Crystal Grade Reflective Sheeting – available at www.signsheeting.com

Crystal Grade (CRG) is Nikkalite’s brightest film.  It is a very bright and very tough Type 8 film.  Characterized by a modified octagon pattern.  This is an acrylic based film that uses air backed prismatic technology for reflection.  10 year outdoor life.  Comparable to diamond grade material.

The values shown below are average typical values determined by our own measurement method using the entrance angle and with the arrow marks of the CW types indicating the directions parallel to the observation angle.

Brightness after ink printing and affixing overlay films

When Nikkalite^® inks or the PA100 series overlay films are applied to the white sheets of CRG 92002, the reflection performance of the corresponding colors at an observation angle of 0.2 degrees and an entrance angle -4 or 5 degrees can be expected to be greater than 70% of the values shown in Table 2.

Crystal Grade is “Super High Intensity” microprismatic sheeting, meeting the requirements of ASTM D 4956, Type VIII. Crystal Grade has the highest retro-reflectivity characteristics at long and medium road distances. This product is ideal for highway signing, construction zone devices, and delineators.

Crystal Grade uses micro-prisms for efficient retro-reflectivity. In the case of a prism-type reflection element, the light reflects s efficiently without diminishing, as the three reflection planes that constitute the element and are positioned at right angles in relation to each other, completely reflect within the element. As the specialty prisms designed to provide optimum reflection are densely arranged within the sheeting, excellent brightness characteristics and wide-angle reflection can be obtained. The traffic signs and traffic safety devices made of the reflective sheeting provide far better visibility and withstand a longer service period compared with those that utilize glass beads

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Steven Cole (Economics, MBA – University of West Florida , Business & Innovation – Stanford University) 25 years of experience in the reflective safety business.  Specializing in accident reduction for vehicles through increased visibility.

www.reflective-inc.com

Flexible Engineer Grade ASTM D4956 Type 1 – Reflectivity Performance, Specifications & Pictures

Engineer Grade is the most popular of all the reflective tapes due to its versatility.  It can be CAD cut with a standard vinyl cutter or it can be slit into rolls and used for vehicle striping.  It is flexible and will conform to uneven surfaces.  When warm it becomes pliable much like black electrical tape.  It has a 7 year outdoor life and also comes in the largest number of colors.

The image and chart below show the reflectivity intensities of our Flexible Engineer Grade Tape.  The values shown below are average typical values using standard entrance and  observation angles.

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Steven Cole (Economics, MBA – University of West Florida , Business & Innovation – Stanford University) 25 years of experience in the reflective safety business.  Specializing in accident reduction for vehicles through increased visibility.

www.reflective-inc.com

High Intensity ASTM D4956 Type 3 Reflective Tape – Online Store

High Intensity Type 3 tape is available in 6 colors.  Orange, White, Blue, Green, Yellow and Red. We carry several widths such as 1″, 2″, 3″, 4″, 6″, and 8″.  We can custom cut rolls when needed.

The picture below shows all the colors in natural light.

The picture below shows the tape when photographed with a flash.

High Intensity Type 3 tape is about 3 – 4 times brighter than standard engineer grade films. This makes it much more visible over distance and close up.  This type of tape is commonly seen on traffic cones, road barrels, work zone equipment, object markers, and brighter road signs.  Other uses are dumpsters, roll off containers, gates, fences, building corners, bollards and other applications where cars are close up when they need to see the tape.  For applications where cars need to see the tape from a distance I would recommend stepping up to a prismatic tape.  Chevron stripes on a fire truck are an example of this.

Because of its type 3 rating it is more widely approved by governmental agencies such as the Department of Transportation. When used for signage it is compliant for all signs except those that are overhead like the ones you see on interstates.  It exceeds the requirements for all ground mounted signs.

The chart below shows the reflectivity of the different colors at standard entrance and observation angles.  As you can see, white is the brightest followed by yellow, orange, red, green and blue.  For applications that you want to be extremely visible you can mix colors.  For example, alternating yellow and red or white and red is very effective.  Alternating colors have been shown to get peoples attention much more than single colors.

ASTM D 4956 Type III

The retroreflectivity of ULG sheeting meets or exceeds all retroreflective sheeting standards worldwide. Typical standards are listed in the tables below.

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Steven Cole (Economics, MBA – University of West Florida , Business & Innovation – Stanford University) 25 years of experience in the reflective safety business.  Specializing in accident reduction for vehicles through increased visibility.

www.reflective-inc.com

Oralite 5900 High Intensity Prismatic Tape – (click here to go to our online store)

Orafol / Reflexite Americas has recently come out with a high intensity prismatic type 4 tape known as their 5900 series.  It has an acrylic topcoat and uses air backed prismatic technology for brighter, more vivid colors.  It has an outdoor rating of 10 years.  We carry 6 colors in this material.  Yellow, White, Red, Blue, Green and Orange.  High intensity prismatic or HIP type 4 is approximately 45 percent brighter than standard glass bead high intensity type 3 tape.

These two products are similar in appearance, however, the prismatic version is both brighter and more vivid.  The image below shows a comparison of the two.

The high intensity prismatic tapes can be used for signage and any other application where vehicles, equipment or objects need to be seen day and night.  For more information on this product click here.

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Steven Cole (Economics, MBA – University of West Florida , Business & Innovation – Stanford University) 25 years of experience in the reflective safety business.  Specializing in accident reduction for vehicles through increased visibility.

www.reflective-inc.com

Oralite V92 Prismatic Reflective Tape – (Click to go to our Online Store)

Oralite’s V92 tape is a thin, flexible and bright reflective film. We carry white, red, orange, school bus yellow, blue and green.  V92 tape reflects light using man made prisms which is why this class of tape is called prismatic reflective tape.  It is comparable to a type 4 or 5 film.  This material is very popular for fire truck and emergency vehicle applications.  One unique feature of the Reflexite films is that they are made in a single layer and do not delaminate like other reflective tapes.  Even after multiple impacts, the Reflexite film will still reflect whereas others come apart.  Reflexite films also have an incredibly strong adhesive.

Since the tape is thin it is able to wrap around a tighter radius like a PVC pipe.  For example, many people wrap it around PVC pipes and use them as snow poles.  The image below shows the tape in regular daylight and reflecting at night.  The tapes reflect at the following intensities.

• White – 460 candelas
• Yellow – 310 candelas
• Orange – 185 candelas
• Red – 75 candelas
• Green – 75 candelas
• Blue – 35 candelas

Reflexite V92 Prismatic Tapes can be purchased at the following online stores.

V92 (comparable to a Type 4) – Prismatic Daybright (1 inch, 2 inch, 3 inch, 4 inch, and 6 inch or reflects-light.com)

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Steven Cole (Economics, MBA – University of West Florida , Business & Innovation – Stanford University) 25 years of experience in the reflective safety business.  Specializing in accident reduction for vehicles through increased visibility.

www.reflective-inc.com

Oralite V98 Conformable Prismatic Reflective Tape – (Click to go to our Online Store) Continue reading V98 Conformable Prismatic Reflective Tape →

stevecole

Steven Cole (Economics, MBA – University of West Florida , Business & Innovation – Stanford University) 25 years of experience in the reflective safety business.  Specializing in accident reduction for vehicles through increased visibility.

www.reflective-inc.com

Oralite (Reflexite) V82 Type 5 Reflective Tape – Online Store

Oralite V82 is a 10 year prismatic tape that exceeds ASTM D4956 Type 5 standards.  Because the tape is a “Typed Tape” it can be used for sign sheeting and would be MUTCD compliant for most applications.  It is available in solid colors and also in alternating red and white. (DOT Tape) It is the brightest tape in the Oralite line.  It is the colored equivalent of Oralite’s SOLAS tape.  We carry standard yellow, schoolbus yellow, red, white/silver and two alternating red and white DOT tapes in the V82 line.

We carry two yellows in the V82 line. The one above is a #18 yellow and the one below is the school bus yellow. The school bus yellow has more gold in it.   The picture below also shows our V82 White/Silver which is the brightest of the V82 line.  It would be the closest tape to SOLAS.

The picture below shows our Red V82 tape. It is often used along with the #18 Yellow to create chevron striping on fire trucks and apparatus.

The image above is of our 1″ red and white (silver) DOT tapes in the 6/6 or 7/11 pattern.  We also carry 2″.

V82 tape (red & yellow) can be purchased at www.reflects-light.com or at www.colebrothers.com.

V82 DOT tape (white or red/white) can also be purchased at our main store in 1″ widths and 2″ widths in both white and alternating red/white.

stevecole

Steven Cole (Economics, MBA – University of West Florida , Business & Innovation – Stanford University) 25 years of experience in the reflective safety business.  Specializing in accident reduction for vehicles through increased visibility.

www.reflective-inc.com