What are the reflective thingies called in English?

Question

I'm looking for the proper word for these things you wear to avoid being driven over by cars at night.

enter image description here

I'd call it "false security". If you want to be seen at night you need a lot more than that. Even a couple of big highly-reflective armbands isn't much - I'd rather put my trust in proper jacket markings or keep off unlit roads. — FumbleFingers, Dec 11, 2011 at 3:40
No, you are wrong sir. Wearing this thing renders you immortal, especially at crosswalks :) — norq, Dec 21, 2011 at 12:29

Phoenix · Accepted Answer · 2011-12-10 10:59:51Z

7

Looks like a reflector, or more precisely, a safety reflector.

Yeah, I know, kind of obvious.

answered Dec 10, 2011 at 10:59

Phoenix

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Irene · Accepted Answer · 2011-12-10 10:58:54Z

2

I know them as reflectors.

answered Dec 10, 2011 at 10:58

Irene

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david6 · Accepted Answer · 2011-12-11 03:52:03Z

-1

Can't tell from photo ..

This is likely a "Cat's Eye' reflector, which has distinctive 90-degree angle (from each other) dual reflectors embedded.

This sends a strong light beam directly back towards any focused light source (eg. an approaching car's headlamps).

reference(s):

answered Dec 11, 2011 at 1:50

david6

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Cat's eyes are specifically the things buried in roads with corner-cube reflectors. This is just specular retro-reflective material
– mgb
Dec 11, 2011 at 2:13
They ARE called that in the UK, but elsewhere the term is used for the material.
– david6
Dec 11, 2011 at 2:27
In the UK the name catseye is a trademark of the company founded by the inventor Percy Shaw in 1934 patent.ipexl.com/GB/GB436290.html
– mgb
Dec 11, 2011 at 2:33
1

@david6: Do you have any sources to back up that usage? The basic principles of retro-reflection are the same in OP's object and cat's eyes, but you'd probably need a microscope to discern the equivalent to a single "cat's eye" in the coating of OP's object.
– FumbleFingers
Dec 11, 2011 at 3:35
I will need to search. I remember the material being developed (too late) for the Apollo program. But, I have seen tags of this stuff used on school bags in northern Germany, here in NZ, and also in Colorado (US).
– david6
Dec 11, 2011 at 4:03

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3 Answers 3