your paddling speed, of course. Your reflective kayak flag will be very durable!
The link above is the one we ordered – scroll lower on the product, and under “Compare with similar items,” there are some sets of two for only slightly higher price than one. However, I can’t speak to their quality. Let me know if you order those and what’s their quality!
The Tape
Safety Signs Sew On DIY Reflective Fabric Tape DIY Reflective Tape Silver Light Weight Silver Reflective Fabric (1inch x 10Yard) – what’s with the really long titles!
What we received actually came in a wound bundle. It goes a long way. The creases do relax. If you were to stitch it to unwashed cotton material, it will pucker if the cotton shrinks. Prewash the cotton.
Also, it sews like a dream and is machine-washable. Note: fabric “tape” to seamstresses does not mean “sticky.”
The DIY Part
On my first trial making the reflective kayak flag, I sewed two long vertical stripes all the way up and down the flag with some fancy corner tucks.
On my second trial, I’m going to try two horizontal stripes. Then we’ll tie the reflective flags on, wait for dark, and go for a drive. Whoever follows will get to rate which is more effective.
The Glare
When you receive the tape, make sure you are putting the darker side “up.” The lighter silver side is the backside. I won’t tell you how far I got on my reflective kayak flags before realizing that! (Well, see photo above.)
Some of my cycling gear has the thinnest, tiniest bits of this material, and even the smallest piece of it shines incredibly strongly and is visible for a good distance, half mile or so.
So, the one inch-wide tape is probably overkill.
The Uses
This project was intended originally only for transporting our kayaks in the back of my truck.
However, now that I’ve pondered them; these reflective kayak flags are going to live in my truck to that anytime we head to a home improvement store; we have them with us to attach to long items.
We are so pleased with the results that we are even gifting a set to kayaking friends!
This project used about 20 inches of tape from our 10 yard supply. Let me know if you want a length; I’ll gladly send you some if you tell me what cool project on which you plan to use it!
