How can I add a visibility stripe to a kayak?

Hobie only offers the 12' and 14' Pro Angler 360 Drive kayaks in green and blue camo. Those colors aren't very visible on the water. I want to add a bright orange stripe about 8 inches (20 cm) wide and 8 feet (244 cm) long to the side of my Pro Angler to make it more visible on the water, for safety purposes. But it's hard to find something which adheres firmly to rotomolded polyethylene. Vinyl wrap material doesn't stick well to kayaks. I found some bright reflective material used on road signs and as visibility stripes on trucks which has an adhesive which seems to stick well to polyethylene, but it's so thick and stiff that it appears to be suitable only for attachment to flat surfaces. What materials can I use to add a visibility stripe to my Pro Angler? Orange duct tape will stick to polyethylene, but I'd have to lay down four strips of duct tape to produce an eight inch wide strip, which I think would look kind of shabby.

For safety reasons, I wish that Hobie offered the Pro Angler 360 drive kayaks in bright colors such as orange, yellow, and bright green in addition to the current two camo colors.

Perhaps try warming up the material to make it pliable, maybe the low setting on a heat gun?
How thick is the stuff? 

3M Reflective tape comes to mind, but it would be too expensive: https://www.westmarine.com/buy/3m--reflective-tape--P008_243_004_509?recordNum=1

Only other idea I have is to go with Rust-Oleum plastic primer which should adher per they website for Poly/Plastic: https://www.westmarine.com/buy/rust-oleum--plastic-spray-primer--10124873?recordNum=8  And then spray what color you want over that.  I used it to paint some crab buoys, and it worked well for that, but not sure how will it will stand up.

How about Gorilla Tape, High Visibility Duct Tape, 1.88" x 35 yd, Blaze Orange?
It is only $10 at Amazon.com.

Paul

High visibility 180 strobes on poles … one on the bow and one on the stern. Take a 3 week trip to Chernobyl you’ll come back with a glow! 

Edit: I remember seeing a guy in the big blue at Pacific City that had a flag that also had a tinsel pompom on it….. you could see that thing glimmer  from shore when he was out at Haystack rock.

Dye your hair neon orange, and you'll be visible from miles away--and not only when kayaking...

Some guys have installed a folding fiberglass whip about 4 ft long mounted to the stern with an orange pendant style flag on it.  Other boaters can see you a ways off even if you are hidden in tules or brush.  You raise and lock the mast into position on the water, then tilt and lower it down when coming back to the shore.  If your paddling under a low bridge or maneuvering in a creek through low hanging tree limbs you can reach back and fold it down as needed.  The fiberglass rod will bend like a fishing pole if you forget to fold it down... which makes me wonder why those guys didn't use an old busted fishing rod and modify it to work the same way with a hinge at the base... then attach a flag and spray it orange!

... Rust-Oleum plastic primer which should adher per they website ...

That was my thought, prime then paint ... but once primed the reflective tape may stick directly to the primer, instead of the need to painting.

Some guys have installed a folding fiberglass whip about 4 ft long mounted to the stern with an orange pendant style flag on it.  Other boaters can see you a ways off even if you are hidden in tules or brush.  You raise and lock the mast into position on the water, then tilt and lower it down when coming back to the shore.  If your paddling under a low bridge or maneuvering in a creek through low hanging tree limbs you can reach back and fold it down as needed.  The fiberglass rod will bend like a fishing pole if you forget to fold it down... which makes me wonder why those guys didn't use an old busted fishing rod and modify it to work the same way with a hinge at the base... then attach a flag and spray it orange!

I fish/paddle the delta a fair bit, and have thought about this to help with vis in/around the tules. Boats come flying around out there sometimes, and a little heads up for them might help prevent a bad situation.

Some guys have installed a folding fiberglass whip about 4 ft long mounted to the stern with an orange pendant style flag on it.  Other boaters can see you a ways off even if you are hidden in tules or brush.  You raise and lock the mast into position on the water, then tilt and lower it down when coming back to the shore.  If your paddling under a low bridge or maneuvering in a creek through low hanging tree limbs you can reach back and fold it down as needed.  The fiberglass rod will bend like a fishing pole if you forget to fold it down... which makes me wonder why those guys didn't use an old busted fishing rod and modify it to work the same way with a hinge at the base... then attach a flag and spray it orange!

I fish/paddle the delta a fair bit, and have thought about this to help with vis in/around the tules. Boats come flying around out there sometimes, and a little heads up for them might help prevent a bad situation.

I made a safety flag/safety light pole out of a $22 Walmart 7-foot medium-heavy fishing rod.  See my post at https://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=15155.msg164358#msg164358. It puts a big flag up high.  But an easier way to accomplish the same thing is to make a big flag out of orange rip-stop nylon and clip it to the top of a spare fishing pole which is sitting in a rod holder.

That’s an old highway safety vest cut and stitched with a coat hanger in the seam, it has a snap swivel on the bottom on 80lb test and 80 lb test loop on top. Simply clip the loop to my poles snap swivel and the flags snap swivel to an eye on the rod, tighten up the drag real it up.

(if it will let me post the pic?!)

Edit: Well on my iPhone I’m opening up my photos click the photo to upload and the file box remains blank?!?!


Edit again: had to find the photo outside of the “album” it was in then it showed as being in the “box” for adding

3M Reflective tape comes to mind, but it would be too expensive: https://www.westmarine.com/buy/3m--reflective-tape--P008_243_004_509?recordNum=1

Only other idea I have is to go with Rust-Oleum plastic primer which should adher per they website for Poly/Plastic: https://www.westmarine.com/buy/rust-oleum--plastic-spray-primer--10124873?recordNum=8  And then spray what color you want over that.  I used it to paint some crab buoys, and it worked well for that, but not sure how will it will stand up.

Just to add to this, Rust-Oleum Plastic Primer is Ooookay, but it's not its fault.  Plastic, PVC specifically is really hard to stick paint to.  it needs to be really clean, and the paint needs some help for the adhesion.  Using acetone really really helps the adhesion, but it isn't very friendly to plastics, so you have to make sure you're taping off around where you're going to paint, use it quickly, thoroughly and start painting relatively quickly as well.

I've used Rust-Oleum plastic primer and paint very successfully after learning about how clean the surface needs to be, and using acetone to make it stick better, beforehand it will flake and chip off very easily.

hope this helps.

Hobie only offers the 12' and 14' Pro Angler 360 Drive kayaks in green and blue camo. Those colors aren't very visible on the water. I want to add a bright orange stripe about 8 inches (20 cm) wide and 8 feet (244 cm) long to the side of my Pro Angler to make it more visible on the water, for safety purposes. But it's hard to find something which adheres firmly to rotomolded polyethylene. Vinyl wrap material doesn't stick well to kayaks. I found some bright reflective material used on road signs and as visibility stripes on trucks which has an adhesive which seems to stick well to polyethylene, but it's so thick and stiff that it appears to be suitable only for attachment to flat surfaces. What materials can I use to add a visibility stripe to my Pro Angler? Orange duct tape will stick to polyethylene, but I'd have to lay down four strips of duct tape to produce an eight inch wide strip, which I think would look kind of shabby.

For safety reasons, I wish that Hobie offered the Pro Angler 360 drive kayaks in bright colors such as orange, yellow, and bright green in addition to the current two camo colors.

Home depot has reflector stickers that they sell in straps. I use them on my OB and place them in different angles. Hope this helps. Tight lines!

I bought a roll of 4 inch wide racing orange T.R.U. CD-36 industrial grade duct tape from Tape Supply for $24.47, free shipping.  It's pretty good quality duct tape - not as high quality as Gorilla duct tape, but better than the typical hardware store duct tape.  A picture of the roll of tape is shown below.  I put a strip of the tape along the side of my 12' Pro Angler, lining up the top of the strip with the mold line along the top of the side of the kayak.  When I get pictures of the kayak on the water, I'll post them to show the extent, if any, to which the strip makes the kayak more visible at a distance.

Laying down the 4" tape without any wrinkles or bubbles is challenging.  While you can find wider tape on line, wider tape would be harder to lay down without any wrinkles or bubbles.

In my experience, a flag on a pole is way more visible from any kind of distance than the color of a kayak. Kayaks sit low on the water and a bit of swell can really hide them. Getting an orange flag up a few feet (or six) makes a big difference.